D&D is For Nerds - Barovia IV #17 Rites of Travel

Episode Date: November 29, 2025

It’s more beautiful than I could ever have imagine. First the stars and now this. A glimpse of the moment when I first saw her. I can see I have past by many eyes but I only got lost in hers, and to get lost in those eyes all over again? Maybe this is heaven. Sometimes love is as easy as looking at the moon and sometimes it is as difficult as counting the stars. I knew then, just as I know now, that I want to do both with her.If you're still wanting to pledge for the Jarren's Outpost Board Game you can right here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oi, lads, did you miss out on the Jaron's Outpost Kickstarter and wish you weren't such a big doofus? Well, fear not. Late pledges are now open and they'll be open for a little while, so just head to Kickstarter search for D&D for Nerds or Jaron's Outpost and slam that late pledge button. I am told that the sea is a massive thing, that one could die just wandering its vastness. While we have no such thing in my homeland of Barovia,

I am well aware of the feelings of isolation that a place without walls can conjure. For we are the prisoners of one Strad von Zaravich. I will slay this vampire so that my people may once more breathe free in the sunshine. You travel now through Slavich Woods, through Barovia itself. Pip, Iona who step in will not be Pip, Iona who step out. Sorry? Easy to get lost when part of forest Tarpos

Guide Okay Follow voice I'll follow I'll step into the stone Pip You cease to exist Oh my God dude

You are no longer Pip Mandarin Or I own a mirth song Or Tarpos The three of you Are now part of the forest You spend An eternity As the forest

For the rest of time And since the beginning of time You are the forests of Varovia Good luck leaving now, idiot Jesus Christ You experience every moment Every memory You see every creature

Bigs from the largest of giants All the way down to the smallest of amoeba You experience Borovia Do I see myself and Hector you're not there You don't exist Oh no sorry I feel it

Like do I see us in the past Yeah Like if I went to If I as the forest Found myself at my camp Could I witness Hector arriving in Borovia You witness Hector

You witness him arriving From your perspective From Hector's perspective From Boris's perspective From the perspective From the perspective of the grass That you stood on The winds that passed through you

Mount Gakas watching above You experience yourself in every possible perception at once. Boris was looking more often than you realized. Yeah, yeah. It was always there. Okay. Oh, boy.

Cool, man. You hear Tarpos. Wrong way. Bolo voice. Okay. Am I all of Barovia or just the Svalich Woods? You're all of Barovia. You're the.

Stones and buildings. Then I get lost a lot. I watch as trumpets is taken. Yes. And turned in the castle. Give us a highlight through, absolutely. I watch as, I find myself probably before going, well, maybe just after the camp, I'm in the encampment about to enact the rebellion.

Yeah. And then I watch myself leave Keenings tent and disappear into the forest. I watch as Hector turns the lake in Creswick into effectively one giant post. of greater restoration and heals those werewolf children. You, if you watch that for a brief moment, you feel, you could weep. You feel a direct connection to Peña as she turns. I feel a bulk from that. No.

You feel, yeah, you would feel for a brief moment, a direct connection to Pennya, like a clerical paladin would, as she, with a Herculean effort for how small she is, does that to the water. Okay, all of the trees swaying to try and get away. I go to Couturey, and I watch that. I see as Hector goes inside the slaughterhouse again and again, I watch as we go into the Amber Temple. Maybe I even... When you enter the Amber Temple, that your awareness ends.

The Amber Temple is not part of Barovina. Okay, then I watch as we enter the temple, but not, you know, actually go in and see what happens in there. I go to Castle Ravenloft in the present, or at least my present, when I was not the forest. You immediately, Tarpos makes so much more sense right now. You immediately understand whether or not PIP chooses to keep internalizing this after this happens. But everything is one. Strad is not, you can't extract Strad from Borovia, and you cannot, it would be like,

trying to tear a long out and say that it was something different. Everything here is one and the same. Nothing truly dies. Nothing is ever truly separate. It is all one huge

living organism. From the amoeba to the fucking diarist world to strad to the people of this land, everything is one beautiful ecosystem and you watch you watch as nothing goes away things change

but they're all beautiful is hector in strad's castle no where is he you in that network of light yeah I'm there and I witness the beauty

and interconnectedness of all things and I'm like if Hector's not here he's somewhere else and he's fucking it up and I go to try and find Hector you find where Hector was, and it's, you can see, because you're everything all at once, you are Hector, you jump into Hector for a brief moment, you relive every moment, but from every perspective,

you immediately understand the nature of these entities, these all fucking spider mechanical guys, and you understand completely the nature of human and elf, and you follow as Hector is taken to a part of Berovia that has been consumed by Bork, It's no longer there You are aware that this incursion is pushing It's piercing its way down from the north And you can see that Hector is in a part of Borovia It's still within the lines

