Thirty zombies descended on the Heralds of Dawn in the flooded torture chamber. The undead horde tore into them with sheer numbers, forcing the party to weather dozens of blows. Tobias again unleashed his helm’s prismatic spray, but many of his foes were unaffected by the poisonous light it emitted. Realizing they were being slowed down, Ghalwin expended his strongest spell scroll, unleashing a destructive wave of radiance and thunder that obliterated most of the horde.
The few that remained were swiftly dispatched, but before they reached the brazier room, Ghalwin and Izek offered the Blood Spear to Kiril; the werewolf was moved to be offered the weapon of the Wolf-Father and his half-sister. Kavan's voice from the spear reached him, declaring him worthy, and the Ravager swore to join the Heralds against Strahd: “By some miracle, I have lost a sister, but gained a brother.”
The party tried to quickly rest, but were interrupted by strange encounters. An unseen servant arrived bearing a silver platter, which they safely ignored; three shadows had attached to the party, but Tobias and Ghalwin struck them down before they could cause trouble; and a floating Broom of Animated Attack buffeted Ghalwin until Ajuni set it ablaze. Once somewhat rested, they again made themselves invisible and moved downward to a fog-filled eastern hallway. Along the floor, Tobias discovered the hall was a slide activated via trap, and jammed the mechanism with a crowbar to allow the group into the catacombs.
Trying not to disturb the tens of thousands of bats above, or the thousand tons of guano below, the party followed their artificer-rogue. Tobias used a mage hand to open the portcullis protecting Sergei's massive white-marbled crypt, where he detected magical armor inside, but Ghalwin felt it wrong to disturb the dead. Further along, they avoided Pidlwick Pilensky's crypt, and Tobias then failed to muscle open the crypt of Tasha Petrovna, squishing his toe under its stone slab opening and alerting four wights with a yelp. He answered with a wall of fire while Ghalwin absorbed the wight's attention; they fought their enemies off as the others remained hidden, not wanting to break their invisibility.
Inside Tasha Petrovna's crypt, Izek uncovered the assassin's Ring of Regeneration, and received a ghostly plea to bury her holy symbol at her gravesite. An even stranger request came from the crypt of Saint Markovia: the cleric's body had completely turned to dust, save for one bone, which her ghost pled to be used in the fight against Strahd. Tobias, having already gained a few good-aligned magic items, held Saint Markovia's Thighbone aloft, and found that her blessed remains offered the temporary power of a Mace of Disruption.
Not all their other findings were useful; Ciril Romulich's remains proved false, having never been found by Strahd, and Patrina Velikovna had become a Banshee. As Ghalwin opened her crypt, Kasimir's sister unleashed a horrible wail and attempted to escape. Thankfully, the Heralds all resisted her deathly scream, and Ghalwin quickly entombed the former archmage before she broke free. Worse still, Tobias got in a conversation through the crypt door with Gertruda Pavlenka, the teenager who had been turned into Strahd's thrall months prior. She was lonely, hungry, and sought her husband, but all Tobias could tell her was that his name was "Geronimo" before walking away.
As the Heralds worked through the catacombs, Izek spotted a familiar black cat weaving around their scent, before it slipped away toward Strahd. Rather than enter the Count's clearly-trapped, black-marbled crypt, the party prepared for the coming battle; they drank Potions of Giant Strength, Heroism, and Healing, and Ajuni warded the rest against death. They ascended to an alcove guarded by bronze statues connected by a curtain of blue light; Ez ascertained this light would strip them of their magical boons. Tobias dispelled the curtain as Mormeros once had, and they freely entered the Tomb of Barov and Ravenovia.
They found their enemy in a frenzy of rage and despair over his mother's tomb; today was the anniversary of the Rout Of Barovia. The vampire believed the Heralds now to be an extension of Argynvost, and therefore, responsible for his mother's death. The party recounted what they had taken from Strahd, and the Count promised to take it all back, bit by bit. Artifact, ally, and enemy had been weaved together at last; in dawn or darkness, the journey would end here.
