We begin by entering the Village of Barovia on the eastern side. As we make our way into town, it's early evening. The mist and overcast darkness is still with us. We notice there are almost no people around. The buildings we pass are more residential. It's a poverty stricken area with the builds in disrepair and the windows are boarded up with some of them. We found Wolfs Way and what we assume is a house that was mentioned in one of the deeds as a Durst owned property. At the next intersection, more of the same.

We continue into town towards an area that appears to be a town square. We come upon some people in a line headed towards a cart. Misty wanted to duck into the mercantile. Bildrath's Mercantile was the name of it. We also see a place called Blood on the Vine Tavern. Most of us entered the Bildrath's, Haldar and Zanfyr stayed outside. Misty and Rinn used their disguise kits to look a little more human so as to limit the questions about that. Misty started trying to sell some of the artifacts she found in the Durst Manor. She's not getting much money for any of it. She finally gives up and put's a mummified Goblin hand on one of the shelve's. Snoggly picked up some 20 feet of hemp rope.

After a bit of looking, we all leave and head to the tavern. It and the Mercantile are both in fairly good shape. The Tavern is a large building with multiple entrances. One entrance to the restaurant, one to the tavern, and one to the restroom. We enter and Snoggly goes straight for the tavern side. Most of the others find places to sit and they order some food and drink. There is a main barkeep and three servers moving around taking orders. There is another man sitting off to the side eyeing us. Snoggly can't seem to get a good drink. They keep offering him wine. They don't have Whisky or Brandy. He finally settles for ale. Haldar is staying outside.

The gentleman sitting alone comes over and introduces himself. Ismark Kolyanovich asks us where we come from. He doesn't seem to know anything about Calimport or Waterdeep. He asks if we are for hire. He proceeds to tell us he needs someone to escort his sister away from this place. He keeps his voice down and eyes another table where three women are sitting. A couple of times, Snoggly speaks up but Ismark speaks in hush tones trying indicate that what we are talking about, he wants to keep quiet about. He indicates his daughter is in danger and when pressed, said she's in danger from the devil. He tells us that locals fear to travel so there is so no one here he could hire. He also said that his father, the Burgomaster, had died of a heart attack. Now he is the Burgomaster and as such, he can't leave to take her. When pressed as to where to take her, he suggested Kresk or the walled city of Malachi, about two days journey. Kresk is not known for it's hospitality but perhaps she can hide there. Snoggly ask more information about the girl and he tells us that she is 21 and her name is Ireena Kolyana. When pressed about the devil's interest in her, he only said that he is. Snoggly asked if he was talking about the man from the castle. Ismark quickly hushed him and said yes. He tells us that the bastard in the castle could kill us with a glance. When asked about pay, he said 50gps. Snoggly asked about whisky and he said there was whisky at the house.

He asks if we would join him at his home, after we dine, and pays for our food. He can get us whisky, rest and a bath. Irena is there. He keeps glancing back at the ladies at the other table. We look at them a little more intently and see that they are colorfully dressed and seemed to be their own little click. We all indicate that we are interested in the job. The wench that brought our food ask about here we were from. Kyana told her, from Calimport. Asked from which direction we came, east, west, north, or south. We Kyana answered east. More questioning led to Ismark seemed to know what she was after and cut in, letting her know that he will ask us what we saw on the way in, then mentions that Tasha's had disappeared a couple of weeks ago. There are even more villagers that have disappeared. They probably lose someone every week or so. We told him about Alexa's group that we had run into, searching for Gurtruda. Kyana asks, why are people disappearing around here. He suggests that we can talk about that later, again keeping his voice down.

Misty goes outside to find Haldar so we can get his vote. After a little looking around she saw a coupe of other people walking by talking about the really good food from the cart. She continues chomping on the ribs she purchased as she walks around looking for him.

He tells us to head south to the house at the end of the road. He then leaves. After we finish, we head down the road.

