Curse of Ravenloft

The Abbot is angered that Bronwyn has protected Ireena, demanding to know what she has done. Bronwyn tells him she is keeping her safe from him. The light pouring out of the Abbot intensifies, and she fears for her life. Johan is unsure if he should do anything to Verushka as his actions could escalate things instead of defusing them.

The group tries to leave, but the Abbot insists that they stay. They feel they stand no chance against this being in combat, but they must escape! Johan tries to convince the Abbot that his plan won’t work; Strahd will never accept this monstrosity. The Abbot is confused by Johan’s objections telling him “you have always provided me materials in the past.” The group is aghast as Johan does not deny this claim. The Abbot asks if the issues is one of payment. He offers to pay Johan for Ireena’s face. “That is why you brought her to me, is it not?” He even offers an increased payment.

Johan denies bringing the group there for that reason and explains he is no longer in that business and he only worked for the Abbot indirectly through his agents. The group is disturbed by this information, but in no position to act on it. The discussion with Johan seems to distract and calm the Abbot who resumes his human form and sits at the table, prepared to negotiate for what he wants.

Bramo asks where the Abbot obtained the secrets of creating life. The Abbot explains the tome is volume from the Amber Temple, taken from there by Strahd and given to the Abbot directly. He was encouraged by Strahd to pursue this research. The Abbot offers to share these secrets with Bramo if he will assist in completing Verushka. Bramo is interested.

Bronwyn makes a gesture at Verushka and discovers that she is capable of speech. She manages to teach her to say Bronwyn’s name and her own. The Abbot is fascinated watching Bronwyn work with her. He demands to see more. Bronwyn explains they have no time to teach Verushka and rises to leave. The Abbot moves quickly to stop Bronwyn, threatening to kill her, and Riley steps in-between them. The light pours out of the Abbot again as he resumes his angelic form. Riley braces for the coming blow. Elora screams out that the Abbot can have her face if he will just leave everyone else alone!

Ireena grabs her and tells her no. Elora cannot give this monster her face. No one if giving up their face. There has to be another way. She speaks to both the Abbot and the group convincing them that they can offer a valuable service to Abbot by training Verushka, a feat he cannot accomplish on his own. The Abbot insists they remain until she is fully trained, and Ireena agrees over the objections of the group telling them that they must agree if only to buy time and figure out a way out of this.

Ireena suggests they walk around the abbey while they instruct Verushka on proper posture and manners. The Abbot agrees on the condition that they do not leave the abbey, or he will hunt them down wherever they go. The group except McCoy and Bramo depart with Otto leading them on a tour.

Bramo asks to be taught the secret of making golems and McCoy requests a new flesh body like Verushka. The Abbot agrees to both, but not until Verushka is perfected. McCoy presents Piddlewick to the Abbot, asking if there is anything he can do for him. The Abbot reaches out a hand casually and the wooden boy immediately returned to life. The Abbot explains it was a simple matter to reanimate his primitive form. He tells them he will grant them two more resurrections in return for their help with Verushka. The trio make a note of it and depart to rejoin the group.

Otto gives the group a tour of the courtyard pointing out his spiderlike brother Mishka lurking in the well. Another of the Belviews is chained to a tether in the courtyard. Marzena is a batlike creature with huge wings. She tries to take flight as the group nears her, snapping back at as she reaches the end of her tether.

Otto leads the group into a madhouse. Cells line both sides of a narrow hallway, each one packed with Belviews in terrible living conditions. They all exhibit signs of extreme madness. Coming down the hallway with a stern expression is another massive flesh golem nearly as tall and broad as McCoy. The golem, Vanya, glares at the group, but Otto explains he is giving a tour and the creature backs away. The group is horrified by the state of the Belviews, both their physical state and their living conditions. Otto explains that they were all sick and cursed, but now the Abbot has cured all of them.

The group heads upstairs to the hospital level of the building. They pass through a decrepit library whose books have been both looted and destroyed. Some texts on various medical topics remain in good condition. Otto leads them into a sick ward where there are a number of patients wrapped in bandages. The group speaks with one of them, a patient whose leg has been removed. They anxiously await the new one the Abbot will give them. They appear to be in a lot of pain, but grateful.

The group looks into several rooms off the sick ward, a bloody surgery room, an empty nursery where Bronwyn catches the image of a nun in a mirror, and an empty room with only a raven in it. Ireena explains that ravens are good luck and that killing one is considered bad luck. The group calls out to the raven telling it to let the Martikovs know what is happening here. The raven caws back in answer.

Otto brings them into what used to be a barracks. The collapsed remains of bunks line one wall of the room. Seated on the floor of the room, reading a book by candlelight is a small halfling woman dressed in a harlequin costume with her face painted like a clown. She introduces herself as Wyssilka the Fantabulous! As the group introduce themselves, she recognizes Bronwyn’s name telling her she’s “the girl.” Bronwyn asks what that means, and she explains she means she is Valentine’s girl, and she has heard all about her.

Bronwyn confirms that she means Hugo Valentine the man was a surrogate father to her during her time with the circus and trained her to control her magical “gifts.” Wyssilka confirms he is the same. She explains that she is a monster hunter and Valentine has been her teacher. She has followed him here surreptitiously and is trying to locate him. She tells them that Valentine snuck in with a group of Vistani and she had to find another way in.

Bronwyn is amazed that Valentine is here and that he is also a monster hunter. Wyssilka tells her that her harlequin costume is a disguise allowing her to travel incognito. She learned the trick from Valentine who is doing the same. Bronwyn mentions meeting a clown named Marvolio in Vallaki who showed interest in her. Wyssilka is ecstatic exclaiming that Marvolio is Valentine in disguise!

Bronwyn is overwhelmed by the revelation, particularly all of Marvolio’s questions about her “circus daddy.” Wyssilka thinks “circus daddy” is the funniest thing she has ever heard and can’t wait to tease Valentine about it. She insists that they tell her where she can find Valentine. They pull out their map and show her how to get there. Wyssilka is dismissive of the quality of their map saying she has a much better one back at her wagon.

She tells the group not to trust the Abbot and that this place is awful. She is here because she heard they had an impressive library. She has been doing research here for her upcoming hunts. She intends to wipeout the werewolf pack and kill Strahd. When they ask about the Werewolf Den, she is able to confirm its location nearby in the Balinok Mountains. She is confident that she can kill them and Strahd without a problem as she is an accomplished monster hunter trained by the best. The group advises caution, but she dismisses them.

The group asks her to join up with them since their goals are aligned. She tells them she would love to, but she needs to find Valentine first, then she is willing to help them. She tells them that she found Valentine’s lair nearby, a wizard’s tower on the nearby Lake Balinok, not Lake Zarovich! She chides them again for their poor map and scribbles the location on there for them. She tells them she will retrieve Valentine and then meet them there. Then she departs.

The group heads along the abbey wall to the far side of the abbey above the main hail. There they find a strange man in a bell tower. He is Clovin Belview caretaker of the abbey and assistant to the Abbot. Clovin is another mixture of human and animal parts like the other Belviews. He has little goat horns on his head, one foot is a bear’s paw, and one hand is a lobster claw. Growing out of his shoulder is a second head that resembles an infant. Clovin shushes the group as he plays his viol trying to keep his second head asleep. Clovin is a talented musician and very clearly inebriated, slurring his speech and reeking of alcohol.

Clovin is friendly and offers wine and food to the group. He identifies a strange pile underneath a bloody sheet as the Abbot’s “leftovers.” He sets up his lunch on top of this pile and proceeds to eat. He tells the group that he hates the other Belviews as they are all idiots and insane. He is responsible for feeding the other Belviews. He would personally let them starve, but the Abbot would not allow it. He tells them he rings the bell to let them know it’s feeding time, and they go berserk when they hear it ring. He offers to ring it now and show them, but the group declines.

The group heads back downstairs and sees the Abbot again showing off some of their progress with Verushka. The Abbot is pleased. They head down to the wine cellar below and see it is well-stocked with wine. Bronwyn searches for a bottle of the elusive Champagne du Stomp and finds a bottle only to realize it is empty and contains a magical scroll instead. She tucks the scroll into her bag.

The group head back upstairs and explore the grounds around the abbey. They head back towards the garden and discover it is full of rabbits, root vegetables, and a strong smell of manure. Some investigating reveals that the manure comes from the Belviews themselves. Despite the stink, the vegetables appear to be healthy and nutritious.

As they depart the garden they investigate shed nearby and see that it contains a hatch to the sewer system below. They recall the Abbot telling them that he took one of the gemstones from the Martikovs and placed it down there to purify the water for Krezk claiming that “Saint Markovia’s miracle had worn off.” They also recall him saying he had discarded a number of failed experiments down there as well. They decide to put off visiting the sewers for now.

The group decides that they need to clean up Verushka as they are warming up to the girl. They need to get the awful dye out of her hair and give her a bath and fresh clothes not from a long-dead nun. They go to draw water from the well but are warned by Zygfek about Mishka in the well. They ask if she can fetch the water for them which she does. Mishka tries to come up out of the well several times, but Zygfek smacks him back down into the well and gives water to the group.

They take the water up to the barracks and use magic to heat it up and scrub Verushka with soap. They see that the rest of her body is as patchwork and scar covered as her face, but it is in good condition. They get her clean and smelling nice and discover her undyed hair is a pretty blonde.

Johan is sent into Krezk for clothes as he is the only one the Abbot will allow to leave. He gives Johan a purse of 50 gold pieces to buy suitable clothes for her. Johan visits the Krezkovs and tries to deceive them as to why he needs women’s clothing. Dmitri and Anna ask why he really needs the clothes, and he admits they made a new friend at the Abbey in need of clothes. He offers to pay for them, but they freely offer the clothes of one of their daughters as they no longer have any need of them. They tearfully hand Johan the bundle of clothes and he insists they take the purse of coins to help rebuild the town. To help the town, they accept.

The group dresses Verushka and teach her a growing number of phrases and concepts. She learns that she is “verywellthankyou”, her name, their names, happiness, soft dogs, and Lancelot as well as learning how to gently pet a dog, something she very much enjoys. They take Verushka down with them to dinner with the Abbot.

The Abbot is extremely pleased with their progress. Clovin prepares stew for the group to eat and there is a plentiful amount of wine to drink. The group is nervous about eating the meat in the stew and eat around it favoring the vegetables. Clovin’s sleeping head wakes up to eat. It reveals a long snake tongue in its mouth and hisses at Elora.

The group teaches Verushka about friendship, telling her that they are her friends. They explain to the Abbot that she will require years of training that they cannot give her. The Abbot explains that they do not have years. They have less than a month to present Verushka to Strahd at his wedding during the next full moon.

The group convinces the Abbot that the only way to save the land is to break the curse on Strahd and sever his connection to the Dark Powers. The Abbot admits this is a good plan and may be successful if they can determine how to do it. In the meantime, he must proceed with his own plan and complete Verushka. The group ask to be let go so they can explore the Amber Temple for the knowledge to defeat Strahd. The Abbot agrees on the condition that they take Verushka with them and complete her training and allow now harm to befall her. The group agrees.

The group spends the night at the abbey in the barracks, make it comfortable with their bedrolls. The group teaches Verushka “sleep.” She does not fully understand the concept but imitates it by laying still all night. Bronwyn and McCoy both eat pies and have pleasant dreams.

Bronwyn dreams that her family is alive and hosting a get together in her home. Valentine and Wyssilka attend and play badminton with them.

Riley has troubled dreams brought on by her own uncertainties and anxieties. She wonders who her father was, is he possibly alive, and for some reason, if he might be Escher?

Ireena and Elora share the same haunting dream. They are lost in the mist, separated from each other pursued by red eyes that follow them wherever they run.

Johan dreams he is a basement filled with the dismembered body parts of his wife and sons. They are soaked in blood and slip out of his arms as he scrambles to hold the pieces together. Above him, a chute continually drops more body parts on him.

Bramo dreams about his daughters dying sick and alone in hospital beds crying out for him.

McCoy has a dream about some of his old crew members on his ship, Molasses and Tomato and new crew members as well. He remembers Wegdwood “Goldie” Balo always trying get an extra share of treasure or pocket a few extra baubles. He also recalls Missy “Melons” Melling a busty female crewmember who served as the ship’s prostitute and Darren “Trollop” Trollope, an accomplished lover who claimed to have a girl in every port and to be one of the greatest lovers of all time.

After the battle, the group decided to make sure Volenta was dead. They fashioned a wooden stake from pieces of Wintersplinter and drove it through her heart. Bramo took her skull mask and her dolls from her body. Then the group took a short rest to heal up and bandage their wounds. They discussed whether or not to risk exploring the hill further but decided they must at least investigate the large tree they’d seen on their ascent.

The group left the circle of stones and headed across the hilltop to a clearing in the trees. There in the center of the clearing was a large, black tree, twisted and hideous dripping a bloodlike sap from it. Bound at the center of the tree was their friend, Lucien Brightburn, the undead knight they’d met on their first night in Barovia. The tree was surrounded by more of the blights and Lucien cried out for help, believing the blights were trying to sacrifice him to the tree.

The group fought their way into the grove, killing needle blights along the way. Once they were inside the grove, vine and twig blights sprung out around them closing in from all sides. McCoy and Riley worked their way around one side of the tree with support from Lancelot and Ireena while Johan circled around the other side of the tree to free Lucien.

Elora and Bronwyn worked side-by-side at the entrance of the grove firing off spells at the blights and supporting the group. Bramo circled around behind Johan to back him up. Johan made his way up the tree and released Lucien who dropped down from the tree and joined the fight cutting down the blights with his longsword.

Working together, the group made short work of the blights and were left to study the tree. Elora identified it as a Gulthias Tree, the twisted remains of a vampire improperly staked which grows into a font of evil and was the source of the blights. McCoy determined that this was the corruption Kavan had asked him to purge and resolved to destroy the tree.

The group found an armored skeleton at the base of the tree and a magic axe embedded in its trunk. Johan tried to remove the axe from the tree, but thorns sprang from its handle stabbing him. Riley tried instead and was able to pull it out without a problem. She found the axe to be extremely light, its handle carved with images of leaves and vines, and it cut easily through plants. Working together with the axe and fire magic from the spellcasters, the group spends an hour to cut down and finally destroy the Gulthias Tree ending the threat of the blights and restoring the natural order.

The group asks Lucien how he ended up tied to the tree. He explains that he heard a rumor a magic, glowing light being brought to the hill and thought it might be the “sun” he was searching for. He made his way up the hill but was overwhelmed by the Wild Folk and the blights. They captured him and tried to sacrifice him to the tree, but it didn’t work due to his undead nature. The group explained that the light was not a “sun,” but rather a magic gem that had been stolen from the Martikovs. They said they were returning there to spend the night and Lucien asked if he might accompany them. They told him he was welcome to do so.

The group made their way across the hilltop and back through the circle of stones. As they exited the far side of the circle, the saw Strahd there mounted on his nightmare steed staring off the edge of the hill at a ghostly image projected on a wall of mist. The group tried to sneak past him, but Lucien, not knowing the situation, hailed and greeted him.

Strahd returned their greeting. He explained the image he was looking at was a mirage of his homeland which the Dark Powers had created to torment him. It forever reminds him of the home he can never return to. The group asks who the Dark Powers are and question whether he is the supreme power in Barovia. Strahd explains they are powerful entities, something like gods, but not gods, powerful forces of darkness that transformed Barovia into his prison. The only person he cannot grant passage through the mists is himself. The Dark Powers are also the ones who continually deny him Tatyana.

McCoy suggests that the Dark Powers are the true enemy and that perhaps they could join forces with him to defeat them.

Strahd tells them he noticed they had disrupted the Wild Folk’s plans and made quite a mess for them. He also noticed that they have killed one of his Brides and this has made him very upset. He asks that the group return Volenta’s mask to him. Bramo, supported by Riley and Johan reluctantly approaches Strahd and hands over the mask. When they do so, he stares down at them and tells them, “When someone you love dies, I want you to know that it was me.”

The group start making excuses for why they killed it and that it was self-defense. Strahd cuts them off and tells them they should go. The group departs hastily.

Using some clever rope tricks taught to them by McCoy, the group manages to descend the hill using the ropes and take the ropes with them. They reach the base of the hill and return to Kavan’s grave. Kavan’s spirit appears again and he praises them. He marks McCoy’s face with spectral blood markings that match his own. He instructs McCoy to tell any Wild Folk he meets that he is the Chosen of Kavan the Bloody. He carries on their traditions and honors the Ladies Three.

McCoy asks for more information on the Fanes and the Ladies Three. Kavan explains they were powerful demigods and spirits of the land itself. The fanes have each been desecrated by Strahd who stole their power and made it his own. He tells them there is a way to reconsecrate the fanes and even bind themselves to their power. It will require a ritual at each of the Three Fanes, each one honoring one of the Three Ladies. The ritual will require the use of an item empowered by the Ladies.

McCoy asks if he can use the Blood Spear for that purpose, but Kavan explains it must be an item which contains the power of the Ladies themselves and indicates the magic gemstone they recovered. McCoy asks if the ritual will destroy the gem, and Kavan says he does not know. He tells him that the shrine of the Mountain Fane is at the peak of the hill, beneath the Gulthias Tree they destroyed.

The group thanks Kavan for his help and depart. They discuss the implications of using the gemstones to reconsecrate the fanes. McCoy believes it is something they can do later before confronting Strahd. They worry whether they can convince the Martikovs to part with the gems when the time comes. They conclude that if the gems will allow them to destroy Strahd and free the land, they will no longer be needed to make wine, and the Martikovs will agree.

