Dinner with the Devil

I can’t believe what I am writing… or, rather… where I am writing it… I am currently sharing a bedchamber with Ireena in Castle Ravenloft… I can barely believe it myself, so it is far too important and crazy to not write down. I sincerely hope with all of my heart that we all make it out of this alive…
 
In order to explain the situation that I now am finding myself in, I must go back to Vallaki, when we were just leaving Vanderhoute’s basement…
 
Izek Strazni led us out of the basement, his hulking presence menacing every time I caught his gaze drifting over to Brynden. He scares me. Brother or not… he terrifies me. I get the distinct impression that he is mentally unstable, and frankly, I’m terrified to be alone with him. I’m torn though… because if Brynden is correct, a part of me, I think it’s whatever remains of the little girl who fled her burning village, a part of me really, genuinely wants him to be my brother… for everything to be true and for him to come along with us and watch my back.
 
But that is not what would happen… I’m terrified of what will happen now, if we meet him again… we betrayed our agreement with him… well, we disobeyed his orders… I told him that we would leave and all talk about it later. I didn’t specify when the later was going to be, though… so technically, we (at least, I) didn’t lie to him. But I do not think he has the mental capacity to see that. Or to see any other side of any story, frankly… that’s probably why he has risen to the position with the Baron that he has…
 
But, I digress from what is actually important...
 
As we were following my "brother" out of Vanderhoutes basement, he turned to us and stated that we were to meet him at the Baron's house in one hour.
His tone brooked no argument, neither did his hulking, demonic arm.
 
A collective sigh of relief passed over the party as Strazni turned down a road and disappeared from view. Brynden opened the letter bearing the seal of Ravenloft. It was addressed to us… in it, Strahd thanked us for assisting him in dealing with the little problem of upstart lieutenants and a bride who plotted ill for his love. He invited us to join him for dinner at Ravenloft. He said that no harm would come to us as long as we abide by his rules. Of course, there was no mention as to what his “rules” are… but I figured that he would tell us when we got there… oh fuck..
 
Trevor said that he sensed undead closing around outside the gates of the city and that there was also something undead over by the Blue Water Inn. We debated going to check it out, but we wouldn't have enough time to walk to the inn and be back in an hour to meet with Strazni and the Baron. So, it was ultimately decided that we would go to the church and inform the bishop of what we had discovered. Errki, in what I'm beginning to think might be typical dwarf fashion, decided to head to the Baron's manor early, with or without the rest of us...
 
As we were approaching the church, Trevor thanked me for saving his life so many times and said that he had something for me. He bought me a necklace as a thank you. I kind of feel bad for my immediate reaction of being somewhat apprehensive. All gifts are always attached by strings, in my experience… but maybe things work differently in the land they come from. It is a beautiful necklace, black stone with a red rose inlaid in the center. There are small pearls and stones ringing the edge, and it hangs from a black chain. It is stunning. I shrugged off any lingering questions as to why, and thanked him for the gift.
 
When we arrived at the church, Brynden and Ireena told the bishop everything that had happened. About the time they had finished, Errki came running though the door, and said that we needed to go see Lady Wachter immediately, the Baron be damned. If we were going to take the Devil up on his invitation, then we needed to go see Wachter straight away.
 
After Errki said that, he turned to the bishop and asked him to warn the two hunters who hang out at the Blue Water Inn to leave Vallaki. Brynden and Trevor both shot glares his way that promised retribution. I didn’t know what was going on, but I could tell that based on their reactions, it had something to do with them… and the only two hunters that Errki could be talking about were Szoldazar and Yegvene. The bishop agreed when Errki handed him a small pouch of gold.
 
I turned to Trevor and Brynden and demanded to know what they had done. They refused to answer, pretending like they didn’t have any idea what I was talking about…
 
Finally, Errki told me that they had told Izek Strazni that those hunters had fucked me. And that they were walking around the city looking very unhappy. The latter was a complete lie, and the former? Well, I slept with Szoldazar, but that is neither here nor there. And it definitely is none of their business, nor is it the business of a brother whom I just met. If he is even my brother at all… for, although, I do believe it, his story is credible enough… at the same time, I have a very hard time viewing him as family. I’ve only just met him, and he obviously never looked very hard for me in the first place…
 
What the fuck? I get it, Trevor and Brynden are probably jealous. Brynden obviously fancies me, and I know that Trevor finds me attractive, if nothing else, but seriously? Brynden is little more than a boy, and Trevor’s illogical jealousy of every hunter in Barovia is well known to me… but this? They purposely set up Szoldazar and Yegvene to be arrested and very likely killed! What the fuck? They would have been great allies to have on hand for when the shit inevitably hits the fan.
 