Misty lightly calls out to Haldar and he eventually appears beside her. She tells him about the request to assist Ismark. He says he will do whatever the group decides. Zanfyr comes in, sits with the rest, and gets some Venison.

After we eat, we leave the tavern and head south down the road to the mansion at the end of the road. It's a little weary but we move through the broken gate to front of the house. The wood is scarred with scratches and heavy claw marks. Black marks indicate fires were used to assaulted the mansion. The windows seem to be missing their glass and they are bared and boarded up. It's not quite what we expected. Doesn't look very welcoming.

Rinn knocks with his mage hand. Ismark answers and seems happy that we showed up. We entered and it was nicer and well furnished but the fixtures show signs of great wear. You also notice the boarded up windows and the presence of holy symbols hanging in every room. Off the main room is an archway leading to another room. Ismark calls out to Irena. The symbnols are of the Morning Lord, Lathander. Irena enters the room, she is a striking woman with Auburn hair carrying a bow.

Snoggly asks the next obvious question, what has happened to the house. The house has been under constant attack from wolves, zombies, undead things, bat rats, and all kinds if creatures. They assail the walls. They've tried to set the house on fire. It's gone on night after night for the last few weeks. When asked what these creatuires want, Irena and Ismark look to each other and he responds, “They want her. For some reason, the devil on the hill, in the castle, he seeks my sister.”. It's suggested that he wants a lot of women but Ismark counters with “not to the degree he wants my sister.”. When asked what he wants from her, she replies, “I honestly don't know.”. The she pulls her scarf down and reveals two puncture wounds. Kyana takes a look at the wounds and though she's never seen the likes of this before, they fit the description of…a vampire! When asked, she has been bitten once she thinks. Ismark explains that her memory of the events are very foggy. Haldar takes a look and though he's never seen anything like this before, vampire does fit the the description of what has been defined. Zanfyr also looks, determining the same thing.

Kyana asks about the safety of moving her from here which started a conversation between Ismark and Irena. She doesn't want to leave but he is certain that she must leave. He tells her she would be more safe in a city like Malachi than here. She says she will not leave until father is buried. We enter the room where his body is placed. They decide to have Father Donovich bury their father in the morning. He feels like after the burial, we should take her and leave. Dain agrees that the further away from the danger she is, the safer she should be. She replies, “He is the land, he is the ancient!”. We remember that from the chanting at Durst Manor..

Upon hearing this, Ismark asks about it. Dain explains that we killed the monster, buried the family, and then the house aged and collapsed. Ismark, with hope in his voice suggested that maybe we succeeded where nobody has. She suggested that the house has been burned and still returned in ten days. Dain argues that this time, by burying the family and defeating the monster in the basement, that maybe this time, it will not return.

It is suggested that the undead are drawn to Irena. Irena and Ismark, again, discuss what should happen. It's the devil. The people, are falling ill, to which Irena states that it's a plague. People are dying from it and turning into zombies. Ismark tells us that some of the homes that are boarded up are not empty. He says there are villagers missing and people falling sick and of course their fathers death it will be welcoming to put someone to rest. They haven't had a burial in a while.

Snoggly asks when the plague started, which Ismark answered, “About a month ago”. When asked what todays date is, the answer he got was only what year is it. 735! Ismark asks if we know anything about the missing villagers. We told him about the party we found while coming into town, looking for Gurtruda. Alexa had told us a little about what was going on and told us that if we came across Ismark, that we should trust him. Snoggly asked if they searched to find the cause of the problems and the missing people or did they just hide out in their homes. Ismark suggests, that would be a fair assessment. The villagers live in fear! He tells us that Barovia used to be a vibrant land hundreds of years ago. Kyana points out the darkness, the clouds, and asks if the sun ever shines. They point out that they've noticed that are skin is darkened by the sun but obviously not from here. They are both very pale. He says it's always been like that here. The sun is something we tell stories about.

