High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #1 | The Mists of Barovia

Episode Date: April 14, 2020

Welcome to a brand new series set in the dark and dangerous lands of Barovia! A new cast of characters investigate a world of blood, death and decay in the Curse of Strahd module for D&D 5e! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Add your team to your Uber account today. McCrispy fans, there is a new jaw-dropping McCrispy at McDonald's. It's called the Firecracker McCrispy. It has the crispy, juicy, tender chicken you love, topped with crispy jalapenos and a super tasty sweet and spicy sauce. You'll wish this spectacle of flavor never ended. Try the new Firecracker McCrispy today at participating McDonald's restaurants. Welcome, friends, to High Rollers Presents The Curse of Strahd, a gothic horror adventure of chills, thrills, and many blood spills.

I am your Dungeon Master, Mark Humes, and the players joining me are as follows. Chris Trott as Jesper the Vistani Bard. Kim Richards as Shadows Beyond the Veil, a tabaxi cleric. Katie Morrison as Rose Vanandi the Human Ranger. Tom Hazel as Xeros Mistan, the Dragonborn Fighter, and Rhiannon Gower as Zeki Mistan, the Dragonborn Sorcerer. It is raining in Baldur's Gate, a heavy, wet, chilling rain that soaks all it touches in cold and misery. Your destination, however, is warm and dry, and despite the ominous bounces outside, a suit of animated armor and a half-ogre woman,

you feel a sense of relief entering through the worn doors of the Elfsong Tavern. It is full, rowdy, and an ever-present tension of a crowd on edge falls over you. Sitting by the fire with a deck of cards in hand and four placed neatly in front of him is the man you have been searching for. Jesper is a bard. You can tell by the loot kind of hanging off his back, which he then carefully placed to the side of the table. He's looking concerned.

He's got a youthful face, very tanned, very nice black hair, definitely conditions, you think. And he's darting his eyes around the room until he locks with the rest of the party. And he's very eager by his body language to bring you to him um but as yes but looks out from the bar you see two pairs um entering at slightly different times but very clearly they are travelers they are not groups that would normally frequent this place and the most noticeable are a pair of dragonborn similar in features but very different in

coloration and attire Rhi and Tom do you guys want to describe Zika and Zeros do you want to go first alright so Zika is a white dragonborn her scales are very pure white almost almost pearlescent.

They reflect rainbow light off them. She's dressed in sort of sorcerer garb, so she has quite a loose tabard that flows behind her with white lace and ribbons flowing off of the sleeves. She has a lot of silver jewellery, and she has a necklace with a pendant of three stars joined at the tips um and that's the symbol of lyra uh very youthful very sprightly yeah uh xeros is what can only be described as the polar opposite

of that he's a big brooding grumpy looking he's a black dragonborn with tin tints of red on his horns he's got like a row of spikes along the like bone horns along the side of his face and he is heavily armored and he's currently got three great swords on his back are the great swords all of the same style or are they different styles? Almost identical to each other. Like, they've just been not super... Well, they've been well cared for, but they're just... Standard, generic. Yeah, there's no, like, ideal or anything like that that binds them to Xeros.

They are just weapons to him. Perfect. Yeah. All right. The two of you enter, and I would imagine that zika is the one leading as xeros has kind of been pulled along on this you're not even sure what to call it job uh duty perhaps to xeros but zika there is somebody here that you everything matches what you have seen in your visions in your dreams dreams the messages from

Lyra couldn't have been clearer and yeah, you see the young man in red sat by the fire, the strange cards placed in front of him but you are not the only one who is looking in his direction there are another pair

of travelers, although these two seem far less familiar with each other than the two siblings do. Entering behind them comes a dark, hooded figure with feline features and gold and blackened

robes and armor. And behind this tabaxi comes a woman, scale-male armoredoured with a long bow and dusty pink hair following behind them. Kim and Katie, would you like to describe Shadow Beyond the Veil and Rose, please? Okay, well, Shadow Beyond the Veil is a tabaxi.