But it's past that pierced point You no longer have awareness of it You can be aware of it previously And you're aware of some marching, some huge army marching south What the fuck? Okay, I like to think when I enter it interhecta's sort of, you know, being, and I see Gretchen get, like, taken away from them, even though I'm a forest, I'm like, oh, no, oh, no, I know exactly what he's going to do.

And then when I, I, as Hector, jump in and get captured, I'm like, yeah, of course. And I imagine the whole time this is happening, Tarpos is saying, wrong way, Pipp. Yeah, Tarpos is getting more and more mad at you. Yeah, okay. Eventually, once I've done this kind of strange, nostalgic, trip and kind of gotten so very lost, I'll try and find my way back to Tarpos's voice. Tarpos, as metaphysical light, is basically pushing you towards the end. And then, I like to think I throw up straight away. Oh, I hated that. Oh, I hated that so much. Oh, my God. You are in the woods. You, it occurs to you that you stepped out of a tree.

two things occur to you. First off, that you just stepped out of a tree. Second off, that Iona has been waiting for a while. Iona is standing as you step out of the tree, and she looks a bit miffed. I got way late. Sorry. Past Iona just over her shoulder.

You can see Valakai, but kind of barely. At night, you would be able to see, you would be able to see. the light, all the lights, not that there's a lot of light going on at Valachi at night, but it certainly would normally be a lot brighter than it is right now. Right now, you can only see very dim lights because there is like a snow glow sitting over Valakai right now. A powerful blizzarding storm has completely enveloped the city. Does it look like it would be extremely difficult to penetrate?

Well, you don't know. You're still a little while away. can see it. But we're not like right up. Yeah, it's taking like a half hour jog to get there. Okay. I like steady myself against, maybe like I steady myself by trying to put a hand on a tree. But as I do, I'm like, oh, no, I'll take that off the tree. I kind of probably one of the worst feelings Pip could ever experience is an interconnected oneness with all things. So I'm reeling from that for probably a while. I apologize. I say no, Iona. Iona looks like, Iona looks like she wants to say something mean, and then she stops herself, closes her eyes, I understand. I was there not with you, but I. Equally tempted, just sort of stronger of will, I'm guessing. Perhaps stronger of will, perhaps just more focused on the task ahead. It, she looks like once again, she's about to say some mean things. things, and then she catches herself.

It is not important at the moment. You are here now, we must make haste. Yeah, let's go. Let's, let's mosey. Some trees and bushes rustle. And then both you and I are about to fucking kill whatever it is. And then a Vistani steps through the bushes. A very familiar Vistani, Jackson.

Oh, right. Hail, I say. Good day. to you both, or good night, I should say, sorry. Madam Eva, we'll see you now. I look at Iona. She looks at you. I don't, I, I, I, we don't have hector with us.

And then I flashback, is like my experience kind of fading a little bit? What I went through to get here, yeah. Elements of it will stay. Yeah, for sure. But like that interconnected, yeah, it'll presumably, at least probably for PIP, who will do some active. repressing. Well, then it might all think.

It will become at least like a dream. But I like to, I think of where Hector is right now. Yeah. And I go, he's, he's otherwise occupied. So, um, you might have to wait until he comes back. I, I, I, yeah. Jackson gives you a little wiry smile. Yeah.

And then from within one of his pockets in his coat, he pulls out a letter. He hands the letter to you, Pip. I open it and read. read it. It's in a spidery scroll. The lettering literally looks like what would happen if you dip the spider's legs in ink and let it walk across a page. The note simply says, no, I mean you, Pip, and then it's signed by Madame Eva. Yes, I'm remembering why I hate spending time with the Vistani and Madame Eva. That's right. I've been here before. But, we are both like we haven't slept properly it's like yeah you're both it's like 3 a.m so honestly

the prospect obviously I've I got to see what this is but also the prospect of a warm meal and defile maybe I turned to Iona and I'm like look whatever this is going to be it'll be good for us to eat something and recuperate before we you know I mean I don't know about you but I'm pretty fucked so Iena glances over her shoulder at the snow globe of Valachi and she says perhaps in this instance caution is the better a part of valor You think I don't want to rush in there

right now I mean the message I got Are you saying that to I have convinced me Do you be saying this to me or to yourself? You're right, you're right Let's follow the Vistani

