At Tasha Petrovna's grave, Ghalwin remembered both Ms. Petrovna in Elizabeth Durst's letter as well as Lydia Petrovna, the Baroness of Vallaki. Though the Pack could not come up with a connection between the three, they nonetheless knew that Lydia may have access to Barovian finewear, so decided to follow up with her in Vallaki. They also discussed how to get the mysterious golden statuette that the mongrelfolk were parading in their cell. They decided to bring along Clovin Belview as an escort to ensure they were not attacked by the flesh golem guards.
Inside, Atlas attempted to distract Clovin while Shakti played honeypot, giving Ghalwin just enough time to magically command the mongrels to trade him the item for some food. The martinet admonished Ghalwin for feeding the mongrels, but did not seem to notice that he had stolen the Statuette of Protection resembling Saint Markovia. They left the Abbey down the switchback, and Atlas and Shakti spoke of the Amber Temple being dangerous as it had somehow removed The Abbot's memories; however, Ghalwin reiterated that it was still important to go whenever the topic came up. In conversation, Ezmerelda revealed that she also had the ability to prophesize the future through a tarokka deck, but needed a small indoor space to do so. Atlas began summoning a tiny hut while Shakti and Ghalwin went to collect firewood at Ez's request.
In the forest, Shakti confronted Ghalwin, claiming that he was being controlled, and the conversation grew heated. The paladin insisted that he was obligated to go to any lengths to protect his sister, but she called him out on his hypocrisy and iterated that she had not asked for him to die for her. The argument nearly turned into a fight, and Ghalwin punched a tree in frustration; as he did so, against his own will, he smited with searing white light, causing Shakti to go blind. Ghalwin stormed away as Lancelot ran up to her, and after a minute or so, she began to gain back her sight. Fuming, the two headed back to camp separately as Atlas finished his spell.
Inside the tiny hut, they set up the "decor", and Ezmerelda gave a reading. The process was identical to Madam Eva's , but a few threads of destiny had been changed. The Tome of Strahd was now with the party, and they had already met their fated ally, who awaited them in Khazan's tower. Additionally, Ezmerelda read out personal prophecies: Atlas was given the Dictator, set to slay Strahd "in the one place he must return"; Shakti was given the Myrmidon, looking for a "treasure" of Mother Night in a den of wolves overlooking a mountain lake; and Ghalwin was given the Traitor, as what he sought was incased beyond a set of amber doors.
Once they reached Krezk, Shakti told the Burgomaster that it would be impossible to raise his son from the dead, but Ghalwin later revealed that The Abbot had promised them miracles. The paladin promised that if his miraculous healing powers were true, they would use a favor bring back Ilya once they returned. He also pitched the idea of taking in foster children from Vallaki, but Dmitri was hesitant, requesting time to go over the idea with the other Krezkites.
The party left the village, as they had nearly a half day of travel still to go. Ezmerelda went to fetch her wagon, and Ghalwin joined her, finding that her Magic Wagon was severely booby-trapped with alchemists fire and contained tons of monster-slaying items. Using the command word "Arvesh", she summoned horses that could magically disappear at will, and the two had some banter as they came back to the road.
With a new party member in tow, The Pack left to find one they had lost: Rudolph van Richten awaited them in his tower.
Word count: 640
