The three approached the altar, and thirteen cultist spirits appeared around them, rhythmically demanding that "One Must Die". The party was unwilling to sacrifice another on the dais, and instead made their way to the pool; enraged, the cultists invoked the monster below the mansion. Baby Walter emerged as a Shambling Mound of refuse, dead plants, and flesh, a foe far beyond the party's skill. Jarmo and Shakti escaped the chamber as Walter swallowed Ghalwin completely. Making a snap decision, Shakti cut the rope to the portcullis, which Jarmo believed he could keep open with raw strength. He could not, and was hit by the iron gate before also being half-engulfed by Walter.
Inside the monster, a dying Ghalwin heard the voice of a crying baby. He squirmed towards Walter, a baby connected by dozens of umbilical cords to the outside creature. Invoking the most traumatizing Divine Smite of his life, Ghalwin slowly brought his axe across the baby's neck; the crying stopped, and the monster fell into pieces around him. The thirteen spirits fled the chamber, but summoned five Shadows which chased the party up to to the attic. The Durst Manor had changed, its doors replaced by rotating scythes and its stoves producing poisonous smoke. To avoid a scything door, Shakti broke a thin wall to the third floor, but found it was filled with Swarms of Rats that overwhelmed the group.
She dispatched the swarm as Jarmo beat the piss out of one rat specifically, and they raced downward. To survive the house, he twice invoked the magic of his Dreamweave Circlet to turn his skin to stone, and Shakti still needed to heal both of her guardians just to keep them moving. As the shadows caught up to the party, they successfully had made it to the third-floor balcony and desperately rappelled down. Jarmo blasted apart the front-door, though its scythe-blade bounced back and downed him in the process, and Ghalwin jumped back inside to rescue the terrified Lancelot. He saved the dog as Shakti again saved Jarmo; the party had successfully escaped the forsaken manor.
The trio turned to find that they were now in the very-much-occupied Village of Barovia. They decided to clean themselves up outside town before heading in, where they noticed that much of the populace dressed in muted colors and regarded the outsiders with suspicion and fear. Everyone seemed especially afraid of Shakti, who decided to cover her face to avoid further attention.
At the nearest occupied house, Ghalwin spotted a baker selling pastries to an excessively-thankful Barovian commoner. The old lady was sweet, but the trio remained suspicious after everything that happened at the house. She introduced herself as "Granny", though divulged that her formal name was "Morgantha" when pressed, and explained that she lived some way outside of town with her two daughters, only coming into the village to sell her baked goods. She insisted that the party each take a Dream Pastry for free before going on her way.
As they approached the village center, Lancelot was eager to follow the sounds of yet another wailing voice. Ghalwin convinced everyone to follow him into Mad Mary's Townhouse, where the woman inside was clearly insane. A week ago, Marya Pavlenka's daughter Gertruda had escaped into the mists, leaving behind only Lancelot and her favorite doll. The party determined that "Mad Mary" was clearly unfit to keep the dog, and took Lancelot with them.
Jarmo was desperate for a bed and a glass of wine, but in the Blood of the Vine tavern, a man recognized Lancelot. The new Burgomaster Ismark Kolyanovich bought the party a round of Purple Grapemash No. 3; over a glass of the incredibly poor-quality wine, he informed themthem to stay away from the tavern's Vistani owners, believing them to be agents of Strahd. Ismark gave the party information on Barovia in general, and told them of his twice-bitten sister Ireena Kolyana, an object of Strahd's obsession. When they told him about encountering the body and the letter, he somberly identified the carrier as his childhood friend, Dalvan Olensky.
Ghalwin told Ismark about how they escaped the Death House, and he pleaded with them to find a way to ensure his sister's permanent protection. The party agreed, and accepted an offer to rest in the Barovia Burgomaster's Mansion. A furious Ireena awaited them with sword in hand, not trusting the strangers who had been formally invited in; she was on edge, as her father Kolyan Indirovich had died only a few days prior.
Ismark pleaded the group's case, and Ireena relented, allowing the weary travelers to finally rest.