Oh damn it dude I made such progress with a haircut I know I'm wrecking it again You can see The Vistani have a little their little wagon is not too far from the dusk elf encampment and you can see that there's a huge bonfire going right now and actually probably not a lot of revelry happening

there's just a huge bonfire and in its light you can see dozens and dozens and dozens of shapes and figures there are many people many more people than are normally in the encampment are you preparing for something no it is Oh, he says looking Following your eye line He says, no, no, no, we are Well, you will see

There are many Poor unfortunate souls Right, oh like refugees from Valakai He nods sadly Oh, yeah, okay As you approach, you can see Shron off Anyone who could flee Valakai Has fled Valakai

And they've formed Like kind of a makeshift camp here. Okay. You can see the Dusk Elf encampment, like I said, is nearby. You can see lights on for patrols and guards. It looks like the Dusk Elf encampment has not accepted anyone from Balakai. And he's kind of actively keeping people out.

Yeah. Yeah. Fair enough. Can I see Madam Eva's tent? Yes. Or carriage, sorry? Caravan. I gesture to Jackson and I point to the caravan.

We have food for you if you would like. You can eat before or after Might as well get it out of the way He nods and smiles You see another one of the Vistani Standing nearby nods sadly and passes Jackson A little coin purse

But I own a You should eat Eat drink Have a sleep Or you can come in with me I don't really care I mean I just I'm not going to keep you out

You know This destiny is perhaps Something you should face alone It's not even my destiny, I say. Just borrowing hectares for a little bit, I guess. All right, I'll be out in a moment. I'll step up the steps to Madame Eva's caravan and part the, like, curtain, I'm assuming, and slide on in. As you remember it from when you were in here last, the table, the crystal bowl, the smells, the sights, the sounds, everything is identical.

Like, this was your first day in Borovia. I take a seat. Madam Eva, sitting at the other side, gestures at the deck of the Taroka deck, would you please knock on the cards? With like a lot of, like, reluctance, I like bring up almost sarcastically, bring up a fist and knock, knock. The first card flips itself over. You see the card is a single white feather floating down from the, the top of the card to the bottom of the card. And then as it reaches the bottom, a gust of wind sends it

back up to the top and it starts floating down again. The white feather, it means many things to many people, to some innocence, to others peace, and some might even call it surrender. but as with many symbols it is a canvas a canvas for you to paint upon what you see and what you see speaks more to you than it does the feather

the white feather sits on a rock and ponderes the world they await a sign from the universe perhaps that is you maybe I take the card and slip it into my clothes The next card

flips it You flip the next card over The next card is a unicorn It prances to and fro And it looks like it's set in a beautiful Idealic forest You can see The unicorn

She gives a kind of slow smile Like there's some joke here That only she knows A rare card, perhaps even unheard of in these parts. The unicorn is purely and wholly good. They seek only to write injustice and protect the innocent. The unicorn is fleeting, though. They are only in any place for a short time.

I see they have been watching you for a while now, Pip. Their eyes are many and their eyes are many, and their power great the unicorn will approach you well that makes my job a lot easy I take that put that in my coat flip the next one

the next flip flip flip flip yeah maybe I flip both at the same time okay the two cards that land on the table are the broken promise and you can see a presumably a contract being slowly torn apart

this card it looks like, you know, something can have the appearance of moving, but it never actually moves? Oh, yeah. The contract looks like it's being torn eternally. It looks like it's always, the rip is going further and further, but it never seems to reach the ground.

And the other one is enemies to lovers. Okay. This card shows a two people closely hugging each other, and at the top of the card, with their faces

locked to each other, you can see It looks like they're about to kiss. So you can see clear, emotional love in both of their faces. But by both of their hands, each of them have a hand behind their back. And you can see both are holding a dagger ready to strike. Madam Eva, looking at the two cards lying on the table, looks up at you. There's no, the hint of smile from a moment ago is gone. She looks maybe a little frustrated, but she continues.

Without any frustration in her voice. She continues without any frustration in her voice. She gestures to the broken promise and she says, This card represents your regret. You are familiar with this person. And they are someone your actions have harmed. Well, I mean, could be anyone. Some things cannot be fixed when they are broken.