She's based on a sphinx cat in the real world. So no fur as such, just kind of very dark skin and big eyes. She's wearing very simple golden black robes, but the golden markings and jewelry she has is very elaborate and rich. She carries a quarter staff um and yeah apart from that she's very very um cautious of her surroundings like a bit nervous and a bit unsure of herself rose um so rose is a human she has sort of uh long straight uh dusty pink hair uh lilac eyes and she wears sort of um scale mail and a very dark um fitted cloak with a big hood and sort of puffy shoulders um she carries a long bow the long bow has got sort of silver in the middle of it

with some sort of filigree on it. And she's also got a short sword at each side. She looks quite well-armed. She looks like she knows how to use those weapons. She's probably a little bit cautious as well, but tries to definitely give off a vibe that she knows what she's probably a little bit cautious as well but tries to definitely give off a vibe that she knows what she's doing and that she's trying to appear more intimidating than maybe

she actually is and I think out of everybody here Zeros and Rose you would both know the dangers that the taverns of Baldur's Gate present Baldur's Gate is a rough city. This is a city of thieves, of pirates, of murderers,

of scavengers, as well as the laundered elite and the mercenaries that frequented it. And you are, if nothing else, here to serve, certainly as bodyguards for your travelling companions. But, Shadow, you

too spy the human in your visions given to you by your mistress. And you see him exactly as it was in the visions, sat by the fire with these four cards placed in front of him. And yeah, you see everybody locks eyes with one another. The tavern is busy, but not so busy that it is not difficult to reach your destination.

I hand it to all of you. What would you like to do? I'll immediately stand up to attention with the wooden chair scraping with a really piercing tap and just slam my hands on the table, either side of the

cards that are dealt on the table, and just lock eyes with the two Dragonborn. And then, with a sweep of my hand, invite them to the table. With a knowing nod. I guess with the sweep, I kind of, like, almost shoulder in front of Zika. It's like if he slams a table and stands up quickly. If I know this

place, I like go to quickly defend, but almost like look to Zika to wait for command. No, no, I don't mean any harm, please. Please take a seat. I'll put like a reassuring hand

on Xeros' shoulder. That's the man it's fine, don't worry good yeah, you can also see, those of you I think Rose and Shadow you would notice that as Xeros got defensive with a scrape of the chair

he was not the only one, you see hands dart to belts and knives as people begin scouring around games of dice that have been being played down here in the You see hands dart to belts and knives as people begin scouring around. Games of dice that have been being played down here in the main bar come to a scattering halt as everybody kind of looks around. And then once it's clear that it's just a man making too much noise, activity resumes. Yeah, and you see these two Dragonborn heading in the same direction

that you appear to be heading as well. I think I'd stage whisper into Rose's ear and say, that, that's the man I saw in my vision. I don't know who the two dragon children are, though. You didn't get told of Dragonborn accompanying you? No, but the man and the cards on the table, that, I saw that. Okay, well, let's be cautious then. If there wasn't any pre-warning, then

this seems a bit strange. I take your lead, Rose. I will walk towards the table. Okay. I will at the moment focus on the two dragonborn because in my mind looking at the cards these two are pretty certain so yeah i'm like please please have a seat uh both of you

i assume uh it's it's an honor to meet you both thank you it's an honor to meet you uh you i don't know how you appeared in my dreams you i'll be going behind them and kind of like doing the gentlemanly thing, like, please sit, and then tucking them in and things like that. Okay. Your tail, I don't know how to... I'll let you deal with that. It's okay, don't worry. I'll just, like, tuck it to the side and awkwardly just shuffle it.

I'll put my easel off my back, take that off, and like tuck it to the side and awkwardly just shuffle in i'll put my easel off my back take that off and just put it to the side how does xeros uh respond to this gentlemanly behavior i mean he avoids the touch but like he in the same way that uh yes but nudge the chair i like pull it out slam it the ground, and then just sat with an eye of the entire table, like, every seat, specifically Zika. Easy, my friend. I mean no harm. Trust me. You clearly have come here as our fates are intertwined, are they not? I think, Rose and Shadow,

you overhear this conversation as you're kind of lingering at the back, making your way over, but yeah, it seems that the man in red has not taken notice, or at least doesn't seem to pick up on you immediately as it did with the dragons. Do you guys say anything, because you overhear this kind of

topic of conversation? Can I see the cards on the table? Yes, you can. You see there are four cards laid on the table very, very clearly. One is called the Avenger, and it has a woman with a bow upon it. The next is called the Elementalist, and it shows a white dragon uh summoning some sort of blizzard uh the next one is called the warrior and it's clearly a powerful humanoid man

but with a horned helm in full plate armor and then the last one is a is called the priest and it is of a person not a tabaxi but a, but with very sunken skin and dark eyes, and behind them, the shadows and the darkness is almost taking the shape of a woman behind it. This one. This is me. This is me. I'm gonna just ignore. This is me. I saw this.