I once again am digressing… as disturbing as the potential fates of the two hunters are… it does not have much bearing at all in what events led up to our arrival and stay at Castle Ravenloft…
 
We decided to heed Errki’s instruction and made our way to Lady Wachter’s mansion. There were a couple of the Baron’s men standing guard at the gate, obviously keeping an eye on all those arriving and leaving the property.
 
They let us pass without incident, and when we made our way up to the porch, the door swung open, seemingly of its own accord. The foyer was filled with men in various states of armed and armored… all of them wearing blackened armor and crimson cloaks emblazoned with the arms of Ravenloft.
 
One of them stopped sharpening his weapon long enough to motion us up the stairs. When we ascended the stairs, we were called into a room at the end of the hall. There, we met Lady Wachter.
 
She was a very tall willowy woman of advancing age. Lady Wachter already knew about the fight in Vanderhoute's basement. She also described Strahd's invitation as though she knew exactly what it said. It was more than a little disconcerting that she knew so much. I figured out why when my eyes were drawn to a black crystal ball sitting on a pedestal in the center of the room.
 
We asked why she is supportive of Strahd. Lady Wachter looked at us wryly and said that she would much rather be ruled over by a reclusive king who rarely leaves his castle, than by a madman who deals in dark magic and tries to bring in dark powers. "Which?" she asked," is better for the people of Vallaki?"
 
I didn't know what to say to that. She then went on to say that one cannot hope to outwit Strahd at his game of chess... for, Wachter said, that is all this is to him... a game of chess where he makes the rules. Strahd makes the rules and he is the land, he can be anyone he wishes... sometimes he is a city guard, sometimes he walks as an old man with a cart, sometimes he is the quieter of two hunters.
 
When she mentioned the two hunters, I shot Trevor a look. He had the decency to look chagrined for a moment before asking Lady Wachter about the forces mustering in her parlor. She told us by way of answer thatif we planned on taking Strahd upon his invitation-which she strongly suggested we do- then she advised we should leave Vallaki with all haste.
 
When I said something about not knowing how we were going to get out, Lady Wachter motioned to a magic circle traced on the ground on the far side of the room. "That," the woman explained, "will teleport you outside the city gates.There, you will find a black coach, which will safely take you to Ravenloft?
 
Trevor then asked her if, in the coup that was inevitable at this point, if they would please take Izek Strazni alive. Lady Wachter looked at me, her eyes shrewd, and said that she doubted very much that they would be able to take "that one" alive, but she would make an effort.
 
I looked to Trevor and he whispered that he at least wanted to try, to at least give me the chance to get to know my brother. I again expressed my doubt that Strazni is actually my brother, to which Lady Wachter assured me that he is... for good or ill.
 
With that, we made our way to the teleportation circle in the back of the room, and Lady Wachter activated the spell. We were surrounded by a disconcerting mist that enveloped us, then we were standing about a hundred yards outside
Vallaki's eastern gate. Thirty yards away sat Rahadin's black coach...
 
I fought down rising panic as we approached, but Rahadin wasn't climbing out of the carriage.. Rahadin is dead. I was surprised though that the carriage is intact, seeing as the last time I'd seen the carriage, it had been smashed into little pieces on the side of the road. I put it down to some magic of Strahd's as we made our way to the carriage.
 
As we approached, the door swung open and a ghostly figure appeared in the driver's seat. A chill ran down my spine, but the ghost didn't say anything, it merely
waited for us to board.
 
We situated ourselves inside. It was far more spacious than I was expecting. As the coach set off, the mists began seeping into the carriage, making us all feel ill. But, a short while into our trip, about the time I was about to force myself to relax enough to sleep, I felt the coach begin to lift off of the ground. At first, it was terrifying, but when it evened out and we were looking down upon the treetops, it became quite exhilarating.
 
After an impossibly short amount of time, we found ourselves touched down on the ground outside the gates of Castle Ravenloft. I felt a hard knot of dread forming in my stomach the closer we got to the door.
 
Much as they had at Wachterhouse, the doors swung open, seemingly of their own accord. We entered into a massive hall with plush red carpets laid out in the. walkways of black marbled floors.
 
A door opened at the far end of the hallway, and a figure that was all-too-familiar stepped out to greet us... a tall, imposing dusk elf clad in pristine black plate, the emblem of Ravenloft emblazoned on his breastplate. Rahadin.
 