They return to the Wizard of Wines where a grateful Davian greets them. He is overjoyed that the vineyard is saved and that they can continue production of the Grapemash No. 3, even if it is an unremarkable wine. He greets Lucien as a friend, mistaking him for a paladin of the Morninglord. He invites them all inside to share wine and celebrate. At the table, he asks Lucien to remove his helmet. McCoy covers for him and explains that Lucien is badly disfigured and uncomfortable showing his face. Davian respects his wishes and provides a tube Lucien can use to sip his wine.

The group discuss their plans to retrieve the other gemstones with Davian including a lead they have on the third gem at the Abbey of St. Markovia. Davian doesn’t understand what the Abbey has to do with his missing gem, but he is grateful for any help they can provide. He is excited at the prospect of recovering a second gem which would allow them to resume production of the Red Dragon Crush.

Since the group is headed to Krezk, he advises them to bring a shipment of wine with them. He explains that Krezk is an isolated community that will not allow outsiders in their walls, but they are overdue for a shipment of wine and it will show they are friends of the Martikovs. He tells them that the Krezkovs are an old, noble family and friends to the Martikovs. He is a friend of the Baron Dmitri and the Baroness Anna. He tells them that the Krezkovs once owned the winery before his family married into it and eventually took it over.

The group thank Davian for all his help and head to bed. McCoy eats another of Granny’s dream pastries before resting for the night. Since Lancelot, Johan, and Riley also ate pies that day, they all have sweet, pleasant dreams while the others have restless nights.

McCoy recalls the name of his ship, the Augusta. He sees it in the middle of a storm caught between a whale and a giant squid locked in battle. Lightning crashes all around them. He sees himself in the water and a dark-haired woman reaching out to embrace him. She presses hard against him in the darkness. Then he recalls an earlier time on a pleasant day. One of his shipmates, Patton “Tomato” Stanton is angry again, his short temper getting the better of him as his face turns bright red like a tomato.

Riley dreams about being reunited with her family. They are all alive and well as are her old war comrades who had died in battle. She is not cursed and does not have the tattoo marking her. Lancelot is there, and they are all happy.

Johan dreams about working in his shop with his family who are also alive. His boys are getting big and strong and preparing to take on new responsibilities. Johan’s wife, Abilene, teases him about getting fat.

Bramo sleeps a deep, deep sleep from which he cannot be roused.

In the morning, Lucien says goodbye to the group, saying he will travel Southeast. He has heard that a ruined manor lays in that direction. There is said to be a bright beacon in the manor, and perhaps it is the “sun” he is searching for. He wishes them well; sure their paths will cross again.

Elora borrows leather rain cloak from the Martikovs to deal with the cold weather in Krezk while the others wear the black cloaks they took from the Durst House.

The group heads out in the Martikov’s wagon with Elvir and Dag towards Krezk. They reach the Raven’s River Crossroads and see a strange sight, a skeletal horse and rider carrying a dark lantern on the far side of the bridge. The rider gallops in their direction as Elvir and Dag panic. The rider passes them by and heads towards Vallaki. The group are concerned this is an ill-omen and Death itself may be riding to Vallaki or the Vistani Camp.

The group want to give chase, but Elvir and Dag refuse. The group isn’t sure they can catch the rider in the wagon, but they’re sure they cannot on foot. Reluctantly, they turn north towards Krezk and pray for the best.

Thirty minutes later they reach the walled village of Krezk. It is cold here and snow covers the tops of the trees and the houses. As they approach the stone gate, they see two panicked guards on the wall. The guards cry out and demand they identify themselves. Dag tells them they are from the winery with a shipment of wine for the village. The guards relax and allow them inside. The group can see that the two men are wounded. They ask what happened.

The guards explain that the village was attacked the previous night by a pack of vampires. Half of the village was killed in the attack and none of them have slept. They instruct the group to bring the wine to the home of the magistrate, Baron Krezkov.

Heading over to the home, they are greeted by Dmitri and Anna Krezkov, both dark-skinned, older humans with white hair. They both appear hardy and armed for battle bearing some minor wounds. The Krezkovs explain that their village is a small commune. The village is completely enclosed by the stone wall which contains a forest they maintain for lumber and fuel with their small houses built between the trees. Each family works together to support the community and their house their livestock indoors due to the cold.

Dmitri explains that the walls have kept them protected from wolves and werewolves for years, but they were useless against the vampires who climbed or flew over the walls. They have never faced a vampire attack before and have no idea what could have caused it. Anna tells them there is no inn or tavern in the village, but they are welcome to stay in their home if they are willing to contribute to the chores and burying of the dead. The group agrees.

The group sets about cleaning up the village and burying the dead. Everywhere they go they can see the carnage wrought by the vampires. It is clear that the casualties described to them were not an exaggeration. While working with Dmitri they can tell something else is bothering him. He confesses despite the previous night’s tragedy all he can think about is his son Ilya who died a few days ago and was buried in their family plot. Ilya was their fourth and final child, dead at age 14, the victim of a strange wasting disease the children seem to suffer from.

No one knows what the disease is or how to cure it. He knows that he and his wife are too old to have more children, so their name will die with them. He has been considering going to the Abbot and begging him to bring his son back from the dead because he knows the Abbot possesses that power.

The group ask about the abbey and Dmitri tells them it was once a convent and hospital founded by the great priestess of the Morninglord, Saint Markovia. She led a rebellion against Strahd hundreds of years ago but was defeated. Her followers were trapped inside the abbey by Strahd’s army and driven mad and starved. The abbey lay empty for centuries until the Abbot arrived about a century ago and reopened it. The Abbot is a handsome, young man who rededicated the abbey to healing people.

Dmitri explains that people sometimes travel to the abbey to be cured, but few return. The abbey bells chime at strange hours and they can often hear cries and maddening laughter coming from the abbey. The Abbot sometimes comes to visit the Shrine of the White Sun here on the north side of the village. The Abbot is quiet, but sometimes asks for wine.

The group decide to head up and visit the abbey. They note a large graveyard surrounding the abbey. They enter through a rusted gate which wakes two sleeping guards, Otto and Zygfek. Otto is a short, braying man with dog, lion, and donkey features. Zygfek is a quiet wolf/lizard woman who covers herself with a cloak. They are both Belviews and as eccentric as the other members of that family, shambling around and braying in a half-speech. The group explain they are there to see the Abbot and the two escort them inside.

As they enter, they note that the “guards” on the walls of the abbey are scarecrows in cast-off armor. Otto leaves them in the courtyard while he speaks with the Abbot. Zygfek keeps to herself and mutters how pretty she is. An ominous well sits in the center of the courtyard and muffled cries can be heard coming from its perimeter. Otto returns and ushers them inside the abbey.

They enter a large hall with stairs leading up and down with pleasant music drifting down to them from above. Seated at a long table is a handsome, dark-skinned man with a clean-shaven head and a neat beard dressed in white and gold robes with a large holy symbol of a sun around his neck. Seated next to him is a woman dressed in a nun’s habit. Her skin is patchwork and stitched together. She has red hair and a passing resemblance to Elora and Ireena.

The man introduces himself as the Abbot and tells them to “Be not afraid.” He invites them to join him at his table. He wishes to introduce them to someone very special, the vessel he has created for Tatyana’s soul, Verushka. He gestures to the patchwork girl who looks nervous and frightened. Bramo takes a seat next to her inspecting her closely. She is fascinated by his top hat, and he continually swats her had away as he examines her.

Ireena and Elora sit across from the girl with Bronwyn next to them. Ireena points out that the girl’s hair is badly dyed and not even the same color as hers. Johan eyes the Abbot suspiciously, convinced the man is a demon in disguise. Focusing his divine senses on the man, he discovers that the man is not what he seems…he is a celestial! Johan is shocked by this discovery and awkwardly sits next to Bramo and McCoy.

Verushka is wide-eyed and childlike and speaks in simple grunts. Bramo dubs her a “feral Tatyana.” The Abbot explains that he has created many living beings over the years and has been working to create the perfect vessel for Strahd’s bride. He has learned from each of his failed attempts and has been studying the art of creating life from a manual provided to him by Strahd himself.

Bramo is fascinated by this information and asks several follow-up questions. The Abbot casually mentions that he learned early on not to use mechanical materials when the created McCoy. McCoy is outraged at this admission and angrily confronts the Abbot. He denounces him for creating a cursed half-life for him in a mechanical body that cannot feel or touch. The Abbot is unmoved and explains he used the materials he had on hand, fishing McCoy from a shipwreck and assembling his body from the ship’s cannons. He found the result deeply disappointing and discarded it back into the sea.

McCoy is incensed, screaming at the Abbot that was better to leave him dead than to live as is now. The Abbot offers to destroy McCoy if he wishes it. Or he could also make him a new body of flesh, but he must first complete his work on Verushka. Verushka becomes increasingly agitated by the shouting and appears to be afraid.

Johan concludes that the Abbot has been using the villagers of Krezk as raw material for his experiments and is possibly draining their lifeforce causing the “wasting disease” in town. He explains that the group’s actions likely caused the slaughter in Krezk after they identified Escher working with the Abbot. Johan theorizes the slaughter of the villagers was meant to deprive the Abbot of fresh bodies for his experiments.

Elora is distraught at the idea that they have caused such suffering. Ireena consoles her, telling her it wasn’t their fault. They did nothing wrong, and this is all Strahd’s evil. She concludes that Strahd is not very nice at all.

The Abbot explains he is trying to teach Verushka to be human. Elora accuses him of having no idea what it is to be human. The Abbot admits this is true because he is not human. Surprised by this admission, Elora asks if he is not human, then what is he?

The Abbot glows with a bright yellow light that seeps out from his eyes, ears, and mouth. Giant, white, feathered wings unfurl from his back and stands before them in blinding, resplendent glory. He explains that he is an angel of the Morninglord sent here to save Barovia. Everyone can feel the immense, divine power radiating from him.

The Abbot defends his actions explaining everything he has done has been to save Barovia. The land is suffering a blasphemous epidemic of people being born without souls. He is working to discover why this is happening and cure it. He has been working with all the different lifeforms here, studying and experimenting with them. He believes that Strahd is the heart of the land and that in order to cure the land he must appease Strahd. He can do that by creating the perfect Tatyana for him and use his power to place her soul into the body. He only needs to perfect it first.

The group denounce his actions and call him a monster. They tell him is attempts to save Barovia are misguided. The Abbot tells Bronwyn she is a misguided abomination. He can see the foul, demonic corruption inside of her. He offers to save her soul by killing her and freeing her from this corruption. Bronwyn declines and backs away from him saying they should all leave. Johan moves into position behind Verushka.

The Abbot tells them they cannot leave. He has need of them. He turns to Ireena and tells her he needs her face. Ireena is horrified. Elora pulls her away. The Abbot stands and walks closer reaching out towards her as the blinding light spills out of him. Ireena and Elora stagger way from him. He explains that it is a simple transaction. Ireena does not require her face to live. She can function without it. If he had her face, then his vessel would be perfect! She would be an exact likeness of Tatyana.

The group panics. As the Abbot gets closer to Ireena, Bronwyn rushes forward and casts a spell of protection on her so that the Abbot cannot touch her. Johan prepares to seize or destroy Verushka.

The group made their way through the woods and reached the base of Yester Hill. It was a massive, tiered hill, hundreds of feet tall. A long trail wound up around it through dead trees and black cairn rocks. At its plateau a ring of tall stones and a massive tree could be seen silhouetted against the night sky as lightning struck the peak. Beyond the hill was an endless wall of fog.

The group found a small shrine at the base of the hill with a semicircle of three standing stones covered in moss. In the center was a small slab carved with strange symbols and runes. A single raven rested on the slab and cawed at the group beckoning them forward. They approached cautiously and McCoy heard a deep whisper carried on the wind, “Long have I waited for one who is worthy. Approach my monument so I may look upon you!”

McCoy asked if anyone else heard the voice, but no one had. He approached and the spectral figure of a wild-looking, muscular, human man rose up from the earth and materialized before them. The spirit looked something like the Wild Folk they’d fought on the road and at the Wizard of Wines. The spirit identified itself as Kavan the Bloody, former chieftain of Wild Folk one of the Forest People who honored the Rozana, the Ladies Three.

Kavan explained that in his day this land was known as Cerrunos and his people honored the Ladies Three: the Weaver, the Seeker, and the Huntress, nature goddesses who were the Land. Later his land was invaded by men known as Delmoreans who called this land Delmor. His people fought with them, but they settled in their towns on the plains and left the Wild Folk to the mountains, forest, and swamps and entered an uneasy truce. Later the Devil Strahd and his armies invaded conquering both the Delmoreans and the Wild Folk. He renamed this land Barovia, but to Kavan the land will always be Cerrunos!

After Strahd conquered the valley, he came to the holy sites of the Ladies Three and defiled them and stole their power for himself. Now Kavan’s descendants betray their traditions and worship Strahd instead! Kavan is disgusted by their weakness and dishonor and refers to them as the Faithless. Kavan recognizes that the group are allies of one of the clans who still honor the Ladies Three and that they have aided them against the Faithless.

The group isn’t sure who he is talking about at first, but then realize Kavan is referring to the Martikovs. They agree and identify themselves as friends of the Martikovs. Kavan acknowledges McCoy as the strongest among them who burns with an inner, seething rage! He calls upon McCoy to act as his successor and take up his blood spear against the Faithless, purge them from Yester Hill, and disrupt their dark rituals freeing the land from corruption. The other members of the group try to speak to Kavan, but he is focused solely on McCoy as his chosen champion. He asks McCoy to dig up his grave and retrieve his blood spear from beneath the shrine.

McCoy retrieves the ancient spear and feels the life-draining power within it. He agrees to use it to bring honor to Kavan’s people and purge the hill of their evil. With that, the spirit fades away, and the group make their way up the hill carrying torches.

They try to keep out of sight traveling through the darkness, but their group is spotted by a patrol of Wild Folk. Five male warriors led by a female druid attack them! The warriors move in quickly and Riley rushes to meet them while Johan and McCoy hold the line. Trying to stay by Riley’s side, Lancelot is injured badly rushing between two of the warriors. The druid closes on Johan and McCoy and causes the ground beneath their feet to tremble and be upturned! Johan is knocked to his feet. Riley and Lancelot work together to defeat one group of warriors while the others deal with the remainder and Bronwyn killed the druid with her magic.

The group rests up and tends to their wounds. They manage to get Lancelot patched up and Riley again advises him to be careful and not take risks for her. They try to keep a lower profile heading up the mountain by dousing their torches and having Riley use her hooded lantern instead and relying on the night vision of Bramo and Bronwyn. Their tactics are unsuccessful as the group makes too much noise with all of their gear, and they find themselves facing another patrol.

The group is quickly surrounded by berserker warriors who rush to attack them with reckless abandon! Lancelot is able to hold them back with his furious barking which startles the warriors. Riley, Johan, and McCoy form a defensive line to protect the spellcasters allowing them to fall back and use their magic. The berserkers try to swing around their flanks, but the group holds formation with Riley and Lancelot swinging left to advance on the enemy.

The enemy druid manages to penetrate their line with her unnatural speed and casts a thunderous explosion within their ranks! The group is knocked back including Bramo’s arcane cannon, but the tactic leaves the druid surrounded by the group and they quickly dispatch her. McCoy finds that his new blood spear fills him with the life force of those he slays with it drawing their last breaths into him as renewed vigor.

The group decides that following the road up the hill is too dangerous; they cannot face all of the patrols surrounding the hill. They decide instead to scale the hill using ropes. Tying some of their ropes together, McCoy uses his unnatural strength to scale the face of the hill and lower the rope, secured by a piton, to his companions below. They climb the rope and make their way up to the third tier avoiding any Wild Folk patrols.

They repeat the process to the fourth tier, but Elora struggles to make it up the rope, exhausted from the climb so far. She instead ties the rope around her, and the group is able to haul her up the remaining 100 feet to the hill’s plateau.

They find there a wide ring of towering black stones in a field of dead grass. Lightning strikes the black stones sporadically, illuminating a tall, wicker statue of a man in a long cape with fangs. The statue is packed with black earth. Cautiously approaching the ring, they notice more of the berserker guards at the entrance. They decide to attack at a distance and lure out the warriors into the open with the spellcasters protected behind a line of melee fighters.

The plan works, and the berserkers fight their way across the field where they are cut down. As the group advances, they see more druids and berserkers inside the ring. A deep path is cut through the earth creating a series of forking paths beneath slopes of higher ground. The druids attack from the slopes while the berserkers face the group on the path. The group slowly advances, killing the guards at the entrance and making their way into the circle.

McCoy heads south up one of the slopes to finish off the remaining druid while Riley heads up the north slope. The rest of the group moves down the path between. Lancelot protests the separation from Riley, but she tells him to stay with the others and protect them. As they enter the circle, they male druids surrounding the wicker man statue and realize some sort of ritual is being performed which they must disrupt. Elora acts immediately and launches a bolt of fire at the wicker man. The statue is scorched by her attack, but she is disappointed that it does not catch fire due to the cold earth packed within it.

Elora’s attack draws the attention of all of the Wild Folk including their high druid, Svarog, a man with face painted like a skull wearing a helm with large antlers on it. It also alerts the Wild Folk’s guest, the vampire bride Volenta! She rushes down the path heading straight towards the group. Svarog casts a massive wall of fire which roars up behind her and blocks access to the ritual from the path. Riley tells the group she will work her way around from the plateau to circumvent the wall of fire.

Johan and Ireena stand around the bend as Volenta closes in on them. Lancelot rushes in front of Ireena to protect her. Volenta enters into melee with them silently, unfazed by Lancelot. Bramo quickly moved into position and unleashed magical fire attacks on her. She seized Bramo and sank her fangs into his neck, drinking his blood and draining out his life essence. As Johan and McCoy flanked her raining down attacks, Volenta cracked open one of her bone dolls which unleashed the tormented spirit held within. It’s traumatic screams tore through the minds of those nearby.

