After the Slaying Of Strahd, the change in Barovia was immediate. His vampire spawn and other servants fled Castle Ravenloft, freed at last from his will, scattering into the land as frightened remnants. The choking mists began to thin, and the demiplane was no longer a place of endless misery and darkness. The Heralds rested within the ruined castle and scoured its halls, discovering that Jarmo’s Dreamweave Circlet had been placed upon Sergei as a final, careful layer of protection.
When they were ready, the Heralds used the brazier room portal to return to Vallaki, now a broken town. Ireena had remained hidden in the ruins of Saint Andral's Church, and their reunion was quiet and heavy with relief. Ghalwin spoke to her about the future of Castle Ravenloft, asking if she might one day rule it, but Ireena refused the notion. She said the castle’s shadow had broken the village of Barovia for generations, and that it should be torn down once the people had found their footing again.
Ireena had a moment with her brother Izek, and the two chose to return to Ismark in the Village of Barovia. Together, they would help raise a militia and begin the slow work of rebuilding a land that had never known safety. Ajuni, uncertain she belonged in Barovia at all, wanted answers about her lineage and her lost childhood. Tobias wanted, at the very least, to put his laboratory back in order, and the two decided after aiding Vallaki, they would return to Commona.
Ghalwin and Ezmerelda chose a different path. The Vistana pledged to lead Kiril and his werewolf pack through the Deepmists, and Ghalwin would take them to the Astralwood, where the Enclave could teach them to control their destructive instincts. Afterward, the pair intended to keep moving, seeking out places where evil still took root and standing against it together. Vampyr now wandered the Plane of Shadow without a host, and they wanted to bring the fight to the Dark Power.
Finally, the Heralds placed the Dreamweave Circlet upon Jarmo’s head. Guided by Ajuni’s magic, the blood hunter slowly emerged from petrification, and his reunion with Ghalwin and Ireena was raw and unguarded. Jarmo grieved Shakti and spoke of his failure, but he was proud of the man Ghalwin had become; but upon seeing Ireena again, he knew he could not abandon her a second time. The giantborn found an unexpected counterpart in Izek, who shared his resolve to protect her. Together, Jarmo, Izek, and Ireena became central pillars in Barovia’s rebuilding.
Over the following month, the Heralds helped rebuild the town. Tobias worked to reform the Fayan Academy’s approach to learning as Ajuni healed the many who had been wounded after the Bloody Dusk of Vallaki. Ghalwin encouraged plant growth and secured timber, while . During this reparation, Laszlo Lazarescu arrived with the Sunsword clutched in his talons, recovered from the depths below Ravenloft; its blade still glowed in Ghalwin's hands, seeking further justice after avenging Sergei. Having felt purposeless after Muriel's death, Laszlo decided to join Ghalwin on his journey to the Astralwood, wanting to study other forms of lycanthropy.
Beyond Vallaki, Kiril and Ezmerelda departed to prepare his pack for their exodus, while Izek traveled to Argynvostholt to speak with Lydia. His mother began laying the foundations of an information network among the forest-folk, swamp-folk, and hill-folk, knowing that with the mists opened, new planar threats could emerge. The Martikovs agreed that the Keepers of the Feather no longer needed to hide their true nature, and ravens would openly carry warnings, news, and calls for aid between tribes and cities.
Before the next full moon, Ezmerelda explained to Jarmo that the strange flow of time between Barovia and the Prime Material Plane meant that decades, or even centuries, might pass before his friend returned. She requested that the blood hunter to uncover the secrets of the Amber Temple in this time. Spurred by the given task, Ghalwin realized that he had an unanswered question. At his behest, the Heralds, the werewolves, Ireena, and Jarmo decided to make a final journey as a full party. They braved the wintery Tsolenka Pass and trekked to the Amber Temple, where Ajuni again temporarily restored Khazan.
Ghalwin asked the lich his question, one that could be the key to defeating the Dark Powers: "Tell me what you know about the Azure Paragon."