After defeating visions of their fallen comrades and activating the Forest Fane, the Heralds of Dawn regrouped at Old Bonegrinder. There, they rested and caught up with "Birdtram"; Laszlo agreed to aid Adrian Martikov in spying on Castle Ravenloft. They separated that evening, the party teleported to the outskirts of Baroia through the fane's Fey Crossing, making sure to destroyed Granny Morgantha’s old pastry cart in the process.
By the Church of Barovia, they heard Doru still imprisoned beneath the floorboards, still screaming in hunger. Ghalwin found that Father Donavich had grown even more unstable, but Ajuni pacified by the pastor by convincing him that she was a champion of the Morninglord. After some mixed messaging on whether or not Doru could be healed of his undead affliction, she persuaded Donavich that Doru could never be cured, and that revelation simply shattered the priest. The Heralds opened the undercroft and slaid the vampire spawn, burning his remains and interring his ashes in the cemetery, while the broken priest hung his head in stunned silence.
Lancelot led the Heralds to Mad Mary’s now-silent townhouse, where they discovered the woman had become a shambling zombie; her daughter had never come back, and Mad Mary had starved to death. They dispatched her, and Lancelot reclaimed Gertruda's Blinsky doll. They went for a drink at the Blood of the Vine tavern and came across Ismark Kolyanovich. Now the Burgomaster of Barovia, he angrily confronted Ghalwin over Ireena’s fate, believing her to be dead after receiving a misleading message from Fiona Wachter. Ghalwin was able to convince Ismark of the truth of what happened to The Pack, and introduced him to Izek. Both men claimed to be Ireena's only true brother, but would also die to protect her, so shared a moment of strange bonding.
The burgomaster admitted doubts about the Herald's capabilities, having since met stronger adventurers in Ipniani and Jassarian, but Tobias was again able to set their story straight. After learning a bit about what happened in the Amber Temple, Ismark valued their valor to fight back against Strahd; he offered to lend the party Barovia's small militia, but the town was still broken under the shadow of Ravenloft. Rather than getting innocents killed, the party sought to look for a back entrance to Castle Ravenloft after resting in the Burgomaster's mansion. They passed the Durst House, and Ghalwin nearly broke into a panic attack when he heard the cries of Thorn and Rose within; the house showed no signs of burning, and the ghostly children had no memory of the knight.
Disturbed, the Heralds pressed on toward Castle Ravenloft and Ghalwin gathered himself, leading them through the forest with exceptional skill. He ascertained the rough direction of the castle after trading some silver with two crows. Using a newly-developed alchemic aid, Tobias gave the party the ability to stick to walls, and they easily ascended the slick mountainside. Ajuni found a muddied window built into the rock, on the other side of which was the tomb of Strahd's family. Not wanting to break the window until the Count was removed of his powers, they chose not to enter and camped below.
Returning to Barovia, the Heralds stopped by its church again, and found that Donavich had hung himself above his altar. They burned his body, buried his ashes beside Doru, and resolved to lift the village from their despair as they had in Vallaki. The people were scared and wary, initially refusing their pleas to gather; but when the party rang the church bell tower as Ajuni produced sunlight from her Holy Symbol, more than four hundred villagers gathered at the spectacle. Evoking the Dawn of Vallaki, she proclaimed their mission to bring the dawn to Barovia, and Ghalwin promised the end of the Devil’s reign. The Heralds fed the people, healed the sick, and armed the militia with their supplies, raising a new hope in the shadow of the castle.
After spending a day helping in-town, the Heralds set out on their final mission, teleporting back to the Windmill and marching on Ravenloft. Beyond the Black Carriage crossroads, they passed the spiked bodies of dozens of mongrelfolk, until they found the mutilated corpse of The Abbot. The angel had been left facedown on the cobblestones, his wings torn off and pinned before him, with the words “Here Lies Anzethiel” scrawled into the stones. These corpses were all that remained of the Vasilkan Wedding; not seeking to draw Strahd's attention, the party continued on leaving the bodies impaled along the roadside.
By the evening of the fifth, they had completed the winding road, and two wereravens awaited them. Adrian and Laszlo reported their findings: they had seen what they assumed to be a clockwork man through a gaping hole in the High Tower; Strahd's husband Escher through the window to the guest rooms; a suit of unoccupied burgundy armor that continually patrolled the parapets; and a pale-looking red-haired woman, walking those same parapets before disappearing through a hidden door into the north tower.
Standing before the gates of Castle, the Heralds of Dawn prepared to ascend the Ravenloft Heights and rescue Ireena. They had twelve hours until dawn.