This one. I will pull out a chair at the table for Shadow to sit and probably stand behind her. I believe that this is also someone you were looking for. On top of these dragonborn who

I don't believe we expected. Yes. Although it's a little hazy, the decks never lie. And I assume the priest... Yes. Please, take a seat. I saw this. I saw this

in my dream. I saw you. I saw you. And you, m'lady, please. You are also in this deck. Me? You, yes. You're just as important as the rest I don't quite understand why

you'll find out soon enough destiny always has its way of telling people and I'll tell you what I can but we'll have to find out for ourselves won't we I'm just very excited And I'll tell you what I can, but we'll have to find out for ourselves, won't we?

I'm just very excited. This is all very exciting to Zika. This is all very like, oh, new things, ah! She's like, why not? There's a bubble of activity around you. You can hear the sounds of, you know, there is laughing and there's joking and a few people singing, the clatter of dice in a cup um there's life and activity although there is this undertone of violence brimming at the surface of it as in the wrong word or the wrong punch could take this

whole place into a very dark nasty place but for now it is a tavern on a rainy night. There is a warm fire and good ale and good wine. And that seems to be keeping everybody at bay. But yeah, you all take a seat at this table and you see the man in red standing before you. No, sat before you. Tell me first. You all came here. I wish to hear what brought you. What pulled you to me.

Um, I was asked to come here by shadow, and so naturally I'm curious about what help I could be in this situation, but really, my duty is to protect her. But really, my duty is to protect her. Right. So your destinies are already intertwined. Fascinating. And you two? Bodyguard. I nod towards Zika.

Employer. Yeah. Well, a little more than that, but we're working on it. Employer. all right. I'm just following the vision. A vision? I've never experienced anything like this before. I saw Lyra.

She came to me in a dream, and she showed me this. Your god? Yeah, she's the joy bringer. She helps spread, like, spreads happiness and joy. And she helps me with my art. She helps my mother with her singing and her dancing. And she's also a joy bringer. She works with the community that I grew up in.

And we like to hold festivals, and Lyra is the focus of all that. Yes. That. That is the warmth that we need to bring to my lands. To cleanse it. All of you have a part to play. So this is your land? Not the... No.

I mean, look around you. As much as it is rowdy and pleasant, I am not from these lands. I'm from somewhere very distant yet. Quite close. You see... I see. My land is... is dying.

And... There is a... A devil. Which grows strong again. And I need you to help me cleanse what is either already dead or about to die

I need that warmth from you and I need your strength okay this is all very new to me. I'll be the first to admit it. Hands up. This is fresh. I'm fresh. But I will try my best. I will help

you in whatever way I can. And Zeros will help too, right? Hmm. Dangerous? Yes, absolutely. It's not everything that is exciting and transformative and revolutionary. Not a little dangerous.

You said it was cursed again. It's been cursed in the past? It is a long and, frankly, too long a story for me to remember. and frankly too long a story for me to remember. My people, we like to talk about it a little, but it is depressing to live amongst it. It goes back centuries. A curse was put upon our lands, and we all fell victim.

Us, personally, my people the vistani we have a good deal with with our lord there he allows us to leave and come back as we please which is why i'm able to come to you today but something is very wrong and And my my leader personally came to me with this task and said that if I was to band these people together that the deck told me that we could help

cleanse and make it new again. Finally, after centuries. No pressure! Reshuffle I can't don't touch them anymore fate is sealed as you

as he mentions as he says the word sealed a song begins to play in the tavern a haunting ghostly voice that seems to rise from nowhere and everywhere at once and the crowd falls completely silent as it begins it is an elven song and its melody is haunting as it is beautiful, and you hear whispers of the patrons and of the innkeeper. She's never sung this one before.

This is a new song. The people take this utterly seriously, and in the moments between verses, the only sound is the crackle and spitting of the fire and the rain as it drums against the tavern's roof those of you that can speak elvish you understand the words you should be able to see it in roll 20 now but it the melody haunts you as it begins to play you can hear it clearly and the song itself is unusual one you've never heard in these parts

of the world before that's all it continues for a moment and then when it stops the tavern is silent for a long time before the life and activity returns to it once more. Um, yes, uh, you all heard that, right? I wasn't, uh, I haven't heard too much.

I heard it, but I didn't understand it. What do you mean? Oh, the language. What do you mean? Oh, the language. What language was it? I understand the language of demons and angels, but not this tongue. Elvish. It's Elvish.

