As recorded in Curse Of Strahd, the Crimson Dusk Of Vallaki marked the last and most public reprisal of Strahd von Zarovich's rule over the Demiplane of Barovia. Drawn out by the Heralds of Dawn after they performed the Silver Dawn Of Vallaki, rescued Ireena Kolyana, and killed his chamberlain Rahadin, the vampire descended upon the town with storm, flame, and beasts. Saint Andral's Church was destroyed by lightning, its consecration broken, and the streets became killing grounds. More than half of Vallaki's population died in a single night, and the town was, spared only in fragments through desperate acts of coordination and sacrifice.
The Heralds did not fight, for they had a single hope: their re-Consecration of the fanes of the Ladies Three was set to be convocated on the day after the slaughter. Strahd's control over his dominion dramatically reduced as the Archfey fought for control. As his bloated landmass shrunk, the Heralds knew their plan had worked, and intentionally brought on Ezmerelda D'Avenir's prophesized final battle. Moving through the chapel, catacombs, and crypts of Castle Ravenloft, they warded off guards and traps while acquiring important magical items. They convinced Strahd's prisoner Kiril Stoyanovich to join them in their prophesized confrontation, then faced Strahd in his parent's tomb on the date of their death in the Barovian Order.
Beginning in his crypts, the battle raged through the castle all the way up through his bedroom and onto its parapets. The Vampire manipulated the Heralds throughout his castle, but his constant repositioning was repeatedly repelled by the sunlight of the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind and Sergei von Zarovich's Sunsword. Ajuni Elajoral's magic allowed them to keep up with the vampire, Izek Strazni held the Count and destroyed many bearing the Mark of Strahd. Overlooking the courtyard amidst rain and lightning, the heroes were facing death when he knocked down Ghalwin of the Golden Hart and cast his Sunsword to the mists below. However, Tobias Villie Broadnose Cogsmith appeared as the Paladin fell; the last Knight of the Order of the Silver Dragon and wielder of Saint Markovia's Thighbone struck the vampire with a final, desperate blow.
Strahd was reduced to mist and forced to rest in his tomb, where the Heralds followed and attempted to stake his heart. He resisted through the intercession of Vampyr, whose shadow rose to claim a new champion. Having experienced much loss at the whims of Dark Powers, the Heralds rejected the offer; in a united motion, they drove the stake through Strahd’s heart, shattering Vampyr’s hold over the dominion. The Dark Power was expelled from Barovia, and Strahd von Zarovich was destroyed.
As Strahd's remaining minions fled Castle Ravenloft, the effect of his destruction was immediate and unmistakable. The ever-present fog thinned and then broke apart, revealing distant horizons long unseen. Sunlight reached the valley floor without resistance, warming fields that had known only gray light for generations. With no Darklord to anchor it, Barovia stood open to the Gloomshrouds once more, no longer sealed as a private domain of torment, and was now accessible to other Realms.
Though all welcomed the sunlight, the people of Barovia responded to Strahd's slaying in many different ways. Survivors from Vallaki spread outward, some returning to the Village of Barovia to rebuild near older root; others moving toward Krezk, whose walls and now-empty Abbey of Brilliant Worship offered stability and clean land. Vallaki itself changed as its authority decentralized, and its future turned away from rigid rule toward shared defense and slow recovery. Under the stewardship of Izek, Ireena Kolyana and Ismark Kolyanovich, the Village of Barovia grew for the first time in memory, no longer living in the castle’s shadow, while the Fortress of Silver Dawn became a regional refuge and meeting point.
In the weeks that followed, trade paths reopened, Ravens flew openly, and old borders lost their meaning as tribes once edicated to the Ladies Three were connected to townsfolk. Most of the Heralds of Dawn left with Barovia's Werewolf population, as did many Vistani, drawn by the opened mists and the chance to live beyond their long Curse. Others like Jarmo Maulgrave and Lydia Petrovna stayed, committed to rebuilding a land that they felt they belonged to. Barovia did not become gentle or safe overnight, but for the first time since the Wedding That Never Was, the land's future could be determined by its people.