Chapter Four: Everyone Expects the Barovian Exposition
Cast of Characters
Agnak Stonestalker Monekekali: He's big. He's tough. And... he loves kids. Awwwww.
Solomon Hawkins: Wait... is this guy actually their leader?
Gilphine: The tough girl. Really tough. Tough as bark. And she looks like a sapling.
Sheen: The unconscious bard. It's Weekend at Sheen's.
Basil Vellurian: The new guy. Just what we need. Another pasty human.
When last we left our intrepid warriors, Solomon's witty banter with a mysterious man left his friends burnt to a crisp in a dark alley. Their powerful new "friend" tossed him a handful of healing scrolls and departed in a mist, taking with him a ton of missed lore dump opportunities.
Solomon, now faced with a Sophie's choice of which of his friends (are they friends yet? Is that maybe too strong a word?) to save. The choice was easy. Up came the adventurers being played by people who didn't flake out after one game. And now we can play weekend at Sheen's with the unconscious dwarf. (How's that for writing someone out of the plot?)
Gilphine, no longer a mesquite barbecue chip, storms off to the tavern in desperate need of a drink. The rest of the group follows, with more than a little annoyance at Solomon. Wow... it's almost like dividing the party and pitting them against each other was...exactly the mysterious stranger's intent.
As they head towards the tavern, they hear a loud sobbing coming from inside a boarded up house. Having already had a less than favorable brush with creepy houses, the group ignores the obvious plot hook and proceeds to the tavern.
(Editor's note: I believe the exact phrasing from Solomon was "Anybody want to go on a side quest? No? Didn't think so.")
Inside the tavern, a barkeep monotonously cleans glasses. Three brightly dressed women sit by the door. Gilphine wonders if they are "the local talent," but now. They're just Vistani. There are a few villagers huddled in corners with what appear to be perpetual expressions of fear, and their is a rather handsome, younger man. He's dressed in the typical drab Barovian pallet, but the fabrics of his unassuming attire reveal him as a man of wealth.
(Editor's note: No. Not a man of wealth and taste. Pretty sure we already met him last episode.)
The man notices our heroes attempting to purchase wine and invites them to sit with them. And, for the first time, we also notice a platinum haired gentleman sitting quietly in the corner, eavesdropping on everyone like a creep. Our noble NPC invites him to join the group as well.
The man introduces himself as Ismark Kolyana. From the door, the Vistani ladies call "Ismark the Lesser" and snicker rudely. This is because he is the son of the local Burgomaster, Kolyan Indirovich, which he explains with a rather embarrassed sigh.
This name sounds vaguely familiar to Agnak, though the connection is not yet made, perhaps because Agnak is still getting over his indignation over being asked if he was an orc with missing tusks by the rather confused Ismark, who has neither seen, nor heard of a goliath. In fact, he's not seen anything other than humans, except on the rare occasion an "Outlander" comes through the mists... but they never last long. After providing a little bit of local flavor, among them the oft repeated superstition that killing a raven is bad luck, Ismark makes a request. His sister, Ireena, has fallen under the Devil's power and he wishes to remove her from the village and bring her somewhere safe, perhaps the Town of Vallaki which is out of the shadow of Castle Ravenloft, and guarded by thick walls.
Now the name rings a bell. Agnak got a letter asking him to save this woman from... someone. He doesn't know who. He didn't ask. For... reasons? Ismark asks to see the letter and immediately observes that whoever wrote it was not his father. Gilphine produces a second letter. The one that basically said "run for your lives, we are all doomed." This letter, Ismark states with complete certainty, was written in his father's hand.
Basil shows off some of the intel he's gathered sulking in the shadows, but Agnak, ever the people person, wants to know who this new guy is, and whether he can contribute anything other than a lot of know it all smarminess. At this point, basil returns the sword he's managed to swipe from Agnak's sheath. Surprisingly enough, stealing from him was not a good way to get on Agnak's good side.
After some back and forth, the group agrees to at the very least go to the Burgomaster's house and meet his sister.
As they leave the tavern, the clock strikes midnight. A green mist fills the street, winding and snaking its way from the direction of the church graveyard. In a short while, a ghostly procession parades its way through the streets. These specters say nothing as they march, a motley crew of knights in full plate armor and giant, polished swords; mages in expensive flowing robes; elven rangers with bows inlaid with runes; priests of many faiths in flowing vestments, their holy symbols at the ready. They all exude power, strength, experience, and are all very much dead. There are orcs, dwarves, elves, humans, all with a look of grim determination as they march west.
Leaning against the tavern's door post, a young boy, perhaps twelve or so, very much NOT the kid from ghost house, points at a kind looking woman ghost in flowing priestess robes. "That one was my friend," he says with a sigh. "She came from somewhere else. Like you. She was nice. I told her not to go. But they always do. And they don't come back. Except like this."
"The last adventuring parties," Solomon remarks with a sigh.
Ismark confirms that the ghostly procession happens every night at the stroke of midnight. The ghosts don't speak, and appear harmless enough to the village. They march, presumably towards the castle, but Ismark has never been foolish enough to follow them. Too many people follow strangers to the castle. It doesn't end well.
The boy, Alexei, says he hopes one day his friend will recognize him, and maybe not march anymore, but he doubts it. Agnak asks the boy if he feels safe in the village, to which the boy laughs. No one is safe in Barovia. Agnak asks if he'd like to learn to fight, to protect himself. Gilphine, however, full of maternal instinct as she clearly is...not, shuts that right down,
"We're not getting a kid."
Alexei shrugs. He doubts his mother would let him go anyway. She's been... distant lately. Like she'd rather be somewhere else. Completely understandable.
