On the morning of the eight day of Marpenoth the party awakens on a small rise overlooking the Chateau Bentinelle. The previous day Mudgruff McBumble and Cherish Heiss's half-brother Dexter were given funeral rights, the latter's extending well into the early morning. Cherish used her sorcerous powers to cremate the other tiefling, and has scarcely slept an hour in the past two days. Ezmerelda D'avenir has already left with Cherish's half-sister Lotta, and Mordenkainen has taken a group of prisoners from Orfeo's dungeon. With any luck the two wizards will be meeting up with the The Keepers of the Feather soon and escaping Barovia while the mists are still parted by the apparatus Orfeo activated. Even after a few hours the opening in the sky is noticeably smaller, though the light of dawn is still visible.
The party, including the newcomer Torben von Gipfelhaus takes a moment to consider their next move, before deciding that the time has come to put an end to the Hag, Baba Lysaga. Not only has Dragomir promised Sehanine Moonbow to deal with her, the Martikov's have asked the same of the party, and Linaria told Cherish that the Fane imprisoned by Lysaga may be her only hope of reversing the mutagenic effects of the demon ichor. With their next goal decided the party sets off in search of Lysaga, following the directions of The Bird who was able to spot her crawling hut with their Fair-Weather Spyglass. Everyone set off, making excellent time towards the ruins of Old Berez. By the ninth hour of travel through snake, lion-lizard, and giant fly infested swamp, the party was suddenly enveloped by a rolling fog bank. When the fog cleared they were standing directly before the ruins of the old city, at the gates of a walled garden.
The Bird heard movement in the swamp behind them, then Cherish and Torben detected a large number of constructs rising from the waters towards them. Nomi was quick to make towards the dry ground within the walled garden, just as the animated scarecrows came into view. Everyone followed, and the party found themselves inside a strange garden. As they blocked the door behind them, they realized that Dragomir was absent, not seen since the fog passed over.
In the Center is a large tree, and to the sides a muddy pond, shrubs strewn with metal baby heads, and an outdoor tea-table with an almost-complete tea set laid out. The first the party tried was checking the door back, only to find that it was missing. When they tried to detect magic, they discovered that no arcane magic was functioning in this place. Nomi balanced Cherish on her shoulders, and The Bird atop Cherish to see over the wall, but beyond the garden was only an endless expanse of mist.