I panicked for a moment. He was dead. I saw Oswald smash his helmeted head in with his hammer. I saw his body as Kasimir knelt there in shock. Rahadin was dead...
 
I began backing away, my mind working frantically, but I found myself running into Trevor and the others behind me. Rahadin spoke, welcoming us to Castle Ravenloft. Something was off... his face looked the same, but there was something inexplicably different, something that I couldn't place. Then it sunk in... he had spoken, not in Rahadin’s haughty voice, but in Kasimir's quiet one. I glanced over at the rest of the party and Trevor was looking pensive, but the others looked horribly confused.
 
"Rahadin" motioned for us to follow him and I swear I saw Kasimir shoot a wink at Trevor and I as he turned away.
 
We were led through a portrait hall..I had the uncomfortable sensation that they were following us with their eyes. Finally, we were led into the dining hall. There were places already set at the table. "Rahadin" told us to take our seats and that Straka would be joining us shortly.
 
We took our seats... Trevor taking the chair directly across from Strahd's thronelike chair, while the rest of us sat along the sides, making sure to seat Ireena next to Oswald, and between him and myself. .
 
A few minutes later, a mist started pouring into the room, swirling around everything, and everyone. Unlike the mists outside, this didn't cause the same sensation of being slowly poisoned... yet this was so much worse... The back of my neck prickled as though someone had walked up behind me and their breath was caressing the back of my neck... The mist swirled through the hall before coalescing on the throne like chair as it solidified into Strahd himself.
 
Even though I was expecting something like this entrance, it still hadn't prepared me. I mean, I knew that Strahd could become mist, and I'd seen vampires do it before, it still didn't prepare me for having the Devil himself moving around me like that... it was disconcerting on a deeply personal level that I, frankly, can't spare the mental energy to focus on right now. Strahd welcomed us (most especially Ireena) to his home and thanked us for eliminating his problem of disloyal lieutenants. Irena pointed out that one got away. "Ah." Strahd said. "Do you mean that one?" he gestured to the ceiling. When I glanced up to where he indicated, I could see the vampire who had fled the basement, crucified among the rafters.
 
The food was delicious, and the wine was the finest vintage that Wizard of Wines has to offer. I noticed Trevor didn't eat or drink anything. As a matter of fact... I can't say I remember ever seeing him eat anything aside from his magical berries. Does the man have something against food?
 
I honestly don't remember much of the exact conversation, but Strahd was surprisingly open to questions. Ireena asked about the broken stained glass window, to which he replied that it was merely a painful memory.
 
She then pulled out a page ripped from a book, and asked if it had anything to do with that... the page held a picture of a figure quite akin to Strahd himself, although bedecked in armor bearing the symbology of the morninglord.
 
Strahd said that was a story for another time. He flirtatiously offered to tell Ireena whatever she wanted to know over a private dinner for just the two of them.
I'm glad that I wasn't the only one who was put off by that suggestion.
 
The conversation continued and I eventually worked up the courage to ask Strahd why, if he only punishes those who deserve it, why then did he send Rahadin to burn villages?
 
He looked right at me then, and I felt the uncomfortable weight of his full attention.
"A story for another time." was all that he would say.
 
Conversation continued, and I found myself only partially paying attention, as my mind was occupied by the chaos of my own thoughts. I did hear something about Strahd asking us to help the Martikov family with the issues they were having at the Wizard of Nines. Apparently they are a family of wereravens... I didn't know such a thing existed, but I find myself unsurprised.
 
We had already been asked to help the winery when we first arrived in Vallaki, and I think the general consensus was that we would likely help them. But why does Strahd want us to help?
 
Skeptical, I asked him why. Strahd replied that as the lord of the land, he sees to the needs of his people... and that if there is anything that brings joy to the people of Barovia, it is our wine.
 
I shrugged. In that observation, at least, the Devil was correct. A Barovia with no wine would be a Barovia not worth living in.
 
Errki asked Strahd if we could catch a ride to the winery in the black coach. Heagreed, but said, looking pointedly at Brynden's bandaged chest, that we would be best served to rest for the night.
 
Strahd offered us accommodations in the castle for the night, giving his word that no harm would befall us if we continue to follow his rules. I wasn't comfortable with the situation, but felt a lot better after the devil gave his word.
 
As much as I do not trust our host, the people of the valley all know Strahd to be a man (vampire?) of his word.
 
Regardless of whether it is wise or not, the party agreed to stay and rest the night in Castle Ravenloft.
 
As we prepared to leave the table and follow "Rahadin" to our rooms, Trevor pointed out the window. Brightly glowing flames lit up the night sky... Vallaki is burning...