Guided by the light of the full moon, the Adventurers raced from the Astralwood and entered the Vanishing Grove atop Shakti and Snickerdoodle. Throughout the grove, they heard howls and screams close in on them, and the air grew thick with mist. As they lost sight of the sky and their surroundings, Jarmo swung at the encroaching haze, electricity crackling across his maul with a crimson rite. Curiously, the mists reacted to this swing, leaving a Symbol-like absence.
The fog parted but led them forward on an animal trail through the sickened woods. As the trail died off, Shakti smelled death in the air; despite her want to avoid potential danger, Ghalwin forged ahead to investigate, and found the found the body of a man who had been dead for days. His body was covered in Werewolf-like slashmarks and was gripping a note penned by the "Burgomaster of Barovia". Kolyan Indirovich's Letter was a plea to the outside world to seal off these lands, claiming that his adopted daughter Ireena Kolyana had been bitten by a vampire too powerful to conquer.
Not far from the body, Ghalwin finally found a muddied and pocked road cutting through the forest, and the trio followed cart tracks down the road. They passed through the Gates of Barovia, guarded by two massive headless statues, and continued until Shakti heard the sound of shuffling footsteps. Lead by a figure in a black executioner's hood, eight Zombies overran the party. In the chaos of combat, one ran through and gored Snickerdoodle, ripping out the horse's throat.
Turning into a Dire Wolf, Shakti somehow fended off four at once, while Ghalwin smote the leader with a divine strike. Jarmo was forced to test the limit of his blood hunter abilities, invoking Hemocraft to take away a zombies' eyesight as it besieged Ghalwin, and Enhanced his hammer to pummel his foes. Dispatching the last of their enemy, the party worried that resting in the woods could be dangerous, given what happened to the letter carrier. They instead continued on their bloody march, leaving poor Snickerdoodle's body out in the open road.
Ahead, a lamplight cut through the fog as a black carriage approached, and off it stepped Count Strahd von Zarovich. His shadow was unnaturally long and imposing, decapitating Ghalwin's shadow as the Count himself offered greetings to the party. The vampire tried to magically charm Shakti, but she resisted with druidic training. Emboldened by her resistance, she disrespectfully defied Strahd, and he began to threaten the trio. Shakti pushed for information, inquiring on the decrepit state of his castle compared to her vision, and with unnatural speed, Strahd broke her jaw. Ghalwin healed Shakti with his Holy Symbol and begged for mercy, but the paladin's plea failed, and the Count cut his throat.
Realizing they faced certain death, Jarmo asked if he could keep his life in exchange for a trade. [critical success] His question allayed the vampire lord, and Strahd listed out three demands: to visit him at Castle Ravenloft, to stay away from "Tatyana", and to taste his cursed blood. Jarmo accepted and Strahd drained the giantborn, though did not appreciated how "stony" the Doomgolem's blood tasted. He turned back to his carriage as Jarmo and Shakti raced to heal Ghalwin, and left the group with a final sentiment: "Welcome to Barovia."
Battered and beaten, they ambled down the foggy road as rain tormented them for hours. At a point, they were passed by a Humanoid Skeleton atop a Skeletal Horse; with no acknowledgement, the rider trotted past and wordlessly dropped an empty black Diary. Eventually, they came to pass a village gate, but its streets seemed abandoned. They all heard the distant cries of a young boy, and followed the sound to the foot of a foreboding house, where two children waited out front in panic.
Rosavalda and Thornboldt Durst refused to go back into their home, claiming that their parents and younger brother were trapped with a monster in the basement. Already on their last legs, the party entered its gated portico, which Ghalwin "locked" by sticking a shortsword through the frame. The mists pressed up to them, enveloping Rose and Thorn, and they rested at the cold door of the Death House.