And some people will never hold love for you. Not all stories end in a happily ever after. They wait for you, Pip, here in this camp. That's remarkably easy. Okay, good. They need your help. Hopefully, you can save their beloved enemies to lovers. This is a villain from your past, Pip.

Someone who wanted you dead and who you wanted dead in return. Okay. If you can turn their cold hard war, perhaps they will be someone you can trust. He is trapped, a prisoner of your common enemy. Freeing them will be hard,

but it will net you a powerful companion. I like, with one hand, sweep up those two cards and put them with the others. Are anything else, Madam Eva? She shakes her head. No clues? nothing like that would you heed any words

I gave you yeah good point you know like the knock knock you're doing a table when you get up and leave well till we meet again I fear this is our last time

I have a brief extremely uncharitable thought where I'm like well she is old so maybe I say oh don't say that I'm sure you'll live for quite a bit long Your destinies, your fates lie beyond these lands.

God, I hope you're right. Then I'll leave the caravan. You closed the door for the last time on Madame Eva. That's either very good or very bad. You wander over to the bonfire, and you can see, you recognize the woman sitting next to Iona. Who is it? It's, I don't, no, you did get a name. It's Muriel, one of the wear rangers.

Okay. Muriel, and then I, like, reach into my coat and I pull out the, um, the broken contract. I believe, like, flick and hold it up to her, this is you. Hector. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Ivana turns wheels around on you, that strange mechanism in her hand. Um, uh, what is, what does it look, look like again?

The end that she is holding is like a dome, a dome. metal dome. It looks like sheer hard steel. But then rippling out from that are tendrils. Many little snaky tendrils. It has a passing experience,

it has a passing appearance as that of a jellyfish save for the fact that it appears to be made out of a metal. As she takes a step forward though, you see that it ripples like it's liquid more than just metal and those tendrils begin

moving slowly like they're being blown in the breeze you would imagine or you would it looks like some sort of living creature that she's holding in her hands it moves like it's alive I kind of start

backing up like a couple of little tiny feet like what you take a couple tiny steps and then you feel you back up into solid muscle one of the big bruisers is standing behind you Okay, what is that? What are you planning on? What is that? She doesn't answer. She doesn't care. Hold him. No, no, no. There's more. There's more. There's, I'm, as mea. Strong arms. Wrap around yours. Okay, I start pushing back and I start. I, as Mia, we're not born this way. We are slowly, it is a thing that it kind of, it's a sudden thing. Occasionally, I have wings. There's lots of things about...

Right, she's a step away from you. She pauses at you have wings. There's a lot about... I can tell you anything you'd like. There's so much more about Asmia. I can tell you if... She looks you up and down. I will learn in time.

And then she moves in. It's unfortunate. Hector, she lowers the device, the being. whatever it is, she lowers it and points it almost the center of your chest. Those arms behind you, you can struggle if you want, but unfortunately they are not giving. With the strength of ten men you are held in place, and then the tendrils pierce your skin. A moment of excruciating, unending agony, and then mercifully. There's stuff you will learn.

I can, ha, I thought it's not bad. Unfortunately, unconsciousness takes you. This is after it's lived experience. Hector, you're standing in a dark void. You don't know where you are. You can hear a conversation in the distance. Indistinct muttering voices. Like kind of the, imagine being, imagine hearing a party in another room.

I turn towards the, where the noise would be. As you turn, you find yourself standing in your childhood bedroom. Oh. Describe the room. This is before the church. So I always imagined Hector his childhood was like kind of a bit sickly in a weird way. I always imagine that the effects of the Aesmere was one of those things that was like a sudden thing that just kind of slowly built over time that they didn't really realize what was happening.

and then suddenly kick in. So I imagine it would be a very simple house made from like a log cabin-cabin-esque kind of thing with some stone like affectations of a stone table, those kind of things because we sort of family worked from. But I imagine it would be... Very austere, is what I'm picturing.