And it basically, you know, talked about what I was just talking about. So it's a little on the nose yes the brother drinks blood of kin yes couldn't help but notice that line in particular would this be the person that you're talking of potentially it seems

very very close does it not potentially it seems very very close does it not my god came to me in a vision she said that your land has been plagued by someone who has

embraced undeath and hungers for naught but misery and blood yes that sounds about right undeath and hungers for naught but misery and blood. Yes, that sounds about right. Sorry about that, but hey, we're together

now, and we have warmth, we have strength, we have a lot ahead of us. And you want us to go and fix this curse by dealing with this devil

who drinks the blood of his kin well in a manner of speaking yes and also treat me like you're equal. I am also put to task. It wasn't me that set out on this goal.

I was given this task myself, too. So you will be accompanying us. I have to. Trot, you would know that Ava would be able to give them more information about like how to face the devil and things like that she's gonna know the next steps basically your job was to find them and bring them

and then Ava will be able to assist them in their next to find the tools necessary I need to take you things are moving quicker than I thought the reaches of his power. I think that song, it reaches out to us.

And we must be quick. I'll take you to her. My leader, Madame Eva. I am ready. She will know more She knows everything She's very, very wise Please treat her with respect

She will kill you But, you know, she won't directly Your destiny will just be to Absolutely die at some point It always works out that way Just be nice Curious She's lovely

Okay Zeros Also, I need to make a good impression Just be nice. Curious. She's lovely. Okay. Xeros? Also, I need to make a good impression. Be careful. So you know. I'm just gonna stand up and hold a hand out to Zika. Okay.

I guess that means we're ready. Are we ready? I'm nodding. We already... Don't drink of water or something. It's very dead where I'm going. You know, a little song perhaps. I'll get up to Luke because I'm clearly nervous about doing this now. I'll play a very frantic song.

Here we go now. Off on a journey to Barovia. I'm going to put a finger on the strings of the loop. What? Impractical. We leave now. Right. I give you inspiration.

There you go. One bardic inspiration for Xerox. Wonderful. Amazing. Enjoy what you have around you, because where we're going, things aren't so quaint.

As you say that, as the dragonborn lays a finger over the loot strings, and Jesper kind of gestures to the world around you, you can see that there's a gang of kind of nasty looking thugs one of which has got an eye patch uh over one eye um dresses kind of sailorish but much too well armed to just be a sailor uh they are looking in yesper's direction at the kind of annoyance of the sound that he kind of briefly played.

And you can see them whispering to each other and looking in Jesper's direction. Should we expect any trouble here just now? Here? I don't know. I've never been here. Yes. just now? Here? I don't know. I've never been here. Uh, yes. Um, clearly you're not very aware of your surroundings. If we're going to leave,

then we should probably leave now. Okay. Uh, sure. Uh, uh, big fella, Zeros, lead the way, and we'll hide in your shadow I will instead

like gesture them to move in front of me I don't think I could hide all of you I'm the shadow oh no she's mumbling to herself you kind of like mumble to yourselves as Zeros kind of her mind you kind of like mumble to yourselves as xeros kind

of herds you out of the tavern um having fetched this gathering up your things uh you head out into the rain and i'm guessing yes but will begin to lead you um to where a small wagon and a pair of horses a very plain wagon um it has a just a very basic canvas covering enough for a few people to sit in the back and one driver uh which yes but takes up on onto uh himself um and yeah within a few hours you are on the road out of boulders gate and you know these roads well enough he seems to be leading you south maybe um and night begins to follow the mists begin to gather at the edges of the road growing closer as you slowly make your way and the night wears on the fog becomes so thick it hangs in the air and soon you cannot see more than a few feet in front of you. The trees and the hills become shapeless ghosts and stretch and move in unnatural ways.

And after a few moments, the mist thins, but the trees and the roads are no longer familiar looking behind you you can see that the road is now completely obscured by a wall of fog which looms in place watching you silently like a crowd ahead of you road curves, and above the gnarled, swaying trees, high are stone buttresses, with huge iron gates that hang on the stonework, whilst dew and cold cling with an icy grip to the rusted bars. Two headless statues of armed guardians flank the gate, their heads lying among the weeds at their feet.

They greet you with only cold, dead silence. The wagon creaks, and this is a land that you know is not your own. Welcome, my friends. Welcome to Barovia. This is where you are from. Yes, tourism's not great right now, but hey. Was it ever?

I'm sorry, it's not the most welcoming of places so far no a few uh licks of paint here and there uh some more color a bit more vistani would have been way more welcoming but this was built far beyond my time. Now it is dead, undying, and our lord suffers, and... Yes. Our souls are trapped. I can see why the mistress sent me here.