He says he's heard stories about people like us, that come from foreign lands that they've never heard of. We are the first they've seen. He looks at Dain but Rinn speaks up and tells him we are not exactly as we seem. He removes his disguise. They appear shocked and as Ismark turns to ask Dain about something, Dain blurts out that he is a dwarf. Snoggly suggests that if that seems out of the ordinary, wait till they see our other friend. For this, Ismark goes to retrieve the liquor he had promised and returns with a tray of whiskey glasses. Meanwhile, with her back turned, Misty removed her disguise. The whiskey he brought us came from Kresk, a town in Northwest Barovia. As Snoggly takes a sniff and then a sip, Ismark tells us that the people of Kresk are not a welcoming people but they do make a fair whiskey. By Snoggly's standards, pretty good but not as stout as the whiskey he carries. When asked though, Ismark is willing to throw a couple of bottles of it into the deal if we escort Irena to safety.

Misty finally makes her way to the door and slowly turns around to let them see her. The provoked much discussion about what she is. They seemed concerned that she was able to change herself but Misty assure them it was only some makeup and a disguise. She uses it here to try not to scare people here. Tabaxi seem to have never been heard of around here. After a while, they calm down and relax. Then there is discussion about curing Irena. Kyana didn't think she could help. When asked about Father Donovich being able to help her. Ismark said he was saddened by her condition and unable to help. When asked if his god is not strong enough to handle this, Kyana asks if the good father follows Lathander. Ismark answers yes. Snoggly asks about Zanfyr's god and learns it is Silvanus, Father of the Forest. Ismark asks if Zanfyr is a druid to which he answers yes, to which Ismark states, druids, in Barovia, are evil and serve the devil.

Ismark and Irena discuss us stating that we don't know what we are up against, about where we are, about how we'll never leave. They suggest that for now, we should sleep and get ready for the morning burial and then travel. Snoggly suggest that Kyana look at the body of the father but he is wrapped up and none of his body is exposed. Dain asked if he suffered from wounds like Irena's. Ismark tells him no.

As Kayan moves towards the body, there is a knock at the door. We are all quietly ushered intop the room with the Father while Ismark goes to the door. A woman speaks and is frantic about finding her daughter. This is Mary, Gurtruda's mother. She is pleading for him to do something about finding her. He told her there were parties out looking for her now. Then she asked about his visitor's this night. Maybe they know something.

Ismark brings her to the archway and introduces her to us. She explains her plight and asks if we knew anything. Rinn says we had seen the search party on the way in but we had only just come into the area. She mentions that she had her dog with her and in her discussing this, mentions the dogs name is Lancelot. Rinn says, “Uh Oh!” she gets more frantic wondering what we knew and Rinn explained that we had found Lancelot at the Durst Manor, outside of town, and he was alive but had since been killed in a battle with the monster infesting that home. We explain that Gurtruda must not have been there as we had searched the house and didn't find anyone else there. Ismark attempts to console her explaining that search parties are out and they will do everything they can to find her. In frustration, she finally runs out of the door.

Irena pointed out that they call her Mad Marry for a reason. She had locked Gurtruda away for a time but Ismark reminded Irena that she was doing what she could to protect her daughter. Snoggly interupts with a question that temporarily silences the room, “Has anyone gone up on the hill and knocked on the bastards door?'. After a moment of shocked looks, Ismark replies that, “One does not simply go up to the castle and knock on the door, there is evil, inconceivable, always watching, it is folly.”. Rinn suggests that if the man in the high castle is the evil and is a vampire, that we are not strong enough to battle something like that.”. We set up a watch and turn in for the evening, we pair off to guest rooms that they have for us. Very nice accommodations! Much better than the tavern. Haldar takes first watch while Rinn is set to take over after about 4 hours of sleep. Rinn casts find familiar and calls forth an owl, but what he gets is not quite what he expected. It's eyes are red and it's thought's are cloudy. It's will opposes his but it does except his command. Rinn puts it out into the room and a sentinal watching over us. Then Rinn begins is meditations.

Haldar, keeps thinking about the corps in the next room. He stays put and hears the creaks and mons of an old building. Misty goes downstairs quietly to sleep by the fire after she adds a few logs. So she curls up by the fire and purrs a little, performs a little grooming.

Everyone starts waking up and and goes down to eat, everyone except Snoggly. Rinn attempts to wake him with a message spell but it fails to wake him. Misty goes upstairs to wake him. They set out a continental breakfast. After we eat and resupply, including the two bottles of whiskey for Snoggly, we head to the church and cemetery with the body on a cart. It's basically on the other side of town. Misty noted a number of houses boarded up where we could hear sobbing coming from inside. We also pass the cart that serves food near the tavern. There are already people in line. As we move up the hill to the church , we notice like the other buildings in town, that it is in need of repairs. It has a broad set of stairs leading up into it and we take the body into the church.

We enter into a hallway with doors on either side and pass through it to the main sanctuary. There was debris throughout main sanctuary. There is a pulpit near the front of the church and from there we hear the soft voice or a prayer. Kyana makes her way to the pulpit and kneels in prayer as well. The man praying stops and looks at her. She introduces herself as a fellow priest of Lathander. We notice the alter is claw scarred and there is a long rope leading up to the bell tower. He looks around and sees Ismark and the rest of us. Snoggly points out that the contributions seem to be down a little.

The father seeing the body of the former Burgomaster, directs everyone out the the cemetery. Father Donovich and everyone go out to the burial area, Father Donovich offers prayers to the morning lord, they place his body in the ground. Dain also says blessings to Clanggeden on behalf of the former Burgomaster. Snoggly looks around the cemetery and Haldar looks around. They see graves both old and more recent. Kyana asks about using some of the money we got from our early. Everyone agreed to give 40gps to Father Donovich and he is stunned by the donation. He takes it and is thankful.

We hear someone yell, Father!!! He tells us not to worry, there is someone sick in the house. Kyana offers to go with him to help and Dain as well. He Father Donovich suggests that two is about all that should come. They set out back to the church. he goes to one of the front doors and we follow him. He tells us about a young man that is ill and we start down some stairs. They ask if he is restrained and he says that he is not. We go down through the trap door and then we hear the trap door close and lock behind us.

It's a candlelit damp room with a shape across the room, a figure huddled up. he is weeping and saying “father..father”. Kyana calls out to him, “how are you?”. He stands and turns and says “I am so hungry…SO HUNGRY!!”! Kyana recognizes he is undead and she tries to turn it. She is unsuccessful. She puts up a spiritual weapon. It strikes and the creature rushes up to attack her. As he moves away from the spiritual weapon, it swipes again, hitting him for more damage. As the battle continues, he swipes at Kyana causing a lot of damage. Dain casts searing smite on his weapon and jumps down and hits the creature and whacks him good. He also sets him on fire. Kyana moves her spiritual weapon to hit is and it does. Kyana then casts a guiding bolt on it but misses. The creature attacks but misses. Dain attempts to turn the creature and fails. The fire goes out but Dain does manage to hit him again.

Kyana uses her mace to strike him and the spiritual weapon as well. The battle continues like this until Dain is struck from behind. Unsure what hit him, he moves around the monster on his next attack so he can see behind where he was to see what hit him. The door is open which means Donovich is probably the culprit. Back in the cemetery, Rinn notices that a few of the graves appear fresh and poses the question, I thought there were no recently graves, who are these. Everyone else notices the graves and are confused. They start to realize that Father Donovich may be a part of what it going on here. In that time Dain realizes that with the door open, the others may be able to hear him and begins to yell for help.

The others hear the yelling and begin moving that way.

That’s as far as I got!

3:03:19