Very, like, there's not much decoration. No. Nothing in the way of like, you know, detailing on any of the furniture. Like, am I in my childhood bedroom or am I a child in my bedroom? You are standing, you are, as you were, a moment ago, Hector, but you are standing in your childhood bedroom. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

Yeah. All right, cool. Yeah, I'd be pretty spares. There'd be, like, a basin, like, next to the bed, like a very shallow metal steel bowl full of water with, like, a cloth there that I imagine Hector's mother would kind of dab at his forehead kind of thing I always imagine

he had an older sister that was like very brave yeah and very like you know the apple of the family's eyes kind of thing

and I always imagine there was like some sort of like you know there's like a little like a cobald hole or like a little cave or something like that

and like a little prank that well prank but you know when kids do the whole dare thing where it's like oh how long can you go

how far into the cave can you go how far into the cave you can go how far and just terrified. Always terrified until like one day Hector got lost or like Hector didn't come out for like three days and like everyone like big kind of

commotion because that's what I think That's when it clicked. Kind of everything like the start of the Azmuring started. I'd like to again if I'm wrong here with the whole Azmir but the whole thing with the God in the head or the celestial in the head is just like he can hear it no one else can but maybe at the start it's just this constant buzzing so constant headaches and I imagine like he comes out of the cave just like

milk white eyes can't see shit and that's when it's just like oh okay he's something has happened maybe he picked up like some sort of cobbled virus some kind of cobald disease and so I imagine his bedroom sort of is reflecting

of that where it's just a lot of a lot of the stuff there is to be is for him to be cared for suddenly when you look around and it's now your bedroom suddenly just as suddenly as it became your bedroom the darkness is outside it's night time it's as if the darkness had never been all around

as if it had only ever been the sky the night sky the door to your room is a jar slightly there's light spilling in from the kitchen and you can hear the voices in the kitchen can i interact with anything in the bedroom Sure, you could do anything you'd like in the bedroom. I imagine, like, a very rudimentary stuffed toy. Like a bear or...

I reckon like a displacer beast. Oh, okay, yeah, nice. Like a handmade displacer beast that Hector would have had. Like, you're seeing it for the first time in a weird way to be like... Oh, absolutely. I remember how it felt. I remember those kind of like, you know, holding it, but I don't really remember seeing it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And such kind of, like, just holding that. And then I'll holding it, maybe hugging it. I'll walk towards the door of the bedroom and just open it a tiny bit. All right. Peer out. You can see that there are some figures sitting at the kitchen table.

And at first, like in a dream, it's like they're muddled. they're hazy and then slowly your vision coalesces comes into being and there are four maybe six it's hard every time

you're every time you look away or if you blink or if you're just inattentive for a moment it feels like it's it feels it feels it feels like it's not always correct what you're looking at but there are four

sorry there are five maybe six entities sitting at the table there are some that you are able to kind of like keep almost like you're forcing willing it to stay the same there are some that you can keep there and one is kind of an older woman you would describe them as being very like motherly in appearance do i do i resembling of like my mother is anything any of these figures that um no none of them appear familiar to you okay well with one exception but we'll get

to that in the moment okay okay one of them is like maybe, yeah, you would describe them as being a bit motherly, a warm appearance, the sort of person who you could imagine being comforted by and seeking for comfort. Okay. There's another woman there. She's younger, maybe not much older than you as you are now, Hector. And she has kind of a, maybe more of a, like a, you would say like an older sister vibe, but not, well, I don't know. how your older sister was, not in a, not in like a friendly family sort of way, maybe like an

older sister who you don't get along with. Okay, okay. If that makes sense. That does make sense. That does make sense. There's a man, but he kind of comes in and out of your appearance. And so he doesn't feel very real. And then finally, there's, of the ones who you're able to pin down in appearance, there's

one more person, another woman who, who has long hair, beautifully flowing down, but you catch nothing else about them, amber hair. You catch nothing else about them because they're facing away from you. It looks like they're doing something on the table. In one moment it looks like they're preparing a meal,

but then in another moment it looks like they're playing cards. Okay, okay. I want to start walking towards, I guess, the more motherly figure. I don't know. As you enter? As I do like, as I keep walking. the sort of the world getting bigger if I'm getting, I don't know, it's that weird thing

of like getting the perspectives of when you were a kid Yeah Kind of like shifting there and like Mama As you step into the room The older, that older woman Looks around kindly at you And then as she sees you

As she notices you You see her expression changes a little bit And she You can see there's a warmthness That never really leaves But the smile turns into a frown not of disappointment, but a frown of, like, worry. You see her brow furrows as well, and then instead of responding to you properly,

she gets up, wanders over to the basin in the kitchen, and starts washing her hands. The person, the woman facing away from you, turns around, and you see that she has a kind face as well. She also has an older sister sort of vibe about her, but like a much older sister. Someone who might be doubling, if you're seven, she's 14, 15. If you're 10, she's in her late 20s, like quite older sister. Okay. She turns around, and it is somewhat of a friendly face, but there's an edge of something else in the appearance that you don't quite clock.