Yes. Anyway, uh... So, how do we want to proceed? First, can we proceed by elaborating on the trapped souls, potentially? It's very important that I feel that we should know a little bit more about that. If we're going to be lifting any curses, potentially trapped here forever ourselves. I'd quite like to know what that entails. Right.

Yes, I've not really... I've buried that one deep in my psyche so that I don't fall apart thinking about you know, my soul being here for the rest of eternity and oh, you know what, I'm getting a little

a little flustered thinking about that and I've really suppressed it for years now and you bring it back you brought it back I'm very sorry I I didn't mean to cause alarm simply just trying to learn how

we can help this land of course curses we don't want those. This is a little much for me right now. Honestly, you should really speak to my leader. I think we should go to our camp first. And she'll have

all the calming influence that we need going forward. The wagon has a slight bump as it goes over. Loose stones in the muddy ground. You can hear the horse's kind of heavy breaths as it pulls the wagon behind them. And as you approach, you finally see these huge gates that you kind of glanced, you glimpsed over the tree line itself as you make your way through.

And it looks something like this. as you make your way through. And it looks something like this. So the huge gates, and they loom up enormously, towering above you. And as you draw closer, the gates, with a heaving sigh, like a ghost or like a long-held breath, they creak open out towards you you see no signs of anyone pulling levers or winches

or any signs of life to open the gates but open they do as the wagon begins making its way down the road to head between them I'm just sketching this like furiously okay so you have like a sketchbook as you're drawing um yeah zika as she you look up and you begin sketching you notice that up until these gates the land doesn't look particularly diseased it It's dark and this fog, I think

that you and Shadow would know and actually Rose as well, the three of you, this mist, this is not just fog. There is a presence. There is a sense of a living element

to this mist. It's like it's watching you. You feel this this oppressive eyes just on you all the time and you can almost see faces and hands moving amongst the mist itself and as you step through as the wagon makes its way beneath between the two doors and and through the gate you hear as they begin shutting completely on their own behind you this long wail like a rustic chain echoing out across the land the floor here turns to a dark gray green the grass is wilted and brown dying in many places the trees are gnarled and twisted in a way that you've

never quite seen before and the road just continues through this dense heavy wood as the wagon struggles on for a brief few moments longer I don't even care about the surroundings I'm just like care about the surroundings

I'm just like looking at the other three, Shadow, Jesper and Rose with like sneering eyes would Xeros notice anything? if he's looking at you would he notice you guys doing anything or behaving in certain ways? I think Rose would probably be

she's not looking at him in a nasty way but she's noticed that he's watching as well so she's watching back so that she knows that shadow is safe in a way because he's been the most hostile so far so she's sort of a bit on edge, but trying to remain looking positive. The moment Rose looks back at me is when I kind of lock eyes and then just stay that way and maybe even start to sit forward a little bit more.

She would probably just keep looking back, but she wouldn't go like he did. She would just probably smile slightly and continue looking at him. So you just kind of meet the challenge, but don't escalate it. Yeah. Kill him with kindness.

Whilst the two of you enjoy this tense moment of the fighter's stare, Zika and Shadow, you're kind of keeping your eyes closer on the road. As Jesper, I think you were trying to say something as well, Jesper, weren't you? You were about to say something. Do not let up your defenses. Everything is wrong here,

and everything is tainted in some way so be on your guard that's all i'm saying and it's very hard to see much further you know this mist is kind of all around you and it it coats everything and that it's so oppressively dark dark that it's hard to really see too far down the road. You travel for an hour or so when shadow and rose, you cannot ignore the strong scent of rot and death and animals. the wagon begins to turn a corner around through this kind of winding forest trail, you can see that the road up ahead, there is activity. There is something going on.

You guys both want to make perception checks. In fact, Rose, you were looking more at zero, so I'll have Shadow make this. Perception. Yes. That would be a nine challenging one first roll nine

so you you yeah staring at it you don't seem to pick out too many of the details um

Jesper and Zika actually you guys can make the checks as well because Jesper I'm guessing is watching the road and then Zika you were sketching everything because you

you came in so I'd like to think Shadow is distracted by just kind of trying to get the lay of the land. I said she doesn't have fur but probably like her hackles have risen and she's very tense. She's got a hunch of the back. Yeah. And you still notice like there is this smell of death and rot and beasts like animals.

And you can smell the strong, your bestial sense pulls in. What's that on that perception, Zika? That's a 17 plus 3. