Cozy Glow and the Domains of Dread

We set off from the village of Barovia early next morning with Ireena in tow, some part of me was glad to leave that gloomy village behind, even if it meant facing the dangers of the wilderness. Ismark decided to stay behind and do his duty as the new burgomaster of the village, now that his father was dead. I did not expect the journey to Vallaki to be an easy one, Strahd would for sure know where we were, and I was surprised we didn't get ambushed by wolves as soon as we left.

We soon would come across a crossroads, an old gallow was present, a frayed rope dancing in the wind, hanging from its beam. A rotting corpse hung from the rope, for a split second I thought the corpse looked like me, probably either my own mind playing tricks on me or whatever dark powers infusing these land deliberately messing with me. A signpost on the opposite side of the road from the gallows points in three directions, the sign towards the way we came reads "Village of Barovia". The one to the left reads "Ravenloft/Valakki and the sign pointing towards the path on the right reads "Tsar Pool".

Despite what the signs said, Ireena insisted the path towards the Tsar Pool was a shortcut, though it would take us away from the main road, this path was less likely to be watched. I was inclined to agree, we should stay away from the main road for now. The road gradually disappeared and was replaced by a muddy path, twisting through the trees. By that point we heard the howls of wolves from the woods surrounding us, three wolves the size of a griffin appeared before us, and two behind, cutting off our retreat, as if they were driven by a sinister Intelligence. I was starting to regret not sticking to the road. These were Dire Wolves, the larger cousins of regular wolves, and in all likelihood controlled by Strahd.

I shouted at Sunset to take care of the wolves behind us while I lunged at one of the wolves with my rapier, managing to pierce the beast's hide, wounding it, but it was not enough to incapacitate such a large creature. The wolf lunched at me, its bite piercing my flesh and throwing me to the ground. Seeing me in need of aid, Aurora uttered the magical incantation for a healing spell while she threw a vial of poison at the wolf ahead of me. Closing most of my wounds and injuring the wolf.
One of the wolves behind us lunged at Aurora, who barely was able to dodge it’s jaws. Seeing I was in trouble, Sunset disobeyed my earlier orders and fired three rays of fire at the wolves ahead of us, two of them directed at the wolf standing over me and trying to get its jaws around my neck, incinerating it.

One of the other wolves tried to attack me before I even had the chance to get up, I managed to fend of its jaws with my rapier, but its claws still managed to scratch me. Twilight decided to aid me, reaching out her hand towards the other wolf that were just going to lunge at me from behind, stopping it in its tracks with an invisible force. The wolf tried its best to break free but was unable. Taking advantage of the situation, Ireena uttered a battle cry as she rushed the wolf that Twilight held in place and struck it with her rapier, enveloping it in a holy light before it pierced the beast, turning it to ash in a single strike. I didn't realize Ireena was so powerful, nor that she commanded magic of her own. One of the wolves behind us went for Sunset, but fortunately she was able to dodge the attack. I quickly got back on my feet and struck a blow at the wolf ahead of me, wounding it, telling Ireena to flank it. But before she got the chance, the wolf lunged at Ireena, perhaps seeing an opportunity to claim the girl for Strahd. But fortunately, Ireena sidestepped its attack. I took the opportunity to strike the wolf in the back. Aurora tried her best to get away from the wolves, leaving the two behind us to Sunset and Twilight. One of them attacked Twilight, piercing her magical shielding, knocking her down and mauling her terribly. I was not even certain she was still alive. Enraged Sunset stepped away from the wolf and fired an array of flaming rays at it, as she used a healing spell to heal Twilight's wounds, her consciousness stirred, she was alive, for now. The flames scorched it, but the wolf was still alive. The second wolf attacked Twilight while she was on the ground, Twilight deflecting the blow with a magical shield.

Twilight teleported away and fired an array of bolts at the wolf in front of her. Killing it. Now only two wolves remained, one that me and Ireena was fighting and one attacking Sunset. Ireena striked with her sword at the wolf but missed. But I took the opportunity to move to the other side of the wolf and stabbed it in the back. The wolf attacked Ireena, knocking her down and mauling her badly. But it simultaneously seemed to take great care not to inflict a lethal blow. Sunset turned around and blasted the wolf attacking Ireena with holy light, killing it. The remaining wolf attacked Sunset, which she nimbly dodged. Aurora threw another poisonous concoction at the remaining wolf. But unfortunately, the vial missed.

Ireena came to Sunset's aid and landed another blow on the wolf, enhanced with holy energy, wounding it. The last wolf soon falling to a combination of mine, Sunset's, Twilight's and Ireena's attacks. While it looked dark when the wolves appeared, we did as a group once again overcome seemingly impossible odds. I hoped Strahd would take note.

While getting off the road might have been a mistake, Strahd seemed to know our location either way, it was too late to turn back, if we continued forward, we would be back on the road in no time. Soon, we would see evidence of the wheels of wagons in the mud, both coming and going. Ireena knew what that meant, Vistani, according to her a travelling folk that were the only person Strahd allowed to leave Barovia, why, she wasn't certain, but consequently the Vistani were often merchants, selling goods from other parts of the world to the other residents of Barovia. Some of the Vistani were rumoured to be in league with Strahd, and had a reputation for thievery and dishonesty, but nevertheless, they often weren't hostile. Wounded from our encounter with the wolves, maybe we could rest for a while among the Vistani, assuming they wouldn't attack us in order to deliver Ireena to Strahd.