Elora made her way up the slope following Riley and Bronwyn, she targeted Volenta below her with rays of radiant light, searing the vampire! Bramo cast a spell of sanctuary on himself to protect himself from Volenta.

Svarog turned his attention to the approaching women on his flank, casting a spell which tore up the earth beneath Bronwyn and Elora. The broken earth shunted up at steep angles make it difficult for them to stand or walk over it and slowing their progress towards the ritual.

Volenta disappeared in the shadows during the chaotic melee and the group lost sight of her. Suddenly, she was on the slope behind Elora! She slashed with her claws and dropped her unconscious and bleeding on the ground. Then she sank her fangs into the unconscious Elora drinking her blood and nearly killing her!

Ireena was incensed and rushed up the slope to Elora’s side screaming at Volenta to, “get away from my sister, you bitch!” Volenta dodged her attack with unnatural reflexes, but the move left her open to a counterattack from Bronwyn! Ireena commanded her to “shoot this bitch!” and Bronwyn was happy to oblige, blasting Volenta with eldritch energy!

Riley, seeing Elora in danger, abandoned her advance on the ritual and rushed back to save her. She couldn’t get close enough to use her sword and drew her crossbow instead. She leveled it at Volenta as she ran and fired a crossbow bolt into her heart! Volenta dropped to the ground dead. Ireena helped Elora sit up as Bronwyn gave her a healing potion. Elora woke up confused and weak, and Ireena hugged her fiercely.

With Volenta dispatched, McCoy scrambled up the north slope to join Riley. As he approached the ritual, Svarog cast a spell to delay him. The entire circle was suddenly overgrown with plants and vines everywhere rising up from the dead grass to form a thick foliage. Everyone was stuck in thick growth forced to hack or burn their way through it to advance.

McCoy reached the druids the performing the ritual and managed to kill two of them, but Piddlewick was knocked from his shoulder in the battle. Killing the two druids failed to stop the ritual and the wicker man burst open revealing a twisted, black tree creature. At its heart was the green glow of the Martikov’s gem!

With the ritual completed, Svarog dropped the wall of fire and turned his attention on the group. He called down a sparkling beam of moonlight from the waning moon above them. McCoy and Piddlewick were both caught in the blast with Piddlewick breaking apart and falling to the ground unmoving!

The giant tree blight, Wintersplinter, turned its attention to McCoy and Riley. Long roots reached out and wrapped around them crushing and piercing them both. Bramo, Bronwyn, and Elora all too far away from the enemy launched their spells at the looming Wintersplinter, the only target they could easily see. The barrage of spells battered the creature inflicting heavy damage on it.

Johan, Riley, McCoy, and Ireena all fought their way through the plant growth trying to get closer to the druids and Wintersplinter. Johan used the power of his goddess to step through the mists and appear beside Wintersplinter. He hacked away at the tree with his greatsword felling the creature and revealing the Martikov’s gem in the splintered remains.

The other druids joined in with Svarog and unleashed moonbeams and gouts of fire at the approaching group. The moonbeams drop Riley and Johan leaving only McCoy to stand against the druids. Ireena and Lancelot rush to Riley’s side and stabilize her and then do the same for Johan.

The spellcasters moved to forward to have an angle on the battle and caught the remaining druids in a crossfire of spells. Bronwyn’s eldritch magic slew the high druid Svarog! With only a pair of druids remaining, McCoy got close enough to launch his javelins at them. Pausing to remove them from a druid’s corpse he launched the final volley into the last druid and killed him.

The group collapsed after the difficulty battle, tending to their wounded and unconscious. Some of Granny’s pies were force fed to Riley and Johan in order to return them to consciousness. McCoy went to help his friend Piddlewick but found the puppet limp and lifeless. He clutched the body against him; the first casualty of Strahd’s evil.

The group got out of sight as Escher returned to the castle. Once he was gone, Johan and Bramo went out to confront the wagon driver before he departed. The driver was Maynard Belview, another beast of a man with animal parts and deformities hidden from sight with a large cloak. He spoke in a grunting, growling voice, but was able to hold a conversation better than Cyrus could. He had no reservation asking the questions put to him and freely provide what he knew.

He was here to make the deliveries and relay information to the Abbot. The Abbot was building a gift for Strahd, a living bride made of flesh and blood. Maynard wasn’t sure how the Abbot was making the bride or where the parts came from, but he knew that the Abbot was very powerful and could accomplish great things. He always came here each week and met with Escher. He wasn’t sure how long he had been coming here or how long the Abbot had been working on the bride.

The pair relayed this to the rest of the group. They decided they needed to speak to Escher and see if he could fill in some of the blanks for them. They weren’t sure how that would go or if this constituted a betrayal or not. They have Rahasia return them to Escher’s suite and remain outside in the other room.

Escher was pleased to see them again, hoping for some excitement. The group told him that they had heard some things recently. He was anxious to hear any gossip they had. They told him it was about him, and he was intrigued that they were going to air his dirty laundry. The group told him they had followed him and overheard his conversation with Maynard. Escher admitted playfully that he had been “sneaking around being a naughty boy” and now “daddy Strahd” was going to “give him a spanking.”

The group asked him if he was worried about Strahd’s punishment, but Escher didn’t believe he had done anything wrong. He explained that the Abbot had come up with the idea that rather than wait for the cycle of Tatyana’s reincarnation to play out again, that he would build the perfect bride for Strahd in order to make him happy and break the cycle. This perfect bride would serve as the vessel for Tatyana’s soul. The Abbot, however skilled he was at creating life, was no artist to recreate Tatyana’s likeness and had reached out to Escher for help in that area. Escher had been feeding him information for some time now based on the painting of Tatyana and the other reincarnations Escher had seen over the years.

Escher’s thought was that helping the Abbot achieve this would either result in making Strahd happy, for which Escher might be praised, and maybe even released, or Strahd would be so offended it would create entertaining drama for Escher. Either way, it wouldn’t be boring. The group tell him they have to inform Strahd of this and he seems indifferent to it. He isn’t sure how Strahd will see things, but Escher can only wait and see.

The party feels bad for Escher, but they also believe this is the betrayal they were meant to uncover. They decide no matter how they feel about it, they need to honor their deal with Strahd. They return to the dining room and give Strahd the news. Strahd is somewhat surprised to learn that Escher is involved. The whole thing seems out of character for him. He is less surprised by the Abbot’s meddling. He is grateful to the group for their help and thanks them. He will deal with the parties involved swiftly in his own way. Strahd intends to honor their agreement and grant them their boon at this time.

The group discusses a number of different boons they could ask for including leaving Elora and Ireena alone, a set of tinker’s tools and a pearl, lots of treasure, a promise not to marry Ireena or Elora without consent, access to Strahd’s library, or removing Riley’s cursed tattoo. They finally settle for information about the whereabouts of the Martikov gem stolen by an angel. Strahd is amused by this request and tells them they need to speak to the Abbot about that. The group thanks him and they leave. Before they depart, Strahd kisses Elora and Ireena’s hands and tells them he hopes to see them again soon.

The group gets back into Strahd’s black carriage, and it drives them out of the castle back towards Vallaki. Elora is shaken from her experience in the castle, finally letting out the anxiety she was holding in. Ireena is relieved saying it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be; Strahd was actually nice to them. The group reiterates to Ireena what a monster Strahd is listing off some of his crimes such as genocide. They tell her he wasn’t nice; he was just being civil with them. Ireena explains that she was just expecting Strahd to be more of a monster, and she was surprised that he was nice to them.

The group reaches Vallaki just before dawn, and they quickly enter the gates and head back to the Church of St. Andral’s. There, Father Petrovich is rising to perform services in honor of the Morninglord. He is overjoyed to see the group return in one piece, exhausted, but alive. Bramo asks Father Petrovich where he might be able to find some “domestic pets” in Vallaki, listing off the ingredients Jeny asked him to find. Father Petrovich immediately realizes what Bramo is asking and tries to steer him away from black magic and witchery. Bramo tries to justify his actions saying he doesn’t think it’s inherently evil to enchant a magic rod, and Johan tries to support his case. Father Petrovich thinks they both need the guidance of the Morninglord and entreats them both to join him in prayer which they do.

Elora speaks to Milivoj and tells him he doesn’t need to deliver her letter and can just return it to her. Milivoj is confused, telling her delivered the letter yesterday as he promised. Elora had intended him to deliver the letter only if she didn’t return, but Milivoj had misunderstood her. He apologizes profusely. Elora is vexed, but she forgives the boy. She asks if he can do her the favor of returning 2 gold pieces to the blacksmith Dragomir, she had not meant to charge him for the pies she gave him and would like his money returned. Milivoj promises to take care of it right away and Elora realizes she needs to see Kasimir and explain that she is all right.

The group doesn’t want to spend the day resting but realize that they need to get some sleep. The agree to rest for 4 hours and awaken in the late morning. The group heads over to the Blue Water Inn where they meet Elvir and Dag. Elora wants to head over to the Vistani Camp to let Kasimir know she is all right, but the two men don’t want to go to the camp empty-handed. The group also doesn’t want to leave the men or the wine shipments unguarded, so they agree to return to the Wizard of Wines with them.

They return to the winery where they are chastised by Davian for being away so long. They were worried something had happened to the group and the vineyards are already starting to wither away. The group explains they were unavoidably delayed by Strahd’s invitation and had to intend. They need to return to the Vistani Camp with a shipment of wine, and then they will come back to the winery. They intend to rest for the night and head to Yester Hill in the morning. Davian is concerned that the vineyards are running out of time, but he agrees to go along with their plan.

The group brings a shipment of wine to the Vistani Camp and are greeted by thunderous applause! The Vistani come rushing out to meet them, shouting and cheering for their shipment of wine. The group are praised again as heroes. Luvash welcomes Bronwyn and thanks her for her gracious help. He again offers the group something from their treasure wagon for their help. The group is very interested in a crate of potions that Luvash has, but he tells them not to select those and that they should choose something else. He says that the potions are not as effective as they claim.

The group is confused and press him further, eager to have the potions. Luvash finally concedes that the potions are fakes. They claim that the potions allow you to travel safely through the mists, and they sell them to gullible strangers for money. The group doesn’t completely believe him, but they decide to choose a wooden chest instead. Inside of the chest are over 1000 electrum coins each bearing the visage of Strahd on them. The group is overjoyed at their influx of wealth and plan how they will spend it. Luvash compliments Bronwyn again, and the two of them sit and drink wine in his tent while flirting with each other.

Elora, Ireena, and Riley all go to see Kasimir at his home. On her way inside, Elora speaks with the guard Paeyth. She apologizes for being short with him the other day and explains she was under a lot of stress at the time. Paeyth is gentle with her and explains that with all he and his people have endured over the years a little rudeness is nothing he can’t handle. They have a pleasant chat and then the group goes inside.

Elora cries out to her father, and he answers, calling her Irezora. He rushes to embrace her and stops to compose himself at the last second. She throws her arms around him and they embrace. She can feel he is frail beneath his robes. He tells her he has been worried sick about her and feared the worst. He was preparing to head up to the castle and use all of his magic to tear down the walls themselves to get her back! Elora apologizes and explains the misunderstanding with Milivoj. She didn’t mean to worry him, but she wasn’t sure how things would play out.

The two of them are somewhat awkward together, but both eager for a relationship. They explain that they are not ready for this to end as they are only just starting to get to know each other. Ireena comments to Riley how cute the two of them are together and tears up watching them. Elora is traumatized by her visit and shares some of the details with her father. Ireena tells him it wasn’t so bad and that Strahd was nice to them. Elora tells Ireena to stop calling Strahd nice!

Elora mentions to Kasimir that he spoke about the Vistani family that helped smuggle her out of Barovia. Kasimir recalls them fondly as they were dear friends of his. Elora tells him that Riley was that little girl he knew as Rahela. Riley is uncomfortable being put on the spot, but she acknowledges the truth of it. Kasimir is surprised and overcome by the coincidence that the two should both return here together to the place of their birth. He approaches Riley, embraces her, and awkwardly kisses both of her cheeks in an imitation of a Vistani greeting, telling her she is most welcome in his home. Riley awkwardly accepts this greeting while trying to explain she doesn’t know anything about her people or their culture.

Kasimir asks about how her parents Nicolae and Gildi are doing in the other world and wonders why they have never returned. Riley explains that her parents are dead. Kasimir is sorry to hear that and asks what happened. She explains that they were killed in a carriage accident when she was very young. Kasimir is horrified as he begins putting the pieces together, realizing that her parents died transporting his wife and daughter. Kasimir is distraught and apologetic, cursing himself for his sins and blaming himself for their deaths.

Riley explains that it’s fine. She’s okay. It’s all right. She had a fine upbringing. Elora is horrified that Riley is downplaying all of this. Kasimir is overwhelmed with guilt. He explains that Riley’s parents were like family to him, and that she should consider him a second father to her. She can always rely on him, and she is always welcome in his home. He will do anything he can to make this up to her and atone for his sins. He awkwardly hugs her again and kisses her cheeks. Riley tells him that it’s fine, it’s not a big deal.

Elora tells Kasimir her plans to head to Yester Hill and retrieve something there stolen from the Martikovs. Kasimir is curious about what was stolen from them, but Elora says it is not her place to say, and he respects that. Kasimir tells her Yester Hill is an ancient burial place of the Wild Folk and that it was once a holy place honoring the Ladies Three. He tells her that the hill was once the Mountain Fane honoring the Huntress, but the site has been desecrated. He warns her that she is sure to find unholy creatures there. Elora tells him she will be careful. They have another awkward goodbye, and she departs.

On her way out, Paeyth speaks with her asking how she is and making sure she is okay. Elora explains that everything is fine. Paeyth tells her it was nice seeing her again and he is available if she ever has need of him. Elora thanks him and departs.

As they climb the hill towards the Vistani Camp, Arrabelle appears and takes Elora’s hand. She asks how her dinner with Strahd went. Elora says it was all right, and Arrabelle tells her she knew it would go well. Arrabelle is really looking forward to getting her new doll, and Elora and Riley assure her it will be best doll in all of Barovia. Arrabelle wishes them well on Yester Hill. Elora tells her they are planning to go their tomorrow morning. Arrabelle is disturbed by that and says that’s okay if that’s what she wants to do. Elora is worried and asks if there is a problem. She thinks it’s more dangerous to go to Yester Hill at night and wants to know if Arrabelle thinks something different. Arrabelle tells her that is true, it will be worse for the group to go at night, but it will be worse for others if they wait to go during the day. Elora takes the warning to heart and agrees to discuss it with the group.

Elora delivers Arrabelle’s warning to the rest of the group. They talk about it and decide that they need to go to Yester Hill right away. Arrabelle’s predictions are always true and she has never misled them. Despite the dangers, they will go.

By the time they return to the Wizard of Wines, the sun is already setting. On their walk through the forest leading to the hill, it becomes fully dark. Along the way they run into one of the Wild Folk, another woman in horns and animal skins commanding a large group of the twig blights. Ireena moves into position waiting for the blights to come to her. Lancelot rushes into battle barking loudly at the blights and frightening some of them. Elora and Bronwyn keep their distance and attack the blights and the wild woman with fire and eldritch magic. Johan rushes to the front of the battle to keep Lancelot from being surrounded. McCoy follows behind with Piddlewick on his shoulder while Bramo circles around the enemy through the woods.

Riley has to sprint to catch up to Lancelot and they face off against the blights. The blights close in around them and attack, but the groups keeps from being surrounded. The wild woman rushes into the midst of the group and casts a thunderous explosion which seriously injures Lancelot and Piddlewick knocking both of them back along with McCoy.

Bronwyn kills the woman with her magic blasts, allowing Riley to cut her way through the blights. Johan and Elora support her picking off the remaining blights on the hill as one of the blights closes in on Bramo! Bramo is wounded in the exchange but manages to incinerate the blight with magical fire. McCoy attacks the final two blights by seizing one of them and using it to batter the other. They are both smashed into splinters and destroyed!

The group rests up and they use healing kits on both Lancelot and Piddlewick. Lancelot is also given one of Granny’s dream pastries to heal him further. Riley sits down with Lancelot and has serious talk with him. She tells him that she knows he wants to help, but he needs to stay by her side and let her protect him. He can’t go rushing ahead all the time and getting into trouble. He needs to stay close to her. Lancelot barks in acknowledgement and agrees to obey. The group gathers themselves together and prepared to reach Yester Hill.

To prepare for their dinner with Strahd, the group went to procure appropriate clothing for the evening. They managed to locate a clothier in Vallaki, Endless Delights Clothiers run by three siblings, Alek, Andrej, and Alana Alastroi. There was no time for them to get any custom orders completed, but Alana was able to modify some pieces she had available to dress everyone appropriately. The clothing was expensive though, costing each of them 15 gold pieces which they reluctantly paid.

McCoy also wanted to look his best and decided he needed to buff and polish his body to make it shine. He went to the Cracked Anvil to visit the Dwarven blacksmith, Dragomir Ulbrek. Dragomir was very excited to see the group and told them how much he had enjoyed Granny’s dream pastry. It was the best night of sleep he ever had, and he was anxious for more of the pies. Elora agreed to sell him another two pies for 1 gold piece each. Dragomir hesitated at the price, but quickly produced the money. Johan reminded him that if he wanted more pies, he could get them at the Old Windmill. Dragomir thanked them and said he would let others know to come to them for pies. He was so excited to receive the pies that he gave the polishing compound to McCoy for free.