You're not quite sure what it is. Feeling nostalgic, are we Hector? You suddenly, Hector, are now the appropriate age for this. bedroom. You're 12 or 10. You're holding that stuffed displacer beast. Where is mama? The woman gestures to the seat that has just been vacated. Please, sit down. Okay. I, I, I, I, I, sit down. You climb into the seat. Your legs dangling off the edge. Okay. I, uh, yeah, okay. Maybe like a gear. Do you know who I am, Hector?

She says, the same woman who was speaking before. I shake my head. No. You remember me. Come on. I remember. I start peering and... You do remember. You, it's kind of, it feels like a memory that's just on the tip of your tongue.

Are you, are you, are you mama's sister? No, no, no. I'm a friend. And? Yeah. The family? No, Hector. Not of the family.

Oh. I'm your friend. Oh. You're my friend? Yes. Would you like to play? No, Hector. No, we can't play right now.

I'm sorry. Oh. You're far, far away from Mama. Far, far away from everything you ever knew. Far as far can be, Hector. It's like shake my head and like... It's okay. It's okay.

I'm your friend. You're my friend. Yes. Can you help? I am helping. She says, I'm helping you right now. Thank you. That is... Friends help each other, Hector. So kind. Do you need anything? Yes, I do. And I'm going to help you, and in exchange, you're going to help me.

For... Okay, that is what friends do. We help. each other. Hector. You're trapped in this faraway place. I look to the door of our house. But the door is right there. No, Hector,

that doesn't lead outside. It leads back to the jail. Who's in jail? An ocean of no sea. Am I starting to remember anything? Or am I just very little? Once again, no, no, this feels familiar to you. An endless ocean with no water, but Hector, this ocean is big enough for all our bodies.

Hector, you wake up. Every part of your body hurts. There is not an atom within you that is not in pain. Still, still my body. Right? Hector, do you open your eyes? Not initially. I want to, I want to, I guess, listen to hear what is there and sense what is out there, I guess.

You can hear drip, drip, drip, drip. Your body feels other than pain, the second thing that comes back to you is coldness. you feel a deep sense of coldness. Like, do you, you know, that sensation of you dunk an arm or you dunk a leg into the sea? Yeah. And your body doesn't even actually, it is cold, but your body isn't properly registering cold. It's telling you extreme temperature. Yeah.

It's almost an absence of sensation. I, uh, do I sense any, like, do I sense a presence or anything? And if not, I just. Even if I do, I open my eyes. You open your eyes? I need to know. You look down at what Ivana Boritsi has done to you, Hector, and you scream. Dude.

Fucking hell. Pip Mandarin. Yeah. You're in the Vistani camp at the fireplace. At the fireplace, sorry, at the bonfire. A one large source of warmth in the depth of cold that is Borovia. You are speaking to Muriel, sitting at the fire, and you notice just past her is that man who you rescued from the Wizards of Wines. He looks back at you, and with an old expression, a man who has seen much more than his age should...

A man who has seen much more than he should have at his age. I apologize, he says. I must begin with an apology. He seems remarkably cogent right now. I feel like actually we should apologize to you because I... No, no, he says, I must have given you quite a fright. My sudden leaving. I was worried

Is I owner with an eye shot of me? She's like standing next to you and like look at her with like a questioning look like Did you notice him like? She looks back at you She's got the exact same thing Where she's like

Oh shit You and I are looking at each other Being like Oh But also he He seems to think he made the mistake So you're It's really no problem

Obviously we were Wondering what She's like backing you up. What had become of you, but I mean... Very worried, I can only imagine. I mean, I'm when we searched for hours, but I'm... Hours, yes. Yeah, well, but I must admit I'm very glad to see you in one piece.

And also, and then remembering probably the circumstances... He does not seem to notice. Oh, thank goodness. The circumstances under which we found him, I go, and how are you? I don't know if we got a chance to apologize for, well... My family... has been scattered it is

many are dead I will not lie that it is not some blow that the way of the feather has been marked as such his eye is upon us now yeah and

we must now contend with the consequences of this yeah yes that's please sit down he says gesturing to a place by the flames I will explain to you what I know of this. He gestures then also to the snow globe that is Valakai.