The Vistani had made their encampment in a small clearing, next to a river that widened into a small lake. Several colorful tents good be seen throughout the clearing, and people dressed in equally colorful clothing gathered around a bonfire to sing and make merry. I realized now that the group of women we had seen in the Tavern of the village of Barovia were also Vistani, they had clothing very much like the people of this encampment.
As we approached the encampment, we were met by a Vistani women who told us that someone named Madame Eva foresaw our arrival and that she wanted to meet with us immediately. I had to agree, it was probably a good idea to talk to whoever was in charge around here. We were brought to one of the tents. Magic flames cast a reddish glow over the interior of this tent, revealing a low table covered in a black velvet cloth. A crystal ball could be seen on the table, and an old woman sat on the other side of the table.

"At last, you have arrived." The woman said with a dry voice. She then asked if we wanted our fortunes read, while I wasn't really a believer in fortune telling, this was different. After all, Madame Eva seemed to have known we would visit her encampment. Or maybe this was something they told all visitors.
Madame Eva took out a deck of cards, shuffled them and laid 6 cards on the table in front of us. She pointed to the first card and spoke:
"This card tells of history, knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy."

She flipped over the first card, a card labeled the Illusionist, had the icon of a star and had the number 7, the art of the card depicted a man with a mirror next to him, showing his true monstrous form. Then Madame Eva spoke her prediction:

"A man is not what he seems, he comes here in a carnival wagon, therein is what you seek."

Sunset seemed to particularly perk up at that prediction, as ever since she came to these lands she had desired to know more about our enemy. She would definitely have her eyes open for a carnival wagon from now on, which was different from the Vistani wagons we were now surrounded with. Madame Eva moved on to the second card:

"This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope."

Eva flipped the card over, a card with the icon of a glyph, with the number 7, labeled Charlatan, the art of the card depicting a man with a moustache, holding a mask, spoke her prediction:

"What you seek lies in a pile of treasure, beyond a set of amber doors."

Where that would be, or what this holy symbol was for that matter, I didn't have the foggiest. But I thought, with time, that I could figure it out. Madame Eva moved on to the third card:

"This is a card of power and strength, it tells of a weapon of vengeance, a sword of sunlight."

Ireena in particular seemed very interested in that, stating that such a sword would surely be able to put an end to the vampire Strahd, once and for all. Eva flipped the card over, showing the icon of a glyph and the number 4. It was labelled Shepherd, and the art depicted a sheepherder herding their sheep. Then Madame Eva Spoke:

"Find the mother, she who gave birth to evil."

Based on that I would surmise the sword was with Strahd's mother, but she had been long dead. I guess in order to find the Sword, I must find the grave. I already had a good guess where that might be. But I needed more information on Strahd’s mother.

Madame Eva moved on to the next card and said:

"This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against the darkness."

She flipped the card over, it was a card labeled innocent, the card art depicting a young woman.

"Evils bride is the one you seek."

This could possibly refer to any of Strahd's potential lovers, including Ireena, which was likely, given our current circumstances. But this was quite vague. Now, Eva pointed to the last card and spoke:

"Your enemy is a creature of darkness, his power beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him."

She flipped the card over, revealing a card labeled Darklord, depicting a horned man atop a sinister throne:

"He lurks in the depths of darkness, in the one place to which he must return. Waiting for the one destined to succeed him on his dark throne."

Now that was a worrying prediction. Twilight gave me the side eye when the prediction was made, for what reason, I could pretend I didn’t know, truth be told, I knew exactly what reason.

After Madame Eva was done with her reading, I asked her if we were allowed to stay in the Vistani camp for the night to recuperate, the encounter with the Dire Wolves had depleted most of our magic. Eva agreed, telling us that any travelers were welcome among the Vistani. After we left Eva's tent, we spent most of the night among the Vistani telling tales at the bonfire. One of the stories were rather familiar, as we heard it from Doru earlier, recounting a failed rebellion against Strahd perpetuated by a wizard. The lesson of this story was that rising up against Strahd never ended well. I asked why Vistani was so fond of Strahd. The Vistani storyteller, a middle aged woman with long black hair and multicolored dress consisting of pieces of fabric of red, green and blue sown together, answered my question:

"Because Strahd keeps his word, unlike most human nobles who see my people as little more than untrustworthy thieves. Long ago, when Strahd was still a human noble, he was wounded in battle, my ancestors found him and brought him to our encampment and nursed him back to health, even though we could have turned him in for a big ransom. In return, Strahd told our ancestors that the Vistani were always to be welcome to come and go as we pleased from his lands. A treaty he honors to this day, even after he became a vampire. The mists surrounding Barovia prevent most people from leaving, but not the Vistani. Even though they hate us, the Barovians rely on us for trade."

Sunset asked the Storyteller if she knew how Strahd became a vampire. The Storyteller decided to tell the story about wht she knew.