The group briefly discussed whether or not they should still be distributing the pies. They were told by the Martikovs that Granny and her daughters were hags that ate children, and they also suspected that the pies were made from orphans. They dismissed this information as mere rumors and decided not to look into the matter.

Back at the Blue Water Inn, McCoy set to work polishing his body with the compound while the others were able to have free baths from Urwin. The group ask Elvir and Dag to stay the night at the inn, and they will depart for the Wizard of Wines in the morning. The two men agree.

Elora was worried about what might happen to her up at the castle. She was unsure if they would be captured or killed while there. She decided to write a letter to her father, Kasimir, in case anything should happen. There was no time for her to deliver the letter herself, so she paid 5 gold pieces to Milivoj to deliver the letter for her. The boy promised he would get the letter to him.

While at the Church of St. Andral’s, the group stores all of their weapons and armor in the safe-keeping of Father Petrovich. They will travel to the castle armed only with daggers and their spells. Father Petrovich says a blessing over the group and tells them to remain strong in the Morninglord’s light and not be swayed by evil. Riley tries to leave Lancelot behind as well, fearing for his safety and that he may attack all the vampires there. Lancelot becomes very agitated, barking and running around the church. He refuses to calm down until Riley agrees to take him with her. She is reluctant to bring him and tells him he needs to behave.

Cleaned, polished, and dressed in their fine clothes, the group heads out the East gate of Vallaki hoping to rent a carriage or wagon to bring them to Castle Ravenloft, but they find Strahd’s Black Carriage waiting outside for them. They climb uneasily into the vehicle for their long journey. They travel for several hours in the carriage, drawn by the massive, black horses of the carriage directed by some unseen force. Their journey brings them along the road, through the forests, and up into the mountains towards the peak where Castle Ravenloft lies.

They arrived well after sundown, the spires of the castle looming over them. A stone archway led through to a bridge spanning a deep chasm. Heavy, wooden doors swung open on the far side of the bridge as their carriage crossed over. They peered out the windows at the dizzying drop below them. As the carriage entered the courtyard, the heavy gates swung shut behind them, sealing them inside. They exited the carriage and it rode away around the back of the castle. Before them, the double-doors to the castle hung open, light spilling out into the courtyard.

As they entered into the castle, they saw four stone, dragon statues staring down at them above the torches. Double-doors on the far side of the room remained closed. They crossed the room to knock, and as they touched the doors, they swung open. Standing on the other side in an elegant black gown, sword at her hip, was Rahasia, sister of Strahd. She welcomed the group into a cobwebbed entry room lit by sputtering torches with tall pillars flanked by statues of gargoyles. Staircases and hallways led out of the room, and Rahasia led the group through the southern hall.

The faint sound of music could be heard in the hall, growing louder as they walked down it. Rahasia led them into an elegant dining room with a long table set beneath glittering, crystal chandeliers. At the far end of the room stood an impressive organ set between floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Sitting with his back to them, a caped figure expertly played the organ. The group entered and politely listened to the music as the figure completed the song.

He turned to greet them revealing a handsome, young man with sharp features, pale skin, and long, black hair. He was dressed in fine clothes, with a deep red tunic and a black cape over his shoulders. He stood and introduced himself as their host, Count Strahd von Zarovich, Lord of Barovia. The group all introduced themselves, and he asked them to take a seat at the table on its left side. He explained that the right side was reserved for their other guests. After they are seated, he motions to Rahasia who ushers in another group of people. In walked a procession of four women and one man, all dressed in elegant dresses and attire.

The first to enter was a teenage girl with brown hair in a purple dress. The group didn’t recognize her, but Lancelot immediately began barking and ran over to her enthusiastically. The girl looked embarrassed and shooed the dog away, but he would not leave her side. Riley had to come and drag him away. Rahasia made a snide comment about them bringing their animals to dinner and insulted Bramo as well. Strahd reminded them all to behave and remain civil to one another. The girl introduced herself as Gertruda, and the group realized she was Mad Mary’s missing daughter!

Following behind her in in an elegant, red gown was a beautiful woman with long, dark hair they recognized as Anastrasya, Strahd’s wife they had met on the road. Seated next to her was a tall, dark-skinned woman with her braided hair piled high on her head behind a golden headdress. She wore a white gown and introduced herself as Ludmilla another of Strahd’s brides. Next was a shorter woman, with long black hair and pale, white skin. She wore a yellow gown and black lipstick. Her face was cold and emotionless. She introduced herself as Volenta, another of Strahd’s brides. Dressed in all black with a little crown on his head, was beautiful, young man with pale skin and pale, almost white, blonde hair. He introduced himself as Escher, yet another bride of Strahd.

Strahd spoke with the group answering their questions and telling them about himself. He told them that he was not from Barovia originally. He was a conqueror like his father before him and was a general in his father’s armies. He pursued their enemies here to this valley and defeated them. He fell in love with the beautiful countryside and decided to settle here naming the land after his father, King Barov. He built this castle for them as a new home for his family and named it in honor of his mother, Queen Ravenovia.

He tells them that he has been stuck in an endless cycle of tragedy. His love, Tatyana, is reborn over and over again, and before the two of them can be reunited, tragedy strikes, and Tatyana dies again being forever out his reach. He hopes and prays that there is a way to end the cycle, and he is optimistic about this new development. Never before have two women been born with the soul of Tatyana at the same time. He hopes this means that it will end differently this time.

He understands that this is strange and overwhelming for Elora and Ireena, and he doesn’t mean to frighten them. For them, this is all new and will take some time to process, but he has been through this many times with many different reincarnations of Tatyana. He is hoping to get to know the two of them and find a way to end the cycle.

Strahd asks the group a little about themselves asking where they are from, what gods they worship, what they like and dislike about Barovia and how they think the lives of his people could be improved. The group tells him about their home world of Akleatuary and the many wonders it contains. They worship many different gods there, and they have wonderful machines such as train that carry them from place to place. Ludmilla is fascinated by the trains and how they are driven by steam power. Bramo explains the principles to her and offers to demonstrate on a small scale with some of his magical tinkering.

Bronwyn tells him how much she enjoys the wine in Barovia, and how it is the best thing about the place. Strahd serves her one of the last remaining bottles of Champagne du Stomp from his private collection, and she cannot get enough of it. The maid Helga comes around the table frequently to refill her glass for her. They tell Strahd they are not a fan of all the mindless undead wandering around and the deadly wolves. Escher makes a comment about knowing what it’s like to be surrounded by mindless undead. The group tells Strahd the best thing he could do for the people would be to make the sun shine for them. Strahd bemusedly apologizes that he cannot do that for them.

Strahd asks Elora about what brought her to Barovia, and she tells him she came seeking the knowledge of the Theurgian Society. Strahd is impressed saying that he knows firsthand how impressive their knowledge is. He asks more about her passion for arcane knowledge and tells her it is a passion he also shares. He asks Ireena if she is all passionate about such research.

Ireena tells him she was not raised as a scholar, but rather as a noble and a diplomat. She is very much her father’s daughter. Strahd offers his condolences again over the death of her father praising him as a loyal servant for many years. Ireena mentions the unfortunate incident between Rahasia and Bramo and how it distressed her. Rahasia downplays the incident noting that Bramo is alive and well at the table. Strahd is displeased and though maintaining his composure, coolly tells his sister carry out his instructions with greater care in the future. She agrees to do so.

Anastrasya asks about any great parties or galas they have been to and both Bramo and Bronwyn regale her with tales from their pasts. Anastrasya is very interested but is convinced that no one at those parties could have been as elegant or beautiful as she is.

Escher asks if they have seen any great musicians and performances. Bramo tells him about a talented singer he saw perform and Bronwyn tells him about her love for the theater especially musical theater. Escher is delighted to hear about it bemoaning the lack of art and culture in Barovia.

Ludmilla asks if they have visited any famous libraries or places of magical power. She is fascinated as Elora tells her about her work in the arcane library and the Vaegwyce Institute. The concept of a magical university is enticing to her.

Volenta interrupts asking about any famous graves they have visited or necromancers they have met. They tell her they have not been visited either.

Gertruda asks if they have been to any famous weddings between princes and princesses. Bronwyn tells her she hasn’t, but she has been to the wedding of a lord and lady before. Gertruda dreamily tells them about how she will soon be marrying her prince. They ask her if she will be inviting her mother, Mad Mary, and she gets defensive coming up with excuses why she cannot attend. Strahd offers to arrange to have her brought to the castle, but Gertruda refuses.

After dinner, Strahd dismisses his brides and speaks to the group in private. He asks them what they think of his brides and if they made any impression on them. The group is diplomatic in their responses. He asks them if they are willing to perform a task for him. In return, he is willing to grant them any one boon of their choosing within his power to give them. A few nights ago, he met with Madam Eva. She performed a reading for him and told him that one of his brides has betrayed him. He wants the group to investigate them and find out who has betrayed him, what they have done, and why they have done it. He asks them to get either a confession or irrefutable proof of the deed to present to him. He knows that the traitor is definitely not Gertruda or Rahasia, but one of the other brides.

The group agrees to help Strahd and begin their investigation. Rahasia takes them through the castle past an abandoned chapel where a cloaked figure lays slumped over an altar next to a mace. She leads them upstairs through more hallways to a large audience hall with a broken glass window and a throne on a dais. Anastrasya is there dancing by herself through the hallway. She greets the group and asks Elora if she knows how to dance. Elora says she does not, and Anastrasya offers to teach her, sweeping her up off her feet and dancing her around the room rapidly. The dance becomes more violent the longer they dance with Elora finally being whipped away from her to spin into Riley and Ireena who catch her.

Johan volunteers to be her dance partner instead and manages with some effort to keep up with her. Anastrasya is impressed that the old man knows how to dance. The group asks her some questions and quickly find that she is very self-absorbed, turning the topic of the conversation back to herself. She tells them that Strahd loves her because she is the most beautiful and elegant woman in Barovia. Ludmilla hates her because she is boring and dried up. Strahd is bored with her and get rid of her. She is just jealous of Anastrasya.

She tells the group about her love of throwing parties and how she loves greeting the spirits of the dead who march each night through the castle from the Village of Barovia. She explains that the spirits are the remains of those who fought against Strahd in the rebellion led by the Mad Mage. Every night they march through the castle to plunge off the highest peak to the cliffs below. She’s not sure, but she thinks maybe there are less spirits now. It’s possible that Volenta has been stealing them to place inside of her bone dolls. She thinks Volenta is a creep and Strahd should get rid of her.

The group try to convince her to get Strahd to throw a party for all of Barovia. It will be a Name Day celebration in honor of Anastrasya, Anastrasya Day. Anastrasya, is thrilled by the idea! She would love for everyone to be honoring her and giving her attention. The group wonders if they are helping or hurting Barovia with this suggestion.

Rahasia leads them upstairs through many levels of the castle to the upper spires where Escher is lounging. He is bored and excited to see the group. He happily gossips with them about the castle and its inhabitants. They learn that he is a former Bard from the City of Greyhawk on Oerth. He and his adventuring party were drawn through the mists to Barovia long ago. He didn’t want to become a vampire, but the alternative was death like his other party members, and he much prefers being alive, or at least undead. Being a vampire isn’t so bad except that Barovia is so boring and dreary.

Escher enjoys Anastrasya’s company because she’s not boring, and she sometimes throws parties even if they aren’t very good. It’s hard to be a successful performer without an audience. Ludmilla acts like everyone’s mother, but she doesn’t give him much trouble. Volenta is creepy and also not very bright. Gertruda is hilariously stupid, and he would love to devour her if only Strahd would let him.

Escher is unhappy being stuck in Barovia. He wishes he was free of Strahd and able to travel the multiverse as a vampire. He would have an eternity to see all its wonders, but all he sees here is the same gray landscape out the tower windows each day. He explains that since he was created by Strahd he will forever be his thrall and unable to oppose his will. All of his spawn are the same way, and the thing he fears the most is being discarded by Strahd.

The group returns to the dining room downstairs and Ludmilla is brought to speak with them. Ludmilla is poised and intelligent. She is very reserved and confident in herself and not what the group was expecting. She hates Anastrasya because she is so loud and self-centered. Escher, she likes because he fulfills his role entertaining Strahd. She knows that Strahd no longer loves her, but he keeps her around because she has remained useful to him. She recruits new brides for him and helps to manage his household. She regrets ever recruiting Anastrasya and bringing her to Strahd. She thinks Anastrasya is too reckless and ill-mannered and will surely do something soon to anger Strahd. She believes Gertruda is dull but obedient and will make an excellent replacement for Anastrasya.

She thinks Volenta is well-behaved, always quiet and following orders, but she is an uneducated brute only good for killing and torture. The group asks if Ludmilla worries about being replaced or angering Strahd. She believes that she can remain useful to Strahd, and if he ever gets rid of her, it will be because of her own failings to live up to his expectations. She tells the group she was recruited centuries ago for her keen intelligence. Strahd trained her as his wizard’s apprentice and no other bride is as powerful with magic as she is. Ludmilla excuses herself after answering their questions to return to her arcane research and experiments.

The group heads back upstairs to speak with Strahd’s accountant, Lief Lipsiege. Lief is an old man chained to a table in a room filled with papers and ledgers. They ask him if he has noticed anything unusual in Strahd’s accounts, and he immediately points out an irregularity with shipments to the castle. The castle has been receiving a weekly shipment of medical supplies from the Abbey of St. Markovia and it is entirely too frequent. Lief believes there is no way the castle is consuming supplies at that rate, and a more reasonable schedule would be monthly shipments. The group asks to see the ledgers and he shows them the shipments have been arriving weekly for the past few months.

Lief doesn’t have access to the purchase orders as, unfortunately, most orders are placed verbally with their suppliers and Lief is lucky to receive the invoices. He shows the delivery receipts have been signed by Maynard Belview who always delivers the goods.

The group asks Lief how he likes his job. He tells them that he loves it. He has been working there since he was a young man. He wasn’t that fond of the position for the first 20 years or so, but he has found the last 40 years to be very fulfilling. He has no desire to leave his position and doesn’t even notice the chain around his ankle. He just wishes that Strahd would listen to his suggestions to better organize their purchasing and fill out more paperwork in triplicate for his records. He is also upset that Strahd has shared the full contents of all his hidden treasures within the castle so that Lief can do a full accounting for the treasury.

The group returns to the dining room and Volenta is brought up from the dungeons to speak with them. She is now wearing a skull mask which completely covers her face. She refers to the mask as her “true face” and says that she is able to wear it now that dinner is concluded. Strahd forced her to remove it for dinner in order to appear “presentable” for his guests. Volenta is cold and emotionless while answering questions in a stilted, childlike manner. Johan quickly concludes that the woman is a sociopath with no true empathy. Volenta tells them that she likes to work with bone and loves carving bone dolls. She believes that bones are imbued with the spirits of the dead and carry them inside. She loves acquiring new bones for her collection not from corpses, but by cutting them out of living victims.

She is utterly devoted to Strahd and believes they have an undying love. Whatever he has with the other brides doesn’t matter because only their love is real. She loves Strahd because he elevated her to be so much more than she could have been on her own. She loves sneaking around the castle and following people without them knowing she is there. Strahd likes to use her whenever he needs a quiet spy or if he needs someone assassinated.

Volenta thinks Ludmilla is inspiring. She works hard and takes care of Strahd and the other brides. Ludmilla uses a lot of big words though that Volenta doesn’t understand. She thinks Anastrasya doesn’t know her place, she only cares about herself and doesn’t serve Strahd as she should. Escher complains too much. She thinks if someone has does something wrong, then Escher is the guilty party because he is always complaining. She is fascinated by Gertruda and really wants to know the sounds Gertruda would make if she stuck her with her dagger. The group tells her they don’t think Gertruda would like that. Volenta says she knows that, but she wants to know what it would sound like. She likes Cyrus, the butler, because he also makes things out of bones, and he is always giving her new bones to play with.

The group asks her if she ever uses bandages or medical supplies for her experiments, but she tells them she doesn’t. She just likes to use fresh bones and carve them with her dagger. She doesn’t need any other supplies.

The group ask to speak with the maid, Helga. She tells them she is a poor village girl, the daughter of the bootmaker in the Village of Barovia. She is terrified of Strahd and wants to escape the castle. She asks the group if they can help her. They tell her they can try, but they can’t make any promises. She tells them it’s not her place to talk about the residents of the castle as she is just a humble maid, but when pressed provides her opinions of them. She tells them that Anastrasya talks too much. She is always telling the Lord’s business to the spirits that pass through the castle, what Strahd is up to, what he is planning, who, and when. She’s not sure what the spirits can do with that information, but Anastrasya shouldn’t be running her mouth so much. Ludmilla is no longer wanted by Strahd. She is old news, and she should watch out that he doesn’t get rid of her. Volenta is a creep always lurking around the dungeons playing with her dolls. She thinks she puts the souls of the dead into her dolls.

The group thinks Helga is suspicious as she is the only one in the castle openly complaining about Strahd and wanting to leave. They press her and realize that she is lying to them and putting on an act. Johan calls upon his goddess, Lavina, to sense that she is secretly a vampire as well! They ask Ireena if she knows this girl. Ireena looks her over and judges them to be about the same age. She should know the girl but has never seen her before in her life. Also, she doesn’t know of there being any bootmaker in the Village of Barovia for a long time. Helga tells her they simply moved in different circles, she was a lowly peasant, not the magistrate’s daughter. But the Village of Barovia only has a few hundred people in it, and Ireena knows all of them. Helga is not even able to tell them the former magistrate’s name!

