Argynvostholt, so far...

The events leading up to this journal entry have been harrowing, to say the least. I write this journal in, I believe, the wee hours of the morning; sunrise, if this realm had one, would be shortly coming. I'll recount the events as best as I can remember from my last entry.
 
We arrived at Argynvostholt with little flair, though Oswald seemed quite pleased with himself. Finally being able to put that particular training to use, I suppose. Still rather tired after our watch, I didn't catch much of the area before we had to unload from Van Richten's Ezmerelda's wagon, and we quickly gathered our things before heading inside. Once we were within, the door slammed shut behind us, but not before the fleeting light of day gave us all brief illumination of the true ruins that now lie within with us. Rubble, skeletons, clear signs of struggle. Bones littered the place. It seemed as if War itself had come riding in on its horse and slew every creature living within. It was unsurprising then, if not more than a little unsettling, that a spectre appeared before us. A revenant, clear as day, wearing armor that seemed to match a large number of the remains strewn about this great hall. As they conversed, I focused my senses and began trying to identify how many undead were in this place. Never again.
 
In the way that my sensory skill functions, let's assume that a single undead entity is a candle, burning its flame and giving off a soft, warm light. Believe me when I say that this place felt as if I were inches from the sun, its heat blistering and scorching my flesh from my bones and its light searing my eyes like an unending light I would never blink away. Never in all my years have I felt anything like this before. Nor, I believe, am I like to again.
 
When I came to, we had apparently been surrounded by more revenants, and the first we had encountered was congratulating Oswald on passing his test. I'm not entirely sure what transpired, but apparently Oswald was about to cut a strip of flesh off of Marushka's cheek and feed it to his undead horse? She seemed concerned about a lasting scar from the ordeal, but I smiled and offer her the solace that scars are attractive. As if my own didn't show so. It seemed just as ridiculous hearing it then as it does writing it down now. They let us past and we made our way into the next area of the ruins. After shuffling alone a narrow ledge, we came to a bridge where a large revenant knight wielding a greatsword awaited us. Some how, for I do not remember, we discovered that the area around the bridge was under the affect of an Anti-Magic Field. Then, the knight told Oswald of his next trial; choose a champion that would fight in his stead. Bryndon tried to leap at the chance (For some reason), but was "persuaded" by Erkki to allow him to handle this trial.
 
The two fought an incredible match, with the tide of battle seeming to swing either way between the combatants at any moment. Finally, the knight ended up pinning Erkki to the side of the bridge, his upper half dangling dangerously off the side. He posed Oswald a choice: Let Erkki fall, or take his place. If the first trial was anything to go by, I believe had Oswald chosen to take his place, the trial would have passed and we would all be free to proceed. However, Erkki is a fucking idiot. Bleating out that he wouldn't put Oswald through a moral dilemma for his own life, Erkki slammed his fist into the knight's arm, such that the knight lost his grip and Erkki plummeted to the darkness below. As much as I wish I could have lashed out with my whip and save him, we were all too far away. I can't.. Mm. I may not have liked Erkki a great deal, and he was as dumb as an ox, but I cannot claim to not have an ache in my heart for losing yet another comrade in this hellhole. The deed done, the knight vanished as ghosts are wont to do. Across the bridge from us, the door leading onward opened and we solemnly proceeded forward. I will be glad to put this place behind me once we have finished our business here.
 
As we entered the next room, there was a rune inscribed on keystone in the center of the room, and while it was clearly dwarven, none of us could suss out how it should help us. If only the dumbass dwarf we brought with us hadn't stupidly decided to take a swan dive off the bridge into infinite darkness in the prior room. That would've been helpful. The room itself was littered with coin, from dull coppers to shining platinums and golds. Sprinkled around as well were treasures of elven and dwarven make alike, but none of us dared not touch or try to take anything. Another revenant appeared before us and gave us a warning that only death and misery awaited us here. We did not heed the warning; we had come too far and already lost too much to turn away now, empty-handed. Among the various treasures in the room, 8 chests, closed but unlocked, stood out amongst everything. We searched through the coins and treasures as warily as we could, but took nothing. Everything seemed alright, but we found no key among the riches.
 
Knowing we needed to find the key to proceed, Oswald opened a chest and rummaged inside in search of it. He found nothing of the sort. As he proceeded to open the next chest, he was blocked by some invisible force from even touching it, as if repelled by some ward. Bryndon confidently strode over to do it instead and found he had no problems opening the chest. As he rummaged through the chest, it slammed shut suddenly and blood began to pour down the boy's arms just before standing up to an incredible 7 feet height. We battled the mimic and eventually won, but we definitely took some damage as a whole. As we prepared to open the next chest, we all readied ourselves for another battle, and good thing. The next chest ended up being a mimic as well. Thankfully, with everyone ready, we merc'd it pretty handidly but unfortunately found no key.
 
So.. you know what? I'm going to really shorten the next bit. The next chest turned out to be a fiend that the knights here had made a deal with in life, and here it was. It offered us the key forward for sparing us its life and allowing it to follow along with us. It ended up turning into a shadow-y form of Oswald, and tired of everyone's bickering, I made a deal with it. We went forward.
 
We found ourselves in a multi-floor tower, later found to be in a separate plane from Barovia, in which dwelled Mordenkainen. Apparently Strahd had cursed him and put him in here, unable to defeat him. If this isn't considered a defeat, I don't know what is. This was pretty shitty. We were unable to help him in the end, but we made a promise to try and come back with the missing piece of his staff if we could and free him.
 
As we continued on, avoiding any cliff edges for fear of being pushed to our deaths via Demonmimic, we found ourselves at yet another trial. Stating that Oswald's faith had not yet been tested, Dlawso stepped into the summoning circle in the middle of the room, and the rest of us followed save for Ezmerelda and Van Richten. Dlawso turned into a bigass demon with a fiery sword and we all had to fight him inside the circle. The two outside found themselves fighting a bunch of revenants.
 
So the BAD (Big Ass Demon) looks at me, and I'm suddenly STARVING. Like.. holy shit I know I've only been eating Goodberries since I got here, but I was suddenly RAVENOUS. Not knowing what else it might do, I fought through the feeling, my mouth salivating uncontrollably, and I cast Protection from Evil and Good on Marushka once I had made my way over to her. I was NOT about to lose her as well. The fight carried on with all kinds of crazy shit going on. Ireena began fighting like the devil himself, without fear of death or even losing. Bryndon began stripping himself of his clothing, as if he'd suddenly become a nudist. We were all hurting badly. The demon's flaming sword cut swaths through us, and we were all nearly done for.
 
And then it happened.
 
I was forcibly turned around only to find Marushka there, gazing into my eyes and looking like the most beautiful creature in all the world. Nay, the planes! While I foundly recalled her beautiful face often, I had never seen her like this before. Maybe it was the heat of the moment? Some sort of enchantment of the demon at play? Whatever it was.. well...
 
She wrapped her arms around my neck and forced herself close, pressing her lips to mine in a fevered kiss. Probably my own desires being set free here, I didn't hesitate to return it as much as I could. Her lips were... ah, as I sit here writing in recollection, I have not the words to describe the moment. Certainly had it been any other time, I would have continued on for longer than the.. time.. some amount of time. I could not keep track of it. Did not want to. Some unrational side of me forced me to pull away, against everything else that I am, and bade me continue the fight. Perhaps more could come later.
 
Fearing for Ireena's safety (and everyone else's, is Strahd's threats were not to be taken lightly), I dove on top of her after she fell to the ground, shielding her body with my own to prevent her from being slain before we could heal her. I found myself struck across the back once more, and nearly passed out from the pain. Suddenly, it went quiet, and the demon gone. I had heard Marushka's voice ring out a command and all was still. Apparently Dlawso yet again asked Oswald to sacrifice, and upon agreeing, left - Oswald had passed his trial.
 
We regrouped in the chamber, deciding it was worth well enough to stay and recover here. The knights aside, there had been no stray creatures. Nothing to attack us outside of the trials. We were comforted by this fact, and bid we give ourselves time to sleep and recover. Ireena was too injured to keep watch, and we all agreed she needed all her sleep. Bryndon took first watch with Oswald. Still more going on between those two than I care to know, but I hope all this is getting through to Bryndon, and he picks up some of Oswald's traits. Van Richten and Esmerelda took the next watch, neither wanting to take a watch with anyone besides themselves. That left just.. Marushka and I for the final watch. It was.. pleasant. We talked about what happened during the fight. Neither of us disliked it (at least she said), but I recognize that she was under some sort of compulsion. I have never.. wanted her to feel forced or pressured, if ever a thing we to come between us. While she apologized for her action, and I did the same, I could not help but feel a great deal of guilt at it all. She had been coerced. Under another's influence. But I had no such excuse. We finally moved away from that topic, and just spoke. As friends. It was significantly better than our previous watches together. I believe she asked me of Faerun, and of my home. Soon we will wake the others, and continue on deeper into this tomb of paladins.
 
Someone once said.. "Home is where the heart is." Yes, Marushka, my family is back in Faerun, but my home, apparently, is here.