Yes. I will tell you what I understand. Okay. I sit down. Presumably our owner is also very invested in this. You are, of course, understand. Father, he freezes again. A lot of names we can't say.

Well, you understand that the town was secretly controlled by a cult worshipping him. Yes. Yeah, of that I'm aware. Well, they have apparently managed to summon him. Yeah. There is, to my understanding, a cage that he was broken out of. The cage, your friend, heaning. Yes.

He went to try and investigate. Perhaps there was some clues as to the solution to this problem lurking around the cage. To get there, he needed to get. get into town. So he and a small group of your allies, Elenio, you know, cribbit, and of course, Mark Willett, one of the dust elves. They went in on an expedition to find a way to reach the cage. We have not heard back or they have not reported back anytime soon. The dust elves are, as they always have been. And there are some. Some people have managed to make it out, but most of Valakai is still trapped within. They are outside of, he gestures in the distance, because there are so many names that you can't say. He gestures to Castle Ravenloft. They are outside of his influence, but I fear they have jumped simply from the pan into the fire.

Yeah, right, right. Well, I was contacted by Keening, and that, I mean, that's why I. I mean, we were going to come here eventually, but that's why we sort of made a B-line. They need help. That's what we're here to do, whatever that help looks like. There is one thing that has been weighing on my mind. Last time I was here, I made a geese, the consequences of which is that I was never allowed back in Velakai. I understand that Heening was able to, I do not know the specifics of,

it but he is powerfully gifted with the magical sight as such he was able to find my understanding is there are magic can be viewed as like a contract he able to see magic is able to see the loopholes right oh thank god because that's been weighing on my mind pretty badly well i don't want to have a hard problem is i think that got him and your friends in but i do not think you can see loopholes as he can. No. So I fear you have perhaps come a long way for nothing. I mean, look, I...

Iona, straightens up. Well, of course, Pip, you cannot entail, but I can, she says. That's true. That is true. And the person I made the geese with was the burgomaster, right? Of this... Yeah. if he dies If he dies, yeah

the problem is to get to him But maybe he's dead already I don't know Well, I'm going to have to give it a crack I might just have to dip out of there immediately Maybe I say as such I mean look If the Berger Master's dead

Which I gesture to the dome of blizzard Could be Then I imagine the geese would be off But I'm not going to know that until I step inside So I own out The Berger Master is not dead A voice from outside the fire says But perhaps

I can help you look for the loophole Stepping into the firelight Yeah You see a go gash I immediately roll back And pull up my crossbow and aim it at him Everyone kind of springs into action But a go gash puts up one of his giant meaty paws

Please I come In peace Do I believe him? there was no way that you could harm me anyhow. That could be, that is probably true. He's become even more of a piece of shit in death. Pip, you and I, temporarily at least, are in alignment.

I come here on behalf of my master, Strad. He also wishes that this and a go-gas gestures at the dome. Abomination Are dealt with I can help you enter the town Together With my help You stand a chance

At reversing this Under what terms Because I don't want to enter a thing Where you say Oh I'll help you enter the town And as part of that You turn me into a vampire Or something

Oh if you're dead technically Pipp the geese doesn't count I'm not doing that If I please If I wanted you dead You would be already Okay then How do you propose to, is it just to have a more powerful magic or some manner of, you know,

is it the kind of thing where Strad and his castle can unincorporate the township of Valichai and therefore I can, what are the circumstances? I need not Strad's assistance. I can do it on my own. I have always had powers of the far realms. I can travel in and out as I see fit. We will enter the town. through the ethereal.

This is a loophole which should allow you to safely enter Valakai. And once the job is done, a Gogesh? Once the job is done, things become complicated. Yes. But until then, you and I are allies. Okay. I look at Iona. I mean, was...

Iona's not... She's never met a go-gash, right? She's not really been wronged by a go-gash, right? She's not really been wronged by a go-gash. Iona maybe leans into you and she says, if this man can help us free Keening and Elaniel, then perhaps the better the enemy we know than is the one we do not. Yeah, but rest assured, Iona, the moment, I mean the moment Father Limic is dead,

his allegiance is going to return to exactly where it started and it will be trouble. Well, I suppose, then we must ask ourselves, who would you prefer to fight? Well, frankly, no one, but let's trust him for now. She nods. Okay, well, we're going to need at least one night's rest, Agogesh. Agogash nods. Yes, I remember this about you. Sure.