Helga admits that she was lying and said all of that to trick them. She was hoping to fool them and feed on them later. The group asks a few more questions about the other brides and threaten to pin the betrayal on her if she doesn’t help them. Helga calls their bluff and tells them Strahd would never believe them. She is loyal and loves her lord. Anything contradictory to that was a ruse to trick them. As they are unable to trust anything she says, they dismiss her.

They ask Rahasia her opinion about what is going on in the castle. She tells them she thinks the group is stupid and this whole investigation is a waste of time. Her brother never should have gotten them involved. If he wanted a traitor rooted out, all he had to do was ask her, and she would get to the bottom of it. She asks them if they are ready to give up and tell Strahd that they’ve failed, but they refuse. They ask to speak to the butler Cyrus instead. Rahasia finds this idea amusing for some reason and eagerly fetches Cyrus.

Cyrus Belview is brought upstairs to meet them. He is a hunchbacked, brute of a man with different animal parts including lizard scales, dog fur, and a duck’s foot. He is barely coherent speaking in a string of grunts and giggles and seeming constantly confused. He has difficulty following their questions and the group has to work hard to get any information out of him. He tells them that he likes Volenta, loves to cook meat and potatoes, bad wives are sent to the cellar, and he likes to work with bone and make sculptures.

He is easily confused during their questioning and thinks the group need to be taken to their rooms. He fondles their backpacks saying he will carry them for the group, and he will take their belongings soon. They ask if he is related to Maynard Belview, and he tells them that he is, but it isn’t clear if he is a brother or cousin or what the relationship is between them. The group gets frustrated talking to him and sends him away. Rahasia is very amused by their struggles and asks again if they are ready to give up.

The group formulate some theories about who the traitor might be. They think both Anastrasya and Ludmilla are suspect, but Elora thinks Gertruda is very suspicious because she willingly came to the castle to meet Strahd. They ask to speak to her next.

Gertruda is very sweet, happy, and completely clueless about what is going on in the castle. She tells the group how excited she is for her fairy tale dream to come true by marrying her prince, Strahd. She is going to marry him, have many babies with him, and live happily ever after. The group tries to explain that she cannot have children with Strahd and that he has many other wives. She refuses to listen to them, telling them they are mistaken. She explains that she was locked up in her house her entire life and has never really met a man before. She thinks she saw Ismark once at their door and maybe his father once or twice before that. Everything she knows about the world comes from her mother and her storybooks.

She doesn’t want anything to do with her mother or Lancelot since they are part of her old life. She never wants to go back to the Village of Barovia or be forced to stay inside again. She will never force her children to stay inside and will take them many places with her all over Barovia.

Lancelot is heartbroken that he cannot be reunited with her. He whines and cries and Riley consoles him telling him she will take care of him from now on.

The group tries to convince Gertruda of the truth of her situation, but she cannot be convinced. They don’t ask her any questions about the other brides and simply send her on their way.

Facing a dead end, their only real lead is the strange shipments from the Abbey of St. Markovia. Realizing that another shipment is due that night, they decide to stakeout the shipment and see who comes to meet it. With permission from Rahasia, they hide themselves in one of the gate towers and wait. After an hour of waiting, the shipment finally arrives. A humble wagon driven by a large, cloaked figure arrives at the castle.

They are surprised to see Escher come out to greet the wagon! He makes his way across the courtyard and speaks with the driver. Both of them step into the other guard tower for a private conversation. Bramo sneaks up to the tower to eavesdrop on them while Riley jumps up to the wagon to inspect the crate. Inside she finds medical supplies matching the invoices exactly.

Bramo overhears a strange discussion between Escher and the driver. Escher is describing Ireena and Elora’s appearances in great detail comparing them to the portrait of Tatyana in the study and offering corrections to the driver. He emphasizes such detail as the shape of their noses and the color of their eyes. Bramo isn’t sure what he is listening to and describes it to Johan. He isn’t sure what to make of it either, but Elora is able to figure out that this driver is trying to recreate some sort of likeness of Tatyana, possibly a painting or sculpture.

For some reason, this person is very concerned with recreating an accurate likeness of them. Escher is insistent that the driver take notes on the information he is giving him, but the driver has no paper and poor writing ability. Frustrated, Escher tells him he had better commit the details to memory then!

The group is disappointed that Escher is the apparent traitor as they are fond of him. They are also confused as to what his betrayal actual entails. They resolve to confront Escher and let him explain himself before speaking to Strahd.

Continuing their exploration of the Wizard of Wines, the group investigated the upper floor of the winery. They discovered a small kitchen and pantry along with a few bedrooms: a master bedroom with a baby’s cradle in it and a tapestry depicting the Church of St. Andral’s and two smaller bedrooms containing a pair of bunk beds in them. One of the bedrooms was for children and contained a number of toys in them. There was a strange, black rocking horse with flames for a mane and tail. The horse had the name “Beucephalus” on it, and the slogan, “Is No Fun, Is No Blinsky!”

At the end of the hallway, they found the last door was ajar. Something was moving noisily inside of the room and things were being tossed around inside. The group approached and saw a wild, mud-caked woman tossing through the cabinets, flanked on either side by creatures made of vines! Lancelot rushed into the room, barking angrily at the creatures, and keeping them at bay. McCoy entered and held aloft the black staff trying to invoke its power to command the vine creatures. They did not respond, so he battered them with his mace instead. From his shoulder, Piddlwick threw darts at the enemy.

The rest of the group closed in to join the attack with the spellcasters lining up in the hallway outside the door to use their frost magic against the vines and Bronwyn invoking eldritch power against them. Riley entered the melee beside Lancelot and Johan delivered the killing blow on the wild woman with his greatsword. The enemy dispatched, the group looked over the room and discovered it was a printing press room where the winery made their bottle labels. Bramo was fascinated by the machinery.

The upper level cleared; the group returned to the ground floor. They checked the only unexplored area, the southern room. Inside they found the glassblowing shop Davian had told them about and stairs leading down to the cellar. The group descended and opened the door to the wine cellar.

Inside was another wild man with a staff and five of the needle covered blights. The room was dark and cold, its ceiling supported by wooden beams with mist covering the floor. Wine racks filled with precious bottles of wine separated the two groups. The group made a point not to damage any of the wine; a point ignored by the wild man leading the blights!

The group poured into the cellar and overwhelmed the blights with their attacks, but not before the wild man shattered a number of wine bottles with a thunderous attack against Riley. The man was quickly dispatched along with the last of the blights, and the group mourned the lost bottles.

Searching through the rest of the cellar, they found it empty and intact. There was something off about the room with the wall between its two sides seeming exceptionally thick. The group searched there and discovered secret door!

Opening the door, a blast of cold air came out of the dark passage. Riley and McCoy lit torches as the group entered the rough-carved tunnel. All along the walls, a thick brown mold was growing. The group covered their mouths as they walked past it, but the mold sprung to life! It reached out toward the torches, spreading along the wall and sucked the heat out the torches and McCoy and Johan! The group quickly retreated as Johan was chilled to the bone and nearly frozen solid. They decided whatever was down that hallway was not worth the risk, but they would tell the Martikovs about it.

The group took a few moments to recover. Elora gave Johan one of the healing potions she’d gotten from Claudia Belasco at the orphanage, and he drank it down gratefully. They also took some time to use their healer’s kits and McCoy indulged in another of Granny’s dream pastries. The cellar secure, they returned to the surface.

The group prepared to take on the horde of blights outside. They went up to the upper floor to get a good view of the outside from the windows there. They spotted one large group of blights at the northeast corner near the stables. Bramo took the black staff from McCoy and tried to concentrate with his thoughts to command the blights to stand down. This was not effective, and he realized that if the staff was magical, he made need to spend some time attuning himself to it before he could use its powers. As he held the staff, tendrils of vines tried to burrow into his hand. He thought the prospect of allowing this staff to bond with him was not a good one.

The group returned to the loading dock to prepare for a long battle against the blights. McCoy told the group they just break the staff. The group looked around and thought that might actually work. They all stood back as McCoy held the staff aloft at the end of the dock and broke it! The staff broke easily in his stone hands and let loose a blood-curling scream as it dissolved into ashes! So too did all of the blights in the vicinity disintegrate into ash. The group let out a sigh of relief at the tough battle avoided.

They returned to the Martikovs who were happily waiting for them. Davian asked if the job was done, and Johan told them that it was, earning a hearty embrace from the man. Davian led the group back with his family to winery to pay them for their services. As they departed, the group noticed a large number of ravens taking flight from the trees where the Martikovs had camped. They asked Davian about it, and he explained that they were the symbol of his family and that ravens were considered lucky.

The family looked over the carnage inside of their home and concluded that it was not as bad as they’d expected. Davian was quite surprised that the place had not been burned down and begrudgingly admitted his son Adrian has won their bet.

The group settled into the kitchen while Davian retrieved their reward from one of the bedrooms. He returned and handed Johan a sack containing four precious gems he assured them were worth 50 gold pieces each. The group debated returning the money to the family to allow them to rebuild, but Davian insisted that they honor their original agreement and the group be paid for their help.

The group gave Davian the bad news about the spoiled wine. He was quite upset, but they assured him they could undo the poisoning. Davian told them it was impossible as an antitoxin would spoil the taste of the wine! But Johan told him he would need no antitoxin and would use the purifying magic of his goddess Lavina to do it. Davian was overjoyed taking Johan’s holy symbol in his hands and praising his goddess for her help.

Johan told him he would need some time to rest before he could call upon his goddess, but that he would be able to do it first thing in the morning. Davian told the group that they were all welcome to stay the night at the winery and any time they should need shelter. He explained it was much too dangerous for them to travel on the night of the full moon. Johan asked if that was because of werewolves in the area, and Davian explained that it was. Werewolves were a danger Barovia had been dealing with for a long time.

While the group sat and talked and drank wine with the Martikovs, they asked about the wine and why it was no longer possible to make the Champagne du Stomp or now even the Red Dragon Crush. Davian told them he was willing to share his family’s secret with them.

Long ago, the ancestors of the founders of the winery, who his family had married into, were devout followers of the Three Ladies Fair, ancient nature spirits of the land of Barovia, who were practically gods, long before the land was known as Barovia. This family had been blessed by the Ladies with three magical gemstones, each the size of a pinecone and glowing with a green light. The gemstones were hearts of life which promoted life and growth allowing plants to flourish and grant bountiful harvests. When planted in their fields, the vineyard grew strong and produced grapes of exceptional quality for their wines. Even now, under the perpetually gray skies of Barovia, the vineyard was able to prosper.

With the power of all three gemstones, the vineyard could produce the grapes necessary to make the Champagne du Stomp, with two, they could produce the Red Dragon Crush, and with only one, they could produce the Grapemash No. 3. With no gems, the vineyard would wither and die under the harsh conditions.

Davian explained that the first of these gems was stolen 10 years ago. One of his sons had been on watch duty that night and allowed it to be stolen! He could not explain how the theft had taken place and Davian had disowned the boy. The group asked if this was Urwin and Davian told them not to speak that name in his presence! The loss of the gem prevented them from making any more of the Champagne du Stomp, making it a rare vintage.

Now, 3 weeks ago, a second gem was stolen! Someone had crept through their fields and run off with it. The family tracked the thief south towards the lost village of Berez, but the place is cursed and dangerous, and they were forced to turn back. Now they can only produce the Grapemash No. 3, an unremarkable wine, but at least it is something. Bramo noted that was fine as the Grapemash was his favorite, but Bronwyn was heartbroken over the loss of the Red Dragon Crush and everyone was curious about what the Champagne must have tasted like.

Just as Davian finished his story, his grandson ran in with the horrible news that the third gem had been stolen! The Martikov’s were crushed, denouncing their fate and saying the efforts of the group had been for naught. Davian asked for a dagger from the group so he could slit his throat right there! The group calmed them down and asked them not to take any drastic action. They asked what had happened to the gem and offered to track it down for them.

The family was overjoyed. Davian explained that the Wild Folk must have stolen it when they took over their land. The gem must have been dragged back to their strange gathering at the peak of Yester Hill for some unknown purpose. It would be dangerous to retrieve it from them as hill was a tall peak with spiraling tiers of ancient burial grounds all around it. It must be covered in Wild Folk and their blights. But if the group could return the gems, the Martikovs would be eternally grateful. It would save not only their family and livelihood, but all of Barovia who depended on the wine to get through their dreary existence here.

The group also offered to track down the other gemstones as well. Davian laughed and praised them for their boasting and confidence. He said they should focus on one gemstone first and take it from there. If they got at least one gem, then the vineyard would survive. Otherwise, it would all be withered away within 5 days. The group understood and said they would take care of it.

Davian revealed another secret to the group, now that their fates were so intertwined. He told them that he knew they were the enemies of the Devil Strahd, and that his family too was opposed to him. Their family operated an information network all throughout Barovia gathering intelligence about the movements, motivations, and secrets of different people and factions all with the goal of opposing Strahd and helping the people of Barovia. They wished to ally with the group, and if they could return one of the gems and save the winery, they would put the full force and resources of their organization behind them.

The group was interested in this alliance and said they would definitely help retrieve the gems starting with Yester Hill. Johan asked if they might share some information with them regarding the werewolves. He explained that his son had been taken by them a week ago, and he was desperate to get them back. He wondered if they knew where their lair was. Davian and his son Adrian shared a look. Davian explained that normally he would withhold that information to make sure they followed through on their promise about the gemstones, but he trusted them, and he couldn’t stand the thought of one of his own children being missing like that.

They explained that given how long his son was missing, his prospects weren’t good. Johan understood, but he still had to try. They agreed and told him that the hunting grounds of the wolves were in the woods and hills near Krezk to the north and that their lair was somewhere in the mountains between Krezk and Vallaki. Johan confirmed this information aligned with what he had learned and noted the area described on Ismark’s map.

The group also asked about Granny and the Old Windmill. They asked if there were some sort of rivalry or something between them and the Martikovs. Davian told the group stay away from that place and have no business with those women, for they were no women at all, but evil hags! They hexed, charmed, and bedeviled people! They were known to steal and devour children! The group was disturbed by this information and made no mention of their association with the women or their pies.

McCoy also took a moment to take Davian aside and tell him about the brown mold they discovered in their cellar. Davian laughed and told him that he knew about it. It had been placed there intentionally in order to chill their wine cellar. McCoy relayed their misadventure with the mold and Davian told him he would head down and take care of it to make sure the mold didn’t grow out of control and freeze his wine!

After a meal and some discussion, the group was given one of the bedrooms with a pair of bunk beds while the Martikovs doubled up in the other bedrooms. They all settled in for the night, leery of any dream pastries except for McCoy who indulged in another pie. Lancelot had also eaten one earlier that day and slept soundly and sweetly. McCoy’s thoughts drifted during his inactive period and he had memories of times at sea working as a carpenter building and repairing anything needed by the crew. He recalled all the many ports he had been to all over his world and the sights and sounds of these places, but still could not place the names of his ship or crew.

The rest of the group slept poorly. They were plagued by restlessness and bad dreams; each of them haunted by nightmares. They woke screaming and sweating in the middle of the night barely eking out the rest they desperately needed.

In the morning, McCoy rose delighted and cooked breakfast for everyone along with Lancelot, patting the dog and feeding him bacon as they both felt happy and refreshed. Johan prayed to his goddess and used her power to purify the poisoned wine vats for the Martikovs. The group prepared to head out southwest towards Yester Hill and retrieve the first of the gemstones.

The Martikovs loaded up their prepared wagon with wine for a shipment to the Blue Water Inn in Vallaki. They asked the group to accompany the shipment along the dangerous roads and see that it was delivered safely. The group debated whether they should spend the time to go with the shipment or head directly to Yester Hill before the vineyard withered. They decided it was best to protect the wine shipment and then return with the wagon on their way to Yester Hill later that day. Vallaki was only a few hours away, so they would still have time.

The group rode out to Vallaki along with Davian’s youngest son Elvir and Stefania’s husband Dag Tomascu. The ride to Vallaki was uneventful, and they were rushed through the gates with no trouble by the guards. Heading over to the Blue Water Inn, they were greeted warmly by Urwin who embraced Johan and kissed him on his cheeks. As promised, the group was granted free room and board whenever they required it, and they were invited to stay for lunch. Trying not to waste time, the group took their food to go.

While they were in town, the group wanted to get some shopping done. Elora and Bronwyn wanted to pick up a doll for Arrabelle, McCoy and Johan wanted to get some rope and pitons, and Bramo needed to locate an arcane rod somewhere. They got some directions from Dag Tomascu to Blinsky’s Toys at the center or town, and he also told them about a local hedge witch named Jeny. Jeny operated out of a small hut outside the town limits on the edge of the forest. He told them to head out the east gate, then head north, and follow the edge of the forest northeast until they spotted the green hut. She could provide them with whatever arcane items and services they needed.

The group thanked Dag and head downtown to Blinsky’s Toys. The shop was cramped with a rocking horse-shaped sign out front with a “B” emblazoned on it. Inside were numerous toys on display with the slogan, “Is No Fun, Is No Blinsky!” They entered and met the proprietor, a rotund man with a beard in a tattered jester’s outfit. On his shoulder perched a small, brown monkey with a white face dressed in a tutu.

The man identified himself as Gadof Blinsky and his money companion as Piccolo. He gave a practiced sales pitch to them and asked how he could help them. Bronwyn told him she was looking for a doll for a little girl, and Blinsky began showing her his stock. All of his toys had a macabre or creepy look to them with a functional gallows, flapping bats, snarling wolves, and a puppet that looked like Strahd. The group was disturbed by these toys and annoyed that they couldn’t get a normal toy out of him.