The parade ends with a trailing green mist. Alexei sighs and heads towards the now mistless and unassuming yet highly depressing street. Ismark confirms that he is a good boy, son of the local washerwoman, he thinks. With that bit of unsettling creepiness and not so subtle reminder that "Hey there level two warriors... don't go to the castle yet. You'll die," we head off to the Burgomaster's home.
When they get there, the house is in a sorry state. The gate swings crookedly on broken hinges, the grass is trampled, and a deeper rut has formed around the house's perimeter. Gilphine recognizes tracks of wolves and human footprints that seem to walk with an odd shuffling gait, as if they were dragging their feet. The walls are covered in claw marks, especially at the windows which have all been boarded from the inside. Ismark grows pale and rushes to the door, banging on it and calling for his sister.
"Go away! You cannot come in! I do not invite you in!" calls a woman's voice from within the house. Only after Ismark announces himself does the door open and the cautious face of a beautiful, auburn aired woman appears from behind the door. She demands to know who the group behind him are, and he assures her they are here to help. She seems reluctant, even with her brothers assurances, but quickly ushers them inside, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her.
Inside, the house is a wreck. Holy symbols hang over every door. They appear to all be a golden sunburst. The group has little time to inspect them, however, as the smell of wilting flowers and death attacks their noses. Ireena retreats to a side room. The group follows her and there, in a makeshift casket seemingly made out of broken furniture and nailed together by someone with absolutely no carpentry skills, likes an old man, very, very dead.
Our heroes are... understandably disturbed. One suggests driving a stake through his heart. Coffin equals vampire not... you know... corpse. Both Ismark and Ireena are horrified, Ismark going so far as to put a hand on his sword. The corpse, as it turns out, is their father, who has expired about three days ago. The nightly attacks were too much and his heart finally gave out.
Ismark is guilt stricken. He had left the house a week ago for his own home in the village outskirts. Once he left, the attacks began. They relented three nights ago, when the Burgomaster died. This is not at all suspicious to the group who again draws various conclusions about who in the house is probably undead and in need of killing, but the siblings appear to be telling the truth. Both appear to be genuinely grieving for their father, Ismark seems honestly unaware that his father had died and filled with guilt for not being there, knowing his sister had attracted the Devil's attention, and Ireena seems to be telling the truth that she is afraid of the Devil and wants to leave the village for good, two puncture marks on her neck notwithstanding. These are... less convincing. Until the group is educated on the realities of vampiric transformation. Merely being bitten is not enough. But as she has been bitten twice now, Ireena does not want to wait around for bite number three and what comes next.
However, there is a catch. There is always a catch. She will not leave until her father is given a proper burial. In holy ground. In the churchyard.
(Editor's note: Yes, the same churchyard that spawns a nightly ghost parade. This, apparently, is not a deal breaker.)
Agnak tries to convince the group that this is a stupid idea but... Ireena is stubborn. Basil tries to suggest they consecrate the backyard. Ireena is... even more stubborn. So reluctantly, the group settles in for the night. There being no houseplants to sleep in, Gilphine holes herself up in the pantry. Agnak decides to post a guard on the corpse... just in case.
The next morning, the group awakens to the sound and smell of Ismark making a feeble attempt at breakfast, the house having been under siege for the last week, and food stocks being rather low. There's some hard bread, cheese, sausages, and preserves. And the group decides to depart for the church as early as possible to be on their way.
Agnak and Basil help Ismark carry the coffin. Luckily the Burgomaster was not a large man. They arrive at the church and enter cautiously, looking for Father Donnavich, the local priest. Upon entering, they are disturbed to hear a fervent prayer from deep within the Chapel. The words are muffled, but he appears to be praying to something known as "The Morning Lord." Basil recognizes this as an antiquated name for Lathander, a god of light worshipped in their own realm beyond the mists.
As they approach Father Donnavich, they hear a voice from somewhere beneath then shrieking "Father! I'm so hungry!" The prayer grows louder and more fervent. Finally, the priest becomes aware of his visitors. His robes are soiled, the chapel is a mess of claw marks and broken furniture, and he looks as though he has not slept in weeks. Again the voice screams "I'm HUNGRY!" There is a desperate and inhuman quality to the screams.
Father Donnavich explains that his son, Doru, had been whipped into a fervor by an Outlander wizard who came through the mists a year ago, bent on destroying the Devil. The wizard led a march of angry villagers, peasants who had never wielded a weapon in their lives, up to the castle. Most never returned, but, as if an insult to the church itself, the Devil sent his son back to him... changed. This was a year ago, and his son has been locked in the undercroft ever since while he prays to the Morning Lord for a cure.
The group informs the Father of the Burgomaster's death and asks his assistance in providing a proper burial. The Father seems wary of Ireena, but agrees to perform this service. The group walks outside, where an argument ensues as to who will dig. Agnak gruffly explains that he carried the box, and has no intention to put down his weapon... or dig with it.
While they argue, Father Donnavich and Ismark quietly begin to dig, joined by Gilphine who has pretty much had it with everyone at this point. After a few hours, the hole is dug, the body lowered, ceremonial dirt tossed by the grieving children, and a holy symbol deftly placed on the body by Basil... just in case.
The siblings quietly step away to grieve. Father Donnavich makes a cryptic remark about Ireena's devotion to her father, despite not being bound by blood. Upon questioning, he explains that the Burgomaster found Ireena wandering the woods as a child. She had no memories and was dressed in rags. He took her into his home and has loved her as if she were his own.
And that's where we leave our heroes.
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