I am happy to slow myself down to meet your speed. Yes. Very gracious of your go-gash. He nods. Ah, too, too. Yeah. I have always been one of grace. You truly haven't changed a bit.

How do the rest of the Vistani... A lot of people here just don't know a go-gash, so a lot of people aren't... And he does, does he not look obviously vampiric as well? You can tell a vampire partially because you know what a go-gash used to look like, and partially because you also... just know the signs to look for in a vampire. Some people, if they were trained well enough, would know. The problem with identifying a lot of magical beasts is that, like, there's a lot of just,

there's a lot of hearsay and rumor and such that just can't be trusted. Which is why there is a marketplace for something like Emmanuel the monster. Yes, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So while he does have some elements of... being a vampire, you could imagine that a lot of these, frankly speaking, small town hicks would probably be looking for things. When they're hearing vampire, they're looking for things like, oh yeah, all vampires have three eyes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or even such as a cloak with a high collar, you know? Yeah, yeah. Vampires can't spit. And I guess I also imagine that these,

and I think it's not too far to call them these hay seeds. Yeah. Probably. wretched hayseeds have probably there doesn't seem like there's many orcs in Barovir anyway so you know they're like

the tusks do they go down or up I don't know adventurers are very common in these parts so there are there are just a lot of people who look strange and so

these people might not know a vampire just by looking at one not a full-blooded vampire like he clearly is yes yeah yeah absolutely okay I guess he doesn't

Does he look like I guess there's just no way of knowing this Is he gonna pose a Is he gonna eat someone in the middle of the night Well you don't know that vampires Need to feed They are compelled to do so And if they don't feed for an extended period of time

They become weaker and weaker and weaker You probably don't know Emmanuel Demonstra concerns mostly concerns itself mostly With identifying and killing Yeah there's very little of like anthropological Yeah. Is there like a perpetual stew at this?

I thought you're about to ask a perpetual stew of blood. In the Vistani camp, there might be some equivalent, yeah. Well, then I say kind of cluing all of this into my head and there's some way of getting petty revenge against a Gogh. I say, have you eaten? A gogash. Hyes a lois. Hyes?

Hyes? Yeah. No. No, I do not need to feed anymore. No, no, please, a Gogesh. Come, see it. At least the feeding that I require, he looks around. I fear, unfortunately, no one here could sustain me.

Classic a go-gash. Oh, well, I go up. I would need to thin the numbers of this herd. Far too much considering what they must already face. No, perhaps once Valachi has been freed of this scourge. then maybe I can feed an appropriate amount. In any case, I will return. I will allow you time to prepare, but I cannot take too long.

Yes, I understood. Does he kind of just like fade into the darkness? He waits to see if you have anything to say. No. And then he would, yes, fade into the darkness. I turn to Waiono. One day I'm going to have to kill him. And that's sad, but anyway.

I guess I sit back down Maybe I go get some of that perpetual stew And I sit down Has this whole time Muriel just been looking at the card I gave her Well Muriel also didn't really know Oh no actually Miriel you look over now You can see actually no she would have known who her go-gash is So you see that she visibly relaxes

Yeah Muriel dusts herself off a little bit Stands up and says I will help you as well Point at the card Yeah. Yes. Well, I appreciate that.

I get three other people we need to find, but this was pretty fortuitous that you were here in the campsite where I got the cards. Even Hector wasn't that lucky. Hector. You look at what is left of your body. That's a really bad sense.

Two wooden hooks pierce your shoulders and suspend you up in the air. Did you also? I think that your hands have been replaced with what you're Yes, yes I did Jackson Yes I did That was really scary

Dappled moonlight shines From above from some unseen source if you look up you're just blinded you cannot tell where the moonlight is coming from But it illuminates you Suspended in a circular room One of your arms

Is almost entirely intact Almost You can see With many pins, the skin of your forearm Has been peeled back To reveal sinew and muscle beneath Oh, good, that's disgusting. I try not to, wretch.

Your other arm has been removed From just above the elbow. Above, you dog. Son of a bitch, just above. They wanted the elbow. You can see that there is bones. bone, blood, sinew, everything dangles out. It is not like you were cut surgically.

It's like it was pulled off you. But the tear does not look very rough or damaged. It looks like how Play-Doh would get torn apart. Oh, my life. Okay. Can I... Do you want me to keep going? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You can keep going, but can I enter some sort of meditative trance Just so I can This associative trance almost To take all this in Yeah You look down And you can see that your body Has been removed from a bit

Above your belly button You know,