Finally, he showed them one normal looking doll, a porcelain doll in a conservative dress with fine lace that looked exactly like Bronwyn. She asked him about the doll, and he told her it was a custom order that he couldn’t sell to her. She asked him why it looked like her and why Blinsky thought he recognized her earlier. He wasn’t convinced of the resemblance, but he conceded that they looked similar and tried to sell her another doll. Bronwyn got aggressive with the man and seized him by his costume, fire burning in her eyes as she demanded to know who had commissioned this doll from him.

Terrified, Blinsky relented and told her it was a dangerous man who had demanded the dolls from him. His name was Izek Strazni, the Baron’s right-hand man and captain of the guard. He was a cruel, giant of a man with a demonic arm that shot fire out of it! Every month he came and demanded a new doll to his exact specifications or threatened to burn the toy shop to the ground. Bronwyn demanded to buy the doll, but Blinsky pleaded with her not to take it for fear of Izek’s wrath. They told him he could just make another doll for Izek, and they would take this one. Blinsky insisted that the craftsmanship involved would take too long, and there was no way it would be ready in time; they were dooming him!

The group had little sympathy for the man. Blinsky began crying that all he wanted to do was make the world a better place and make people happy with his toys. But everyone hated his toys. They told him that was because his toys were creepy, but Blinsky thought they were cute. He talked about studying under his mentor, the great inventor Fritz von Weerg, and how he aspired to be just like him and do great innovative work. With the mention of his mentor, he noticed Piddlwick for the first time calling out that he knew the doll! McCoy asked Piddlwick if he knew the man, but he shook his head “no.” Blinsky explained that he recognized the design! This was his mentor’s finest creation, a masterpiece of clockwork construction! He offered any price for him including offering his monkey Piccolo.

McCoy refused and offered to rescue Piccolo from this man, but the monkey was not interested. He asked Piddlwick if he wanted to stay with this man, but the doll shook his head “no.” *jing-jing* McCoy asked if he wanted the toy gallows, and the doll nodded “yes.” *jing* McCoy purchased the item for a few copper pieces.

Eventually the group relented and allowed Blinsky to keep his doll. Instead, Elora ordered a custom doll to her specifications for Arrabelle. Blinsky accepted her order and told her it would be ready in a few days. After considering burning down his shop themselves, the group finally departed, leaving Blinsky in peace.

The group left town out the East gate and followed Dag’s directions until they reached a green hut at the edge of the woods. The tiny hut was covered in vines with a dirt floor. It was not advertised as a shop but was clearly a place people in the know would frequent when necessary. The inside of the hut was crammed with shelves holding trinkets, jars, boxes, charms, and other assorted items. Herbs hung from the ceiling along with other strange ingredients. Behind the counter was an attractive woman in a skimpy outfit looking something like a green-skinned elf. She had long, green, wispy hair and two long, antlers sprung from her head like branches with moss and vines covering them. Her eyes were yellow snake eyes, and she wore many talismans, earrings, armbands, and bracelets.

She greeted them as Old Jeny Greenteeth, purveyor of all manner of arcane concoctions. She asked the group to come and take a look at her goods. Johan told her it was hard to miss “her goods” in the outfit she was wearing. Jeny told him he looked like a lonely, old man who had not lain with a woman in some time and offered to sell him a love potion. Johan politely declined.

Jeny had many arcane, alchemical, and herbal supplies available for sale including a large selection of potions. The group noted she was selling healing kits at a reasonable price and bought out her stock. They also noticed she offered some spellcasting services all of which listed a price in gold, but also included a “favor” for Jeny. They asked her what these favors entailed, and Jeny told her they were all small things, nothing major, and nothing they wouldn’t be able to live without. The group was dubious of this claim.

Looking through the spell components for sale, Elora inquired about a pearl she needed for a spell. Jeny offered to sell it to her for 230 gold pieces, but the price was too high for Elora. Jeny told her she would reduce the price to 150 gold pieces if she did her a favor as well. Elora thought the price too high even with the discount. Jeny told her she was sure she could put together the money if it was important enough to her. She asked if she had anything valuable in trade.

The group showed her the unicorn rug they’d received from the Vistani. Jeny was impressed and said she would buy the rug from them for 750 gold pieces, but only if Elora accepted her offer for the pearl. The group was anxious to exchange the rug for gold and encouraged Elora to accept. Elora asked what the favor would be and Jeny told her she would have to let her permanently change the color of Elora’s hair with magic. The group seemed to think this wasn’t a big deal, but Elora refused saying the cost was too dear. The group didn’t seem to understand why it was so important to Elora, but she explained that her hair was her mother’s hair, and she wouldn’t allow it to be changed. The group accepted her explanation.

Bramo did not see any magical rods for sale, but Jeny said she could procure one for him for 15 gold pieces…and a favor. Bramo was interest and asked what the favor was. She told him to bring her a small white puppy, a large brown cat, and an aged rooster to use for spell components. All of them had to be alive. When he did that, she would sell him the rod. Bramo took note of the requirements and agreed, saying he would return with the requested items.

The group departed and returned to Vallaki heading to Arasek’s Stockyard to pick up the final items on their list. Afterwards, they planned to meet up with Elvir and Dag and make the return trip back to the Wizard of Wines. As they left the stockyard with their purchases, the group was approached by a strange man. He was a skinny man in a tight-fitting suit with his shirt buttoned up to his throat. His hair and beard were neatly brushed and trimmed, and he had beady, little eyes. He introduced himself as Ernst Larnak, a courier for “certain individuals of importance.” He had a missive he was instructed to deliver into their hands directly.

Bronwyn accepted the letter from the man, and he departed with a bow. She opened the letter and read it to the group. It was a dinner invitation for that evening…from Strahd von Zarovich! The letter was a welcome to Barovia and a reminder that only he could allow them to leave again. They were invited to dinner at Castle Ravenloft to meet in “civilized surroundings.” Strahd guaranteed them safe passage to his home as well for the duration of their stay.

The group was in an uproar! They immediately canceled all of their plans to deal with this development. Yester Hill would have to wait! They discussed the matter in a fervor, convinced that to refuse the invitation would be an insult to the man and a death sentence for them. They discussed whether or not Ireena should be brought with him. They thought it was a bad idea to bring her and Elora, but also not bringing them would risk his wrath.

Their encounter with Rahasia was still fresh in their minds, and they were concerned she might still be holding a grudge against them. They decided that they will all attend. They had no choice, but to do as he asked, and they would all have to dress the part with some nicer clothes.

Johan brought up a point about their weapons and armor, should they be worn in the castle, and if not, who did they trust to hold on to them? Father Petrovich? Urwin Martikov? The Vistani?

The decided to head back to the Blue Water Inn, let Elvir and Dag know that their plans had changed, and speak to Urwin while they had the chance. They sat Urwin down to talk to him about the incident of the first gemstone’s theft 10 years ago. Urwin agreed to discuss it with them, since he knew of their promise to track down the missing gemstones but told them it was a matter to be discussed in private. He took them in the back of the inn to a small kitchen where they could talk.

Urwin was reluctant to tell his tale, but Johan persuaded him to open up, promising to keep an open mind and listen to whatever he had to say. Urwin agreed. He told them that at the time, he was a young man. He had no children at that time and was only newly married to his wife Danika. He was a little foolish and a little careless, a less responsible man to be sure, but not negligent in his duties. On the night in question, he had indulged in some wine as is to be expected when living and working in a winery. He was on guard-duty watching over the vineyard when something unbelievable happened.

Descended from the heavens to land in the fields was a beautiful being of glowing light that came down on a beam of sunshine so bright, he had never seen its like in his life. It pierced through the night like a dagger and down floated a glowing, gold figure with beautiful white wings, an angel! This creature was stunningly beautiful and Urwin stood dumbstruck at the sight of it. The angel soothed him and calmed his fears.

The angel walked out to the fields and the plants reached out to touch it, sparkling and glowing with its light. The earth opened up, and the gemstone floated out into the angel’s hand. Without a word, the angel shot up into the sky like a streaking comet and flew away with the gem towards the West.

Urwin told the group that he regaled his family and others with that same story over the years, but no one had ever believed him. They all thought he was drunk or dreaming or had imagined it or was simply lying. He said his father believed he had betrayed him and had a secret vineyard growing under the inn!

Johan told Urwin that he believed him, and McCoy made careful note of the direction the angel flew.

Elora told Arrabelle she must be mistaken, Kasimir cannot be her father, her father is dead! Arrabelle insists that he is Elora’s father, but maybe he just doesn’t remember her. Elora is flustered and rushes out of the tent to confront Kasimir. Riley, Ireena, Johan, and Bramo chase after her.

Elora returns to Kasimir’s home and speaks to one of his guards, asking his name and how long Kasimir has been with his people. The guard tells her his name is Paeyth Gwadhen, and Kasimir has lived with the Dusk Elves for all of the many hundreds of years he has been alive. Elora, confused and upset, rushes inside and throws open the curtain separating the rooms.

Kasimir looks up taken aback as she approaches him. Elora tells him, that according to the seer Arrabelle, she is his daughter and asks if he knew? Kasimir is confused and says that’s impossible, Elora cannot be his daughter, she is safe in another world far from Barovia. Elora insists that she is from another world brought here through magic! Kasimir is upset and does not want to believe what she is saying. Elora asks him his wife’s name, and he tells her it was Stella. Elora tells him that is her mother’s name, Stella Darling.

Kasimir doesn’t believe she is lying but thinks she may be confused. He will tell her his tale and they can try to make sense of it. He tells her that some time ago, 27 years or so, he met and fell in love with a human woman named Stella Darling. He says the circumstances of their meeting and romance were a bit absurd and both their families were against the union, but neither of them cared, they were in love and that was all that mattered. They were married and a daughter came soon after that.

They were approached by Madam Eva and told that their daughter was born with an old soul, one important to and coveted by Strahd. Neither of them believed it or in her fortune telling. Then Kasimir’s sister, Patrina, fell in love with Strahd, the ancient enemy of their people. She offered herself to him freely to become his bride. The Dusk Elves could not allow that. Kasimir organized the people of his tribe to gather together and stone his sister to death, to deny her to the Devil Strahd and save her soul. Kasimir regretted it, but thought it was the right thing to do.

Strahd retaliated by sending his sister, Rahasia, a Dusk Elf traitor to kill all of the women and children of the Dusk Elves. Desperate to save his family, he hired his Vistani friends, Nicolae and Gildi, merchants who traveled between the worlds, to smuggle his wife and daughter to safety on his wife’s homeworld. They brought with them on the journey, their young daughter Rahela. Kasimir tells her that none of them ever returned, and he has believed all these years that they were safely out of Strahd’s hands.

When Rahasia caught Kasimir, she inflicted extra torture on him, mutilating his body by cutting off his ears and ensuring he could never again father children.

Kasimir prays that Elora is not his daughter, because then it means she is safe away from Strahd. Elora insists that she is his daughter. There are too many coincidences, and they cannot ignore the facts. To do so would only bring harm to both of them. Kasimir reluctantly agrees telling her that somehow, he sensed a connection between them earlier, but did not want to believe it. He should have recognized the name Darling, but he wanted to remain blind to it. He tells Elora that is not the name they gave her, but something close to it, her birth name was Irezora.

Kasimir is happy to be reunited with her, but the reunion is bittersweet due to the danger she is now in. He tells her he will help her any way he can, and that she is always welcome in his home. He does not own a bed, as elves do not sleep, but tells her he will get one for her to use.

He tells her the reason he needs to reach the hidden temple is that it contains within it the power to raise the ancient dead. He wants to use this power to resurrect his dead sister, Patrina, and try to atone for his sins. He had no right to take her choice away from her, and maybe this can in some small way make up for it. Elora isn’t sure that is the right thing to do but agrees to support and assist him. She tells him they will definitely go to the temple together when she has completed her other tasks. Kasimir reiterates that the way is long and dangerous, and they must be prepared for the journey.

Kasimir apologizes for not being a better man. He doesn’t expect Elora to forgive him for what was done to her. He tells her that he thought it was the right thing to do to protect his family. He knows they cannot just have a close relationship all at once, but he would like to see what develops with time. Elora says she would like that, and ask for just one thing before she goes, a hug. Kasimir stands on unsteady feet and awkwardly hugs his daughter. He asks if he is doing it all right, and they both feel a little uncomfortable and silly. He bids her farewell as daughter and she as father.

Johan and Bramo, fathers themselves, try to hide the tears they shed. Riley is both moved by the scene and rocked by the knowledge that she and her parents were the ones to transport Elora and her mother and that this led to the death of her parents. Ireena, having just buried her own father days ago is sobbing heavily and covered in tears. She wraps an arm around Elora and leads her out, asking if she is okay. Elora tells her that she will be.

McCoy has been back at the Vistani camp playing with the clockwork jester. He notices a name inscribed on it, Piddlwick II. McCoy asks if this is the clockwork boy’s name. Piddlwick nods vigorously, the bells on his hat jingling. McCoy proceeds to ask him a series of yes or no questions, trying to learn about him. Piddlwick knows his creator but doesn’t want to be returned to him. He knows how he got his name but can’t explain it. He is not good at sneaking, due to the bells, but he doesn’t want his bells removed. He is also good at throwing darts and beating people with a club painted to look like a peppermint stick. He likes McCoy and is happy to ride up on his shoulder.

Elora returns to camp and hugs Arrabelle tightly, thanking her for this gift and promising to bring her the best dolls. Arrabelle asks if she was right about Kasimir being her father. Elora tells her she was, and Arrabelle says she knew it; she is always right.

The group say their farewells and depart for the Wizard of Wines winery. They follow Ismark’s map and Urwin’s directions. They reach the Luna River Crossroads and find the signpost there broken off. Following Urwin’s directions, they head southwest into the forest. The road wound through the forest eventually turning northwest. They reached a T-intersection they were not expecting with branch leading off to south while the main road continued on northwest. They’re unsure which way to go, but eventually decide to keep going northwest. This brings them to the Raven River Crossroads when the signposts clearly point southwest towards the Wizard of Wines. Johan checks to make sure the signpost hasn’t been tampered with, and they make their way down the southwest slope.

The road becomes a muddy trail leading through the forest which eventually leads to a mist-shrouded meadow. The road continued south towards a dark forest while a west branch had a sign which read, “Vineyard.” They took the west branch and began heading up a hill, a light drizzle of rain falling on them. A man in a cloak emerged from the trees and waved them over. They approached.

The man identified himself as Elvir Martikov. He explained that the winery was closed, and it was dangerous to approach. The Wild Folk had come out of the woods with an army of wooden blights and driven them out of their home. He and his family had been camped there in the woods. They would figure out a way to retake the winery, and it should be reopened in a week or so if they wanted to return then.

The group offered to help them, and Elvir said they’d better speak to his father Davian. They heard a baby crying in the distance. He brought them over to a crude camp with a lean-to setup against some trees and a small fire going. Huddled around the fire were an old, wrinkled man, and handsome young man, a young woman and her husband, and their four children, a teen boy, two younger boys, and a baby girl.

The old man approached them and introduced himself as the patriarch of the family, Davian Martikov. He looked the group over and sized them up potential warriors, inspecting their armor and weapons. The handsome man came and whispered something of interest to him, and he looked the group up and down. Finally, he told them he wanted to hire them to clear the Wild Folk and blights out of their home. He offered a sum of 200 gold pieces to do it. His daughter scoffed at this number, saying it was too much, but Davian insisted it would be worth it.

Davian explained that a month ago the Wild Folk started acting strangely and coming out of the woods. They’d heard they were gathering in large numbers up on Yester Hill. A week ago, the Wild Folk attacked the winery with their strange wood blights. The family had fought them off and defended their home. Two days ago, they had returned in much greater numbers with three times as many blights. The large force had forced them to flee, and they had been camped out in the woods here ever since.

Davian told them about the different entrances they could take into the winery and gave them an idea of the layout and where the stairs were. He also told them their leader was a strange old man wielding a horrible, black staff. He seemed to be the one controlling the blights.

He tells them that it’s very important that they don’t do anything to damage the winery or the vineyards as they won’t grow back. They should absolutely not use fire and burn the place down. The wine is all the people of Barovia have in this miserable place, and it’s all the Martikovs have. If it goes, they should all just slit their throats and all of Barovia along with them. The group assures them they will rescue the winery without destroying it.

The group tries to approach the winery stealthily by moving through the vineyard, but they are spotted by a large horde blights which converge on them rapidly. The group runs to the west entrance which Davian told them would be open and rush inside, barring the door behind them just as the blights reach them.

They make their way through a storage room and into the fermentation room which is filled with four large vats of wine and has a staircase in the center leading up to walkway around the room on the second floor. The rafters of the room are filled with flocks of ravens, and they see a strange woman dressed in animal skins with a horned headdress lurking above one of the vats. They also see strange twig creatures darting around the vats.

They head inside and McCoy tosses Bramo up to the walkway above them, where he constructs his arcane cannon. The rest of the group moves into the room and attacks the wild woman in the rafters. She responds by bounding over to Bramo and pulling him off of the walkway onto one of the vats. Riley heads up the stairs after her. Tiny blights begin pouring out of one of the vats in the room. They swarm all over the ground floor surrounding the group there. Lancelot barks furiously at them, sending some of them running away. Bramo and Elora use cold magic against the wild woman, allowing Riley to close on her. The wild woman attempts to knock Riley off the walkway with a wave of thunder but fails to do so. Riley runs her through with her sword, killing her.

The stream of blights from the vat seems endless. Just as the group is able to destroy one wave, another pours out. The group is able to corral them beneath the walkway and as a group finish them off.

