COS 005 - Bury The Past, Stake The Present

Over a modest dinner, Ismark offered the party 50 gold pieces to take Ireena to safety, after ensuring that the dead Burgomaster Kolyan Indirovich was properly buried. They agreed and turned to rest; over the evening, they realized that they had grown stronger after surviving the Death House. Shakti further connected with the dull Barovian moon, harnessing Spellcraft from its power as her mother had. Jarmo spent the night reading Alchemical Secrets Best Left Untold and found it contained Mutagencraft that could enhance his blood and body. At dawn, Ghalwin went to the woods and wove a dreamcatcher dedicated to Rose, Thorn, and Walter; he swore a sacred oath to the Ancients of the land to protect Barovia, and the nature spirits granted him the power to speak with Beasts and invoke druidcraft.

While Ireena researched an old Adventurer's Map of Barovia, everyone else carried Kolyan's coffin to the Church of Barovia, where the grounds had clearly been terrorized many times by beasts and fire. At the altar, they met the half-mad Father Stefan Donavich, and quickly intuited that his son Doru Stefanovich had been turned into a Vampire Spawn after a failed attack on Castle Ravenloft in the prior year. Father Donavich had kept him locked under the church in the time since, and Doru's screams of hunger were audible beneath the floorboards.

Believing that his son's affliction was due to the disappearance of "Mother Night" but that he would be saved by the "Morninglord", Donavich plead with the party to not interpose. Through gritted teeth, they agreed to allow Doru to live, and held a proper funeral in the cemetery behind. There, Shakti spotted a Strahd-shaped figure across the graveyard, bowing in reverence to the Burgomaster's death; she raced back with Jarmo to check on Ireena, who was thankfully safe.

After the funeral, Ismark indicated that they may find horses at the Vistani encampment at Tser Pool, a journey west of the village. Ready to leave, the party looked to arm themselves at Bildrath's Mercantile, but found that its proprietor was charging ridiculous prices. Bildrath Cantemir refused to budge on charging ten times what the adventurers expected to pay, and called for his nephew Parriwimple to intimidate them by breaking a javelin in half. Ghalwin and Jarmo both immediately split their own javelins in an impressive show of strength; though now technically two javelins lighter, they celebrated their moral victory and collected Ireena.

Leaving Barovia behind them, the party reached the Vistani encampment after three days on the road, having followed several side trails along the way. They found cart tracks believed to have been used by Morgantha, though no proof could be found, and another trail ended in a concealed spike pit that Ghalwin narrowly avoided. The roads were muddy after the Ivlis River crossing, but they met little resistance, and despite her inexperience, Ireena proved a capable and resilient traveler. She later spotted a pair of Scarecrows fashioned from rusted scythes and knives, giving the group time to avoid the wandering Constructs. At the Ivlis River Crossroads, Jarmo encountered a vision of his own corpse hanging from the gallows, which collapsed into a hissing, boiling liquid at his touch and left him badly shaken.

Even so, the party pressed on and reached the encampment before nightfall. Approaching Tser Pool, they found an immediate change in energy compared to the dour and hostile conditions of the rest of Barovia. These Vistani were a friendly people, and they were welcomed in by Jino, who poured the party some horrible purple wine and invited them to swap stories by the fireside. As Ghalwin danced with the alluring Floriana, Jino informed the adventurers Madam Eva had been expecting them; the matriarch was considered to be greatest seer of her people, and had foretold the party's arrival.

Madame Eva read the trio a Tarokka Deck prophecy, forbidding Ireena from entering her tent: the reading intonated the fate of the party's struggle against Strahd. They were told the location of three objects needed for their quest, an ally who would aid them until the end, and the location of where they would fight Strahd himself. She then revealed answers to personal struggles that the characters had been grappling with; in this reading, Shakti learned that her struggles had already been foretold her preceding prophecy, revealing that her Druid card was missing from Madam Eva's deck.

As Ireena was called in, the party left Madame Eva's tent, welcoming the warmth of the bonfire and the Vistani.