Barovia
10th Moon, 735
Barovia
A week after the group had returned to Oakhurst from their quest in the Sunless Citadel, Ziri invited the rest of the party to accompany her back to Neverwinter Woods. She wanted to return to her order, The Circle of Swords, and deliver Belak’s head which she kept pickled inside a glass jar big enough to fit the fallen druid’s head. The group was eager to move on despite briefly considering going back to the Sunless Citadel to find and slay the troll who had cost the group the lives of two of its members. However, the group chose to follow Ziri and journey to Neverwinter Woods.
The group never made it.
As the group traveled along the road leading away from Oakhurst towards Neverwinter Wood, the group found itself enveloped by a thick fog that hung in the morning air, turning the trees around the party into gray ghosts. Eventually, they noticed the trees weren’t the same trees that surrounded them just moments before.
The thick mist stayed, or rather seemingly followed, the group for some time. Eventually the mist parted long enough to see high stone buttresses looming gray in the fog. Huge iron gates hung on the stonework. Dew clung with cold tenacity to the rusted bars. Two headless statues of armed guardians flanked the gate, their heads now lying among the weeds at their feet. They greeted the adventurers only with silence.
After passing through the iron gates which opened for them, the party continued to follow the road beyond.
Soon a foul scent led the group to a human corpse half-buried in the underbrush about fifteen feet from the road. The young man appeared to be a commoner. His muddy clothes were torn and raked with claw marks. Crows had been at the body, which was surrounded by the paw prints. The man had obviously been dead for several days. He held a crumpled envelope in one hand. A wax seal stamped with the letter “B” sealed the envelope. After opening it, the letter inside read:
Hail to thee of might and valor,
I, a lowly servant of Barovia, send honor to thee. We plead for thy to desperately needed assistance.
The love of my life, Ireena Kolyana, has been afflicted by an evil so deadly that even the good people of our village cannot protect her. She languishes from her wound, and I would have her saved from this menace. There is much wealth in this community. I offer all that might be had to thee and thy fellows if thou shalt but answer my desperate plea. Come quickly, for her time is at hand! All that I have is thine!
Kolyan Indirovich
Burgomaster
Moments later, the feral howl of lone wolf pierced the night’s silence. It was later joined by another wolf’s terrifying howl. Then a third joined in the wolve’s chorus.
And by the sounds of it, the wolves were getting closer!
Soon, four wolves stepped out of the nearby woods. The wolves were huge, easily the size of horses! Ziri recognized them as dire wolves. Fortunately, the wolves did not seem intent on attacking the group outright. Rather, they formed a feral wall blocking the road from which the group came from.
Not wanting to fight the dire wolves, the party decided to carefully continue down the road away from the wolves.
After nearly an hour of walking, the road began to get muddier. The group continued on as the sky began to darken all around them. Not wanting to be caught outdoors in a strange land, the group traveled on.
Soon, tall shapes loomed out of the dense fog that surrounded everything. The muddy ground underfoot gave way to slick, wet cobblestones. The tall shapes became recognizable as village dwellings. The windows of each house stared out from pools of blackness. No sound cut the silence except for mournful sobbing that echoed through the streets from a distance.
Suddenly, the group heard another strange sound: the sound of small, wooden wheels rolling across damp cobbles. Following the sound, they came upon a lonely hunched figure bundled in rags, pushing a rickety wooden cart through the fog.
The matronly old woman said her name was Morgana and occasionally came to the village of Barovia to sell her “Dream Pastry”, sweet flavored pies, for one gold coin each.
Edmont bought one pie and after tasting it, said it was the most delicious pie he had ever eaten. The old woman smiled. When asked about the ingredients, Morgana said it was a secret family recipe but that eating the pies lets one sleep well and forget about the day’s troubles.
Nevertheless, the others weren’t willing to buy any.
The group asked the woman about where they were and who ruled the lands they found themselves in.
Morgana said they were in the lands of Barovia, in the village of Barovia, and that the devil Strahd has mastery over the land and the weather, and his spies include the Vistani, people who wore colorful garbs and wandered about the lands of Barovia.
After asking Morgana about a place to eat or drink, the woman directed them to the Blood of the Vine, a small inn in the heart of the village.
When they reached the location Morgana directed them to, they were greeted by a single shaft of light that thrusted illumination into the main square, its brightness looking like a solid pillar in the heavy fog. Above the gaping doorway, a sign hung precariously askew, proclaiming this to be the Blood on the Vine tavern. Someone had seeming written the word “on” above the marked off word “of”.
Inside the tavern, a blazing fire in the hearth gave scant warmth to the few huddled souls within. They included the barkeep, three Vistani (fitting the description Morgana gave the party) sitting together, and a man sitting by himself at a corner table, sipping wine from a wooden goblet.
Ziri went to sit with the Vistani. Skyler sat by the door leading in while the others went to the bar and ordered some drinks. The barkeep, a pudgy little man who introduced himself as Arik Lorensk sold the party drinks and offered a spare room in the back or room on the tavern room’s floor for the night.
Ziri tried to start a conversation with the Vistani women who didn’t want anything to do with her. Not long after, the three Vistani left the tavern.
Not long after, the group was invited by the man drinking wine to his table. He introduced himself as Ismark Kolyanovich who happeed to be the son of the village burgomaster, Kolyan lndirovich.
Surprised, the group showed Ismark the letter they had found on the dead man along the road. He said his father had recently died and the man they found was likely Dalvan Olensky, someone his father recently hired to work at the manor. However, the letter was not writted in his father’s handwriting. He was very certain of it.
Afterwards, Ismark invited the group back to the manor offering them a place to sleep for the night. He added that he could use their aid in protecting his adopted sister, Ireena Kolyana. Ismark did not want to elaborate further until they were safely back at the manor.
After Ismark offered to pay the group’s tab, they all left the tavern and stepped into the fog-shrouded streets of Barovia and headed to the bugomaster’s manor.
Dramatis Personae
Ahroheim (Male High Elf Sorcerer)
Dundolyn (Male Halfling Rogue)
Edmont Patch (Male Human Rogue)
Skyler Kiltrin (Male Dragonborn Cleric of Bahamut)
Ziri Basha (Female Half-elf Druid)
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