Searching the wild woman, they find she has a necklace of human teeth, like the ones they found at the standing stones near the Old Windmill. Bronwyn takes them. They also discover several vials with a viscous residue in them. Elora is able to determine the substance is a virulent poison. They check the vats and see that they too show signs of the sticky residue. The wine has been poisoned! Elora uses her magic quill to mark them with a warning. The group realizes that the loss of the wine would be devastating to the community, and it cannot just be thrown away. Johan assures them that with some rest, he will be able to call on his god the next day to purify the wine.

The group search through more of the winery discovering a loading ramp down to the cellar, a barrel storage room with stairs leading up, and a barrel-making workshop. They head out to the loading dock and see a wagon loaded there with three barrels of wine; the shipment destined for the Blue Water Inn. Part of the horde of blights which had pursued them is outside, they close on the docks and attack launching deadly needles at them.

Several members of the group are injured including Lancelot, Bramo, Elora, and Johan. McCoy and Johan hold off the blights at one end of the dock, while Riley clears the other end. She then jumps down to the ground to join Lancelot in the fight. Bramo, Elora, and Bronwyn provide magical support and they quickly defeat the blights. Before they can rest, a wild man wielding a black staff, attacks them from above. Vines rise up from the dock entangling Bramo and Elora. Bronwyn counterattacks with her magic sending a bolt of energy at the wild man. Johan leaps off the dock and onto the wagon, climbs up the hanging crane, and reaches the upper level to attack the wild man. He cuts him down with his greatsword.

Bending to examine the black staff, he sees it is made of a spongy, oozing wood and wisps of black smoke pour from one end of it. He takes the staff and sees it leaves a bloodstain on his glove. Elora tries to climb the crane and examine it but cannot make it up even with Riley’s help. Johan instead brings the staff down to them. Bramo is very interested in the staff and tells the group they should keep it. Elora examines it seeing it radiates necromantic energy and seems to feed off of the lifeforce of its wielder. She concludes that the staff can both created and control the blights. Bramo offers to carry it for the group, but Elora wants nothing to do with it. Ultimately, they give it McCoy to carry, hoping his artificial nature will protect him from its effects.

The group head up staircase from the barrel storage room to the second level intent on exploring and clearing the rest of the winery.

After learning the location of St. Andral’s Holy Bones, the group rushed over to the Coffin Maker’s Shop to confront Henrik. McCoy loudly banged on the door demanding that Henrik open up. They insisted he let them in and explain what was going on. Henrik continued to tell them to go away, saying the shop was closed, and he didn’t know what they were talking about. Bramo and Riley went around to the side door with Lancelot to make their way in surreptitiously.

The group at the front door was insistent and let Henrik know they knew what he had done and that he had the bones. They refused to leave and made plans to batter down the door. Ireena asked what their intention was because it sounded like they meant to do harm to this man and his home. The group insisted they were trying to resolve this peacefully. Elora believed the man had most likely been coerced or controlled in some way.

Changing tactics, Johan made a show of departing, telling Henrik they would be leaving him for now. Henrik saw through the lies and remained steadfast. Meanwhile, Bramo, Riley, and Lancelot made their way into the shop. Bramo picked the lock on the side door and led them inside. He moved quietly across the shop, but Lancelot’s nails scraped loudly along the wooden floor. The sound was thankfully muffled by the loud commotion at the other door. As they made their way back to the workshop, the other group changed tactics again.

Playing off of Henrik’s fears, they offered him protection, telling him of the evils they had already fought and the people they had helped. Ireena made an impassioned plea to trust them and let them help no matter what the issue was. Moved by her words, Henrik opened the door to listen to them. He told them that he had been forced into all of this against his will under threat of death. He was an old man who wanted no trouble.

A dark-skinned woman, tall, beautiful, with deep purple lips and wearing a white dress and golden headdress had approached him. She demanded he do a task on behalf of the Lord. He was to offer money to Milivoj to steal the Bones of St. Andral and keep them in his home. He had no choice but to obey her and did as she asked. He told them the bones were kept upstairs in his bedroom in a secret compartment in the armoire. He told them they could go and fetch the bones.

The group asked him to just bring down the bones to them, but he refused. He was terrified to go upstairs but would not explain why. Deducing that there was something dangerous upstairs, they allowed him to go, telling him to head to the Church of St. Andral’s where he could receive sanctuary. Henrik thought this was an excellent idea and departed immediately.

The group reunited and entered the shop making their way slowly through all of the rooms. On the second floor, they found a large storage room containing lumber and crates labeled “JUNK.” Bramo used his Wand of Secrets to search the area looking for secret doors and traps. Eventually they located the bedroom and the armoire. Johan focused his divine senses on the armoire and confirmed it contained a hallowed object. They searched the armoire for a secret compartment, but it was too well-hidden for them to locate. Finally, Bramo used his wand again to reveal it and Elora impulsively opened it.

Inside she saw a large sack and a small sack. Lifting the large sack and inspecting it, she saw it contained human bones. The other sack, containing coins, she left behind. As they took the bones, they heard a loud noise coming from the lumber room. They decided to depart quickly. Bramo lingered behind eyeing the small sack of coins. Elora and Riley noticed him and debated taking it or not. As the rest of the group departed, Arrabelle urged them to leave quickly. Bronwyn heeded her warning and quickly ushered the group out towards the front door.

Wishing to keep the group together, Elora grabbed the sack of coins to be dealt with at a later date and she, Riley, and Bramo caught up with the group. As they headed down the stairs, they heard many footsteps racing after them. Sprinting out of the house, they ran out the back door with Ireena and Johan hanging back to make sure the group got outside. They heard the upstairs door burst open right as they got outside!

Bramo quickly got to work jamming the door shut with a piton. McCoy and Johan grabbed Lancelot and Arrabelle respectively and took off running, heading for the church. As Johan struggled with Arrabelle, Riley took her from him and sprinted down the road. The door behind them splintering open from heavy blows, Bronwyn cast a spell of darkness behind her covering their escape. As they made their way through the tangle of streets, Johan called out directions navigate the fastest route he could through the streets and crowds.

They reached the church with their unknown pursuers close behind them. Rushing to locate Father Petrovich, they thrust the bones into his hands. He explained that the bones must be returned to their cradle in the crypts underneath the church. He left out the side door with Elora and Ireena to do that while the rest of the group prepared to repel their attackers. McCoy, Johan, Riley, and Bramo all rushed to the front doors of the church. McCoy secured one door and Johan and Riley secured the other. Bramo tried to work some kind of enchantment on the door to misdirect their pursuers, but suddenly a great force slammed open the door pushing back Johan and Riley.

Superhumanly strong, pale, wild-eyed people with sharp claws and fangs besieged the church. A pair them assaulted the front door while another pair circled around the right side of the building, and a third pair cut through the graveyard to ambush Father Petrovich, Ireena, and Elora as they ran for the crypts.

Johan identified them as undead creatures and brought down his greatsword on one of them blazing with a divine radiance. The creature shrieked and howled in pain from the holy blow. Bramo created a pool of grease beneath their attackers’ feet, causing them to slip and fall on the stairs of the church allowing McCoy to attack them in a frenzy of rage. As the creature got back to their feet, Riley attacked with her crossbow, unable to close into melee combat with them. Lancelot furiously barked at the creatures, frightening them with his ferocity and creating an opening for his allies to attack.

Meanwhile, Father Petrovich, Ireena, and Elora were attacked as they ran from the church to the crypts. A ravenous, wild creature leapt over the tombstones coming at them in a flurry of claws and fangs. Elora cast a spell searing the creature with multiple beams of radiant light. The creature cried out in pain becoming even more frenzied! Ireena drew her sword and stood resolute in front of the crypt entrance telling Elora to take the bones below while she held of the enemy. Elora grabbed the bones and sprinted into the crypt entrance.

Father Petrovich called after her to take two rights and head all the way to the end of the crypt where the cradle for the bones lay. Then he turned back to the unholy abominations and summoned the angelic spirits of the Morninglord. Golden angels swirled around him and Ireena bathing them in a circle of holy light. As the undead crossed into the circle, they were seared by its golden light, but the spirits could not keep them at bay.

In the heart of the church, Arrabelle and Bronwyn heard a cry of terror from a nearby room. Rushing to help, they saw an undead man, fierce and bearded entering the church. Inside, was the terrified altar boy, Yeska, scrambling for safety on his bed. With Arrabelle’s blessing, Bronwyn unleashed her dark magic against the creature, but it continued to stride forward. Its claws tore into Bronwyn and she backed away into the doorframe. Arrabelle emboldened Bronwyn allowing her to shake off the creature’s blows and remain on her feet as she fought against him.

McCoy, Johan, and Bramo fought against the undead pair at the front doors to no avail. Despite raining several blows and spells upon them, the creatures would not die! However, their claws tore into both McCoy and Johan nearly felling them. As they struggled to stay on their feet, they heard Arrabelle’s cries for help and Riley and Lancelot ran off to help them.

Outside, Father Petrovich and Ireena faced off against the monsters. Ireena turned their vicious claws away with her sword but was wounded in the process. Father Petrovich was bleeding heavily, and even the healing magic of the Morninglord could not sustain. He urged Elora to go onwards as he fell under the creature’s wicked claws. Alone, Ireena withdrew into the crypt trying to hold the doors closed against the monsters and buy Elora some time.

As Bronwyn fought against the undead man, a woman entered the room. She slid over to Yeska asking the terrified boy if he “wanted a kiss.” Bronwyn unleashed her magic against her trying to protect the boy, but the woman shrugged off the attack and seized him. She sank her fangs into the boy in rush and drained the blood from his body. He dropped limp and pale to the bed as the woman now seemed invigorated by her dark supper.

Riley and Lancelot reached the room and surrounded the man tearing into him with tooth and sword. Bronwyn sent a jolt of electricity into the man and fell back to the altar near Arrabelle. The undead woman slid behind Riley, flanking her. She and the man tore at Riley with their claws. Riley was able to turn some of the blows away with her sword, but not all. Arrabelle shouted encouragement to her and emboldened her to stay on her feet under the assault.

At the front door, Johan was faltering, blood poured from multiple wounds and soaked through his armor. He discarded his greatsword, drawing a mace and shield to protect himself. McCoy’s wild blows failed to find purchase on the creatures. Unable to hit the rapidly dodging creatures with a bolt of fire, Bramo froze one of them in a blast of cold, stiffening their body and making them unable to attack.

The creatures burst through the door of the crypt overwhelming Ireena. She tried to stop them, but one of them ran past her in pursuit of Elora while the other tried to tear her to pieces. Below the church, Elora ran through dark tunnels, lit dimly by torches. She moved uneasily through the crypt desperately searching for the cradle. Reaching the end of the tunnel, she saw a stone platform. Unsure if it was the right the place, she nevertheless emptied the bones onto the platform. As she did so, she was overwhelmed by a holy, calming presence.

Suddenly, the entire church seemed to brighten. The bell tolled once from the belfry and the undead creatures were overcome with horror, stricken by the holy presence in the church. They fled in a panic, heedless of the blows rained down on them by the group. The pair at the front doors stumbled on the slippery steps. Bramo unleashed a bolt of fire on of them, searing them with the flames and ignited their grease-soaked the clothes. The creature ran screaming on fire away from the church.

The monsters repelled, Riley moved quickly to heal the boy Yeska managing to save his life and restore him to consciousness. Outside, Ireena did the same to Father Petrovich, binding his wounds and carrying him to safety as he stubbornly refused to die.

The group gathered in the church and celebrated their victory. With the bones restored, they now had a sanctuary and safe haven against evil. Father Petrovich confirmed himself as their steadfast ally and swore as long as he lived that he would stand against whatever evil sought to harm the people of Vallaki. The group took a well-deserved rest and planned their next move, deciding they would relocate from the Blue Water Inn to the church now that they were targeted by vampires! They also mused over how powerful the creatures were and lamented the fact that they’d been unable to kill any of them.

After resting, they headed over to the Blue Water Inn to retrieve their things and say their goodbyes to Danika. They stayed for lunch before heading out and reassured her that they would still investigate the missing shipment of wine at the winery. She was happy to hear it as doing otherwise would have broken her husband’s heart. She told them they were welcome to return to the inn at any time.

After lunch, the group left Vallaki to return Arrabelle home to her people. She led them out the western gate and turned them south along a trail leading into the woods and up a large hill. She discussed her home life there a bit and lamented it in favor of the excitement of Vallaki. She also reminded Bronwyn that she should return to town as there was someone she needed to meet there. She asked if she would do her a favor and buy her a nice doll from the toy shop in town since Bluto had never gotten her one. Bronwyn agreed to do so.

Passing through the forest, the group reached a tall hill with small houses built around the base of the hill. The homes boasted expert craftsmanship and intricate designwork. Arrabelle pointed them out as “elf houses,” explaining that the elves lived here with them. On top of the hill was a circle of many barrel-topped wagons with large tents in the middle. Smoke from multiple campfires rose up from the tents an all around them were tethered horses.

As they approached the tents, they heard a whipping sound and cries of pain. A burly man was whipping a younger man he leaned against a post. A handsome man with a well-groomed beard and tattoos under his eyes asked the burly man to ease of the man he was whipping which other man did reluctantly. At the group’s approach, the handsome man drew his sword and warned them they had walked into trouble and were in no mood to brook any distractions. The group calmed the man and told him they were only there to return a child as Arrabelle rushed forward and embraced her father.

The man fell to his knees weeping and held her close. The burly man wrapped his arms around both of them in turn. Arrabelle introduced her father Luvash and her uncle Arrigal, joint chieftains of the Vistani tribe. The men thanked the group profusely for their help and lamented Arrabelle’s precocious ways. Luvash had dispatched search parties of Vistani and elves all over Barovia searching for her. He complimented Bronwyn on her beauty as she swooned and the two shared her wineskin together as his camp had run out of wine. Then he brought the group to his treasure wagon, offering them any reward they would like from it for saving his daughter.

The group studied the offerings within the wagon: a large wooden chest, a smaller iron chest, an onyx jewelry box, a wooden throne with gold and gems inlaid in it, a rolled up rug with a bulge in it, and a wooden box full of potions. The group was immediately intrigued by the rug, hoping perhaps it might a flying carpet. After a quick debate, they selected the rug and eagerly unfurled it. Arrabelle advised them to duck as they did so.

Riley and McCoy unfurled the rug and followed Arrabelle’s command to duck as a dart came hurling out at them. Inside of the beautiful carpet with an elegant unicorn motif was a small, clockwork wooden man roughly as big as Bramo. The clockwork man was carved in the shape of a jester complete with bells on his hat. Bronwyn and McCoy were immediately delight with him and Bronwyn greeted the clown asking him to perform tricks. He performed some simple balancing and tumbling for her which she applauded enthusiastically.

Arrabelle described him as a “bad doll who was prone to mischief,” but advised them that they might be able to befriend him. Riley was very uneasy around the clown but made an effort to clap for his tricks. Bronwyn explained that Riley wasn’t as big a fan of clowns as she was, so the clockwork man made her a balloon animal in the shape of a dog and presented it to her. Riley clapped politely and accepted it which seemed to please the little man.

Arrabelle asked Elora if she had noticed the houses around the hill. Elora said that she had and that they looked beautiful. Arrabelle told her their designwork had a lot of detail and that she should look at them close-up. Elora agreed and went to investigate them along with Riley, Ireena, and Johan.

Elora approached the first house and saw it was guarded by an Elven man in a gray cloak. He called out to her in Elvish to “be wary.” When she responded in Elvish to him, he was surprised and studied her closely asking if she was Elven. She explained that she was only Half-Elven, but the elf told her she should speak to their leader. He directed her to a home where there were three guards standing outside and told her to tell them she was there to speak to Kasimir. She thanked him and departed.

At the other home, the three guards barred her way with spears. In Elvish she explained she was there to speak to Kasimir, and they let her through. Inside, she met the elf Kasimir. He was tall, skinny, and beautiful with long, snow white hair and angular features. He greeted her asking who she was, where she came from, and why she had come to him. She explained who she was and that she had traveled there from another world. One of the guards had told her to speak to him. Seeing her Elven heritage, he noted she bore a resemblance to the Dusk Elves themselves.

He explained that he was one of the last surviving Dusk Elves and that they had no women or children among their number, thus the great excitement to see even a partially Elven woman. Elora explained that she had come her seeking knowledge and she didn’t think any knowledge was inherently evil or should be forbidden. Kasimir shared her passion and attitude towards knowledge explaining that he was a wizard himself and that he sought out forgotten and powerful magic. The two had many things in common and Kasimir asked her if she had spoken to the Vistani and if they had told her her fortune. She said that they had, but that it had only indirectly lead her to him.

Kasimir explained that he didn’t quite believe in everything the Vistani said about fate and destiny, but that they did possess knowledge of many things. He proposed that the two of them might work together. But wanted first to know how they felt about the Dark Lord Strahd. Elora told him that she and her group were definitely opposed to him and had some unfortunate run-ins with his servants. Kasimir revealed that he had suffered the same fate and was no friend of Strahd.

He pulled back his hair to reveal that his ears had been cut off. He explained this was done by the traitor Rahasia, the Dark Lord’s stepsister. Under Strahd’s orders, Rahasia had butchered his people killing all of the women and children of the Dusk Elves and leaving the men to suffer a slow extinction. He was pleased to hear that she too was an enemy of Strahd. She mentioned their own encounter with Rahasia and how they hated her as well.

Kasimir told her he knew of a place that held great knowledge, a library of magic and secrets, a temple built by scholars with knowledge from many worlds. Knowledge found nowhere else in the multiverse. Elora was ecstatic to hear this. Kasimir said he would be willing to bring her to this place on the condition that she bring him with her. The way was long and dangerous, and the weather alone was enough to kill them. He could not make the journey on his own, and they should not travel their lightly either. They must be prepared for the treacherous journey ahead of them.