"Strahd was once a human prince, charged with leading the armies of his father King Barov against his enemies. It was during one of these campaigns he was wounded by his enemies and found by the Vistani, but that part of the story you already know. He conquered this very valley and invited his family to settle down with him. He built a mighty castle and named it after his mother, Queen Ravenovia. This castle would become Castle Ravenloft, the very same castle overlooking our encampment from on high, it is said it was in this very body of water that the wizard plunged when Strahd threw him of the spires of Ravenloft. In any case, things were peaceful for a while in this valley after Strahd conquered it. Strahd even took fancy of a girl from among the peasantry, named Tatyana. What happened to her I am not sure, but some say Strahd lost her and that is why he has been obsessed with finding a replacement ever since. As for why he became a vampire, I do not know, but it is said that for one reason or another, Strahd's soul cannot pass on to the afterlife. Some say he will only be able to pass on once he is reunited with his lost love, Tatyana. Whatever the case, Strahd is not the only soul unable to leave this place, as the souls of the Barovian people are unable to pass on to the afterlife, either lingering as ghosts or reborn as another Barovian. As such maybe the soul of Tatyana is likewise trapped and waiting to be reunited with her beloved Strahd."

Sunset seemed particularly interested in this story. Though, how reliable the narrator was I didn't know, considering the Vistani had a quite favorable opinion of Strahd. After that, the storyteller invited us to tell a story around the bonfire. I jumped at that opportunity, for my story was quite an exciting one, even if it was unlikely to be believed. I told the Vistani how we all used to be magical horses from another reality, and how I used to be one of the most notorious villains in the land. For my crimes I was to be turned to stone for all eternity, until Sunset Shimmer freed me from my stone prison, and helped me use my abilities for good rather than evil. Ever since we had traveled through many planes and had many adventures, stopping more than one apocalyptic threat. I recounted some of these stories to the Vistani, but the stories are too numerous to account for here. After I was done, the Vistani applauded, if they believed the story was true was another matter altogether. After all, it did sound rather fanciful, and I probably wouldn’t have believed my own story if I hadn’t experienced it in person. No matter if they believed the story or not, the Storyteller praised my oratory skills.

After the Vistani had gone back to their tents, we slept on our bedrolls outside around the embers of the bonfire. After a relatively uneventful night, except for a few wolf howls in the distance, we got up early the next morning to continue our journey. Like I suspected Strahd wouldn’t dare violate his ancient promise by attacking a Vistani encampment. On the way to Vallaki, we passed a huge waterfall, which Ireena referred to as Tser falls. Our journey this day had been rather peaceful compared to the night before, the wolves and the other servants of Strahd seemed to leave us alone, why wasn’t sure. The muddy road ahead of us seemed to slither up the mountainside, until we reached another crossroads. Even appear in the mountains, the fog was inescapable, ahead dirt path split into two directions, the eastern path being cobbled, suggesting it to be of great import to the master of these lands. Parked at the fork in the road, pointed eastward, could be seen a large black carriage drawn by two black horses. The coachman was an elf, judging by his pointed ears, and as with most of his kin, his true age was hard to determine, but appeared to be at least middle age, with a mane of long black hair, but with a receding hairline. He was clad in dark green finery, a scimitar hanging from his belt.

The elf, upon seeing us jump down from the coach and approached our group with a letter in hand, as the elf got closer, I could hear horrifying ghostly screams in the air around him, like from the tortured souls of the damned:

“Welcome travelers, I am Rahadin, a servant to the great Lord Strahd von Zarovich. My master asked to give you this letter, he is eagerly awaiting your answer.”

The elf’s voice sounded arrogant and snooty. I opened the letter to read whatever Strahd wanted with us.

My friends,

Know that it is I who have brought you to this land, my home, and know that I alone can release you from it. I bid you dine at my castle so that we can meet in civilized surroundings. Your passage here will be a safe one. I await your arrival.

Your host, Strahd von Zarovich.

Sensing an opportunity to get into the castle and perhaps find the tomb of Strahd’s mother, I decided to accept the invitation, telling Sunset and Twilight to continue with Ireena to Vallaki. Sunset told me to try to find out what I could about Strahd and Tatyana from the mouth of the vampire himself. I promised her that I would. I decided to board the black coach, the doors opened by themselves as if by magic, the seats inside were of red velvet. Aurora decided to move up to the door, hesitant on whenever or not she should follow me, I reached out my hand to Aurora, and she took it and boarded the carriage.
I couldn’t say I wasn’t scared, but Aurora was seemingly really agitated. I tried to calm her down, telling her that whatever awaited us at Castle Ravenloft, I could handle it, Strahd might be an immortal vampire, but I was one of the most formidable manipulators in the multi-verse. If someone could make Strahd von Zarovich dance to their tune, it would be me. Yet I suspected that he wasn’t a slouch in that department either, so I should be on my guard around him. This seemed to calm Aurora down, her telling me that as long as we were together, we would probably be okay. And so it came to pass that me and Aurora were on a carriage bound for Castle Ravenloft, me eagerly awaiting what was in store for us once we arrived at the destination.