Elora said she could not speak for her group and would have to discuss it with them, but she was interested in helping him. Johan asked how soon he wanted to depart on this journey. Kasimir explained that one thing he should know about the Elven race is that they are very patient. Johan nodded in understanding.

Kasimir thanked them for coming and gave his hand to Elora in parting. As they grasped hands he hesitated, staring at her studying her for a long time. Then he released her hand looking somewhat confused. Elora asked if anything was wrong, but he said it was nothing.

The group departed and returned to the Vistani camp. Arrabelle was anxiously awaiting them with a big grin on her face. She asked if Elora met “him.” She said that she did. Arrabelle asked if she was excited to see him again. Elora didn’t understand what she meant. Arrabelle asked if she didn’t recognize or remember him. Elora was confused. She said that she didn’t. Arrabelle was shocked and asked, “weren’t you excited to see your daddy?”

After rescuing Arrabelle, the group learned that she was not an orphan; she lived at a nearby Vistani camp and only went to the orphanage to play with the other children there. She mentioned that her father and uncle were probably looking for her. The group debated whether to bring her home or back to the Blue Water Inn and what to do with Bluto, the man who’d tried to drown her. They also needed to get to the Coffin Maker’s Shop so that Bramo could get his much-needed woodcarver’s tools.

As it was getting late, the group decided to head back to Vallaki for the night, and they would swing by the Coffin Maker’s Shop on their way. Arrabelle was excited to return to Vallaki and see more of the town. She asked McCoy to hold up Bluto for her which he did. She made some hand gestures and spoke a curse at him, “May all wine turn to water in your mouth, you drunken wretch of a man!” She told the group he would live a miserable life now due to his crippling alcoholism.

The group was somewhat disturbed by Arrabelle’s actions but thought Bluto had received some justice. McCoy threw his unconscious body into one of the boats and punched a few holes in it, letting it slowly sink. Arrabelle told the group he would live but wish he hadn’t.

The group returned to Vallaki gaining entrance to the town without any trouble; the guards not paying any mind to Arrabelle. The group headed across town to reach the Coffin Maker’s Shop. They found the building locked up and all of the shutters closed. Knocking on the door, a man’s voice answered urging them to go away and leave him alone. He gave several excuses for why the shop was closed and they couldn’t come in. Arrabelle squeezed Bronwyn’s hand and warned her, “Here we go.”

Perplexed and determined, Bramo searched around the side of the building and found a second door. Listening at the door and hearing nothing, he employed his thieves’ tools to pick the lock and sneak into the building. There he found a large, dimly lit room filled with thirteen coffins. With great stealth, he snuck through the building and located a workshop filled with woodcarver’s tools! An old man with a white beard leaned against the far wall breathing heavily. Bramo’s gnomish form was easily hidden behind a nearby table and he deftly snuck to the workbenches to take enough tools for himself.

As he tried to make his way out with the tools, they clanged together alerting the man in the room. Bramo stood perfectly still behind the table hoping not to be noticed. The man was absolutely panicked looking around the dark shop repeatedly looking towards the ceiling and straining his ears. Bramo remained undiscovered and waited until the man relaxed again before slipping out the door and back to the coffin room.

Bramo made his way across the room and out the door which creaked loudly! The man cried out from the other room and Bramo darted out the door and around the corner. Hearing the man’s muffled cry, Johan banged on the door asking if he was all right. The man shouted again for them to go away. Mollified, Johan waited for Bramo to return. Woodcarver’s tools obtained, the group left and returned to the Blue Water Inn. Arrabelle squeezed Bronwyn’s hand and told her, “I guess it wasn’t the right time yet.”

The same group of people were at the inn except for Marvolio the harlequin clown who was nowhere to be seen. Johan spoke to Danika about Bluto and whether she knew him or had seen him recently. Danika explained he was the town drunk and one of her best customers. He was also a fisherman and obsessed with the lake which once had good fishing but no longer does. Johan told her they’d caught him trying to drown a girl but had rescued her. Danika praised them for their good work but said that was unusual behavior even for Bluto. She also said she recognized the girl having seen her around before. Arrabelle greeted Brom and Bray and began playing with them at the inn.

Danika asked the group if they were ready for their wolf steaks. Johan told her they were, and the group took up at their usual table. A burly man with thick black hair and a beard streaked with white brought their food out to them. He introduced himself as Urwin Martikov, cook and owner of the inn and husband of Danika. Johan asked him about visiting the winery to get the missing shipment of wine. Urwin was overjoyed that they were helping and embraced Johan. Johan, while being hugged, asked Urwin for directions to the winery using Ismark’s map. Urwin explained that the winery was not far and told them which forks to take at the intersections along the road.

Johan thanked Urwin and asked him about the idea of adding to the inn’s menu. He claimed to have some of the best pies in all of Barovia. Urwin was interested and asked where the pies came from and if Johan had baked them himself. Johan told him they’d come from the bakery at the Old Windmill. Urwin declined saying they weren’t interested in selling pies at the inn as it didn’t fit the inn’s aesthetic.

After dinner, the group returned to their rooms for the night sending Arrabelle to sleep with the women for the night. Arrabelle asked if she could sleep with Lancelot and Riley said it was okay. Arrabelle gave Lancelot a big hug and asked Riley if she ever hugged him. Riley said she did sometimes. Arrabelle told her she should hug him now while she can. Riley was a little disturbed by that but bent down and gave Lancelot a long hug.

McCoy prepared for his night’s vigil and rest by eating another of Granny’s Dream Pastries. Riley, Johan, and Ireena declined to eat any pies. Bronwyn and Bramo were still full from the pie they’d shared at the Old Windmill. Elora had a pie before bed and shared it with Arrabelle who slept in her bed with her. All who had eaten pies had another night of easy sleep and pleasant dreams, sleeping soundly through the night.

Riley had difficulty sleeping, her mind racing with all that happened over the past few days and her own personal revelations. Lancelot sensing her discomfort climbed into bed with her and laid his head on her as she tried to sleep. She could hear Ireena also having a fitful night of sleep while the others rested peacefully. Johan too slept uneasily tensed and listening for sounds of danger over Bramo’s snoring. McCoy drifted off into new visions of his old life, gaining glimpses of a motley ship’s crew he used to be a part of.

In the morning, they had some difficult rousing the dreamers who were groggy and longed for more sleep. They woke in the morning feeling sad and disappointed by the dreariness of reality. With a little time, they awakened fully an began their day with the rest of the group.

The group discussed where go next, the winery or the Vistani Camp or the Abbey. Ireena asked if they were leaving Vallaki so soon, wanting to see more of the town. The group was at a loss at to what course of action would best serve their interests but decided that they should start by bring Arrabelle home.

On their way out of town heading west, they passed a large, stone church with a belltower in the bag and small, fog-choked cemetery next to it. The impressive structure was a church of the Morninglord called the Church of St. Andral’s. The group decided to investigate it. Going inside they found a large, well-maintained church where a sermon was being given by a large, broad-shouldered man with a long white beard. He spoke about the coming of the Morninglord and how his light and protection would save the faithful from the encroaching darkness. The group sat in the back and listened.

After the sermon, an old woman approached the priest imploring him for help for her imprisoned son. The priest advised her that all would be well and that the Baron would surely release him soon. All they could do now was pull together as a community and support each other through the difficult times. The old woman thanked him and went towards the church entrance to light candles and pray.

Seeing the group, the priest came over and introduced himself as Father Grigori Petrovich. He welcomed them and asked if they were newcomers to Barovia. They explained that they were and mentioned seeing another church to the Morninglord in the Village of Barovia. Petrovich was glad to hear they still held the faith in Barovia, but he had no knowledge of the church or its parishioners. He wished them well and admitted he had been remiss in his duties by not offering his aid to that community focusing instead on Vallaki.

Petrovich welcomed McCoy and asked him to step forward and not hide himself as he would not be judged here in the church. McCoy warned him against it, but the priest insisted. He was taken aback by McCoy’s monstrous appearance, but still welcomed him. McCoy explained that he worshipped a different god but respected the priest and what he was doing. Petrovich explained there are only two goods in Barovia and even if one of them is absent, they honor him still.

Asking what their plans were now that they were in Barovia, Arrabelle blurt out that they were going to defeat the Dark Lord. Petrovich was so surprised he exclaimed, “You’re going to oppose Strahd?!” He caught himself quickly, saying he meant of course to say the Devil. The group gently chastised him for his slip. Petrovich apologized but told them if they were serious in their cause, then he would support them. He asked to speak with them privately in his quarters as what he had to tell them was not for the public to hear.

Bringing them to his room, he explained that the church is normally a safe haven for those seeking sanctuary from the forces of darkness, a bastion against evil. That was no longer true as the holy bones of the Saint Andral had been stolen from their resting place in the crypts below! Now the church was as vulnerable as any structure in the town and offered no protection to anyone.

He explained that the bones had been stolen 3 days ago while he and the altar boy Yeska had been administering to a sick woman at her home. The only one at the church at the time was the church’s gravedigger, a young man named Milivoj. Petrovich tells them the boy might have seen something that night while he was digging graves. But the boy had not been to work since then, having taken ill and resting at St. Andral’s Orphanage, an orphanage sponsored and supported by the church. Many of the orphans in turn came to work at the church as altar boys or in other functions. Milivoj is one of these orphans still having a close association with the orphanage and having his living quarters there. He asks the group to start their search there for the missing bones.

The group heads over to the orphanage led by Arrabelle who knew the way. They arrived and found a rundown, three-story building. Even from outside, the group could hear the cacophony inside. The knocked on the door and were greeted by a wrinkled old woman who introduced herself as Claudia Belasco, headmistress of the orphanage. She wanted to know what this strange group wanted and was hesitant to let them inside. They explained that they were friends of Father Petrovich and had come to speak with Milivoj.

Claudia allowed them to come in but warned them that Milivoj was not in a state to talk. She brought them to his room and asked to enter but heard only a dull moan from inside. She brought them in where they saw a young, muscular man with black hair. He had a sickly pallor and was covered in sweat. The boy was unconscious and drooling a blood-mixed bile. The group was immediately concerned he had some kind of contagious plague and maintained social distancing from him.

Elora was able to diagnose the boy and discovered he was suffering from some sort of magical disease, more like a curse, that could not be cured with simple medicine or magic. The group asked Claudia what happened. She explained that Milivoj was a hard-working boy who donated all of his salary from gravedigging to support the orphanage. He was very protective of the younger orphans and always trying to help them. He had even tried befriending a shy, young boy named Felix who had recently joined the orphanage.

Claudia explained that Milivoj was an invaluable asset to the orphanage. She was overwhelmed trying to care for all of them on her own and without help from Milivoj and the other older children, she didn’t know how she would do it. She also mentioned it was hard as many of the children didn’t like her. They had also recently suffered a tragedy at the orphanage, one of the younger boys, Cedrik, had an accident and fell from the second-story window to his death. The children were all upset by this, but it was all too common for the children to suffer early deaths. She told them that three of the other younger boys had run away or gone missing. She mentioned Milivoj speaking to the Wolf Hunters about it, but that their services were expensive, and they surely could not afford them

The group told Claudia they would do their best to help Milivoj and figure out what was going on. She left them along with Milivoj for a few minutes so they could try speaking with him. They were not able to rouse the boy, but Bramo performed a magic ritual to determine that the boy was under the effect of lingering necromantic magic. The group wondered if he had encountered something evil during his gravedigging duties. The group tried both healing medicines and Johan laid hands on the boy attempting to cure him of disease to no avail. They determined that whatever ailed the boy was too powerful for them to cure with their abilities and they would have to discover the source of his illness. They asked Claudia for permission to search through the orphanage which she granted provided they did not frighten the children or disturb the orphanage’s operations.

Letting Arrabelle take the lead, she spoke with her friends asking if they had any new dolls to play with. They girls told her they did not and only had old ones missing the heads. Then she asked about the new boy, Felix. Her friends explained that the boy was weird, no one like him, and no one was friends with him. He was always off on his own. They thought he was maybe upstairs somewhere by himself. Arrabelle thanked her friends and led the group upstairs.

They searched through the different bedrooms upstairs with Arrabelle identifying what age group and children slept in each room. The group was horrified when Bronwyn discovered Infernal runes carved on the bedposts of the children’s beds. All of the beds had the runes except for one bed in the room for boys Arrabelle’s age. After searching through all the rooms, they went to the nursery where an older girl, Fanya, was caring for the infants and young girl named Tessa was reading. Fanya didn’t want them disturbing the babies but said they could look around quietly.

They searched the nursery but found no sign of the Infernal runes here. Arrabelle spoke to Tessa who was terribly upset that her friend Cedrik was dead. Tessa had visible bruises on her arms and Arrabelle asked her how she got them, but Tessa couldn’t remember. She said the Cedrik had been her best friend and that he told her secrets. Cedrik had stolen a locket recently from the weird, new boy Felix and that had been right before he’d fallen out the window. Arrabelle asked where Felix was, and Tessa told her to try the attic.

The group headed up to the attic and found a young boy up there by himself. He was sitting next to the only window working on something. He hid it as the group approached him. Elora went to speak to the boy and Bramo moved to go with her. Ireena stopped him and told him after threatening to burn down the orphanage earlier maybe he should hang back. Bramo told her she should leave him alone as she wasn’t even really part of the group and was just someone they were delivering. Ireena told him she would forgive him for saying those hurtful things to her as she knows he had been under a lot of stress trying to locate his tools recently.

Bramo and Johan kept their distance and stood against a wall nearby. Riley and Lancelot followed behind Elora at a safe distance while McCoy, Bronwyn, and Arrabelle stayed by the trapdoor leading back to the second floor.

Elora spoke with the boy, Felix, but found his answers strange and cold. He seemed to show disinterest in the death of Cedrik or the idea of a friendship with Milivoj. He seemed to be biding his time for when he would no longer be a little boy. They asked what he wanted to be when he grew up suggesting maybe a soldier or a priest. The boy scoffed at the idea of being a priest calling it a “stupid waste of time believing in some made-up man in the sky.” Elora was taken aback by this and told him he shouldn’t say such things. She asked if he had ever gone to the church with Milivoj, but he again responded with vitriol denouncing the church as an awful and stupid place to go.

The group became concerned with the boy’s behavior and Johan said a prayer focusing his divine senses on the boy picking up a strong demonic presence nearby. He spoke with the group privately warning them of his suspicions and preparing to attack. Arrabelle squeezed Bronwyn’s hand and asked if she thought they should help the boy. Bronwyn said they should if they can but didn’t know if it was possible. Arrabelle asked if she thought they should try since the boy was like her and if she believed there was hope for her condition then she believe in it for this boy as well. She told her if they “are not part of the light standing against the darkness, then we’re part of the darkness.”

Bronwyn agreed to try. She approached the boy and tried to summon her shadow to the surface. She relaxed her constant tension opposing the presence and let it slip into her consciousness. She felt herself drawing backwards within herself looking out of her eyes as though from a long tunnel. Her vision changed and became more vibrant and colored, seeing in a way unlike her normal vision, seeing in an otherworldly, unnatural way, seeing through tiger’s eyes. She looked at the boy and beheld a dark shadow behind him which congealed into a presence. Her own shadow recognized it and the two shadows acknowledged one another.

The light in the room dimmed and black smoke poured out from Felix’s skin. The boy fell limp and slumped forward as a smoke pouring out of him formed into a demonic shape of long, black claws and a mouth of sharp, grinning teeth. The demon lurched towards Bronwyn and reached a claw out at her. It drew at the life within her seeking to steal it, but she repelled the creature. She summoned the darkness within her, transforming her body into demonic teeth and claws dripping with foul acid and tore into the demon.

McCoy moved in to attack the demon, but his blow passed through it like smoke. Riley attacked with her longsword barely connecting the creature. Lancelot bit into its smoky form and tore at it. Elora used her magic to create a connection between herself and the creature. Electric energy flowed through the connection hurting the demon. Ireena stepped in front of Elora to defend her. Bramo used his tools to construct a magical cannon which fired bolts of force at the demon. Arrabelle gave her blessing to Johan, telling him she believed in him and knew he would do what needed to be done.

Emboldened by her words, Johan strode forward and imbued his greatsword with the divine wrath of his goddess, Lavina. The blade came down glowing with brilliant radiance as it cleaved through the demon sending it screeching back into nothingness!

The demon destroyed; the boy Felix seemed to emerge from a nightmare. He was upset and traumatized unsure of where he was or what had been happening. After being frightened by McCoy, Arrabelle approached the boy and calmed him down telling him everything would be all right. The group headed downstairs to check on Milivoj and found him awake and feeling better, the color returning to his cheeks and his eyes clear and focused. The group explained he had been sick, cursed by a demon, but now he would be all right.

The boy broke down and told them he deserved to be cursed for his sins! He confessed to doing something terrible to hurt the church, he had stolen the Bones of St. Andral! He explained that a man had approached him to steal the bones in exchange for gold, gold Milivoj needed to hire the Wolf Hunters to find the missing boys. He knew he was doing something evil, but thought he was doing it for a good reason. He deserved to be punished and was sorry for what he had done.

The group told him it would be all right, and there was still time to undo what he had done and find redemption. They asked who had hired him, who had he given the bones to? He told them it was an old man with a beard, a man the church had worked with many times, Henrik the Coffin Maker. The group realized this was why the man had acted so suspiciously and frightened. They determined to bring the man to justice, but Elora told them he was probably not to blame and was most likely the victim of some other dark power. Many people had been acting against their will or under duress here in Vallaki. They wondered if the same had been true of Bluto if he’d been possessed by a demon as well, but thought it was more likely he was under a charm of some kind. They would learn more once they’d confronted Henrik and recovered the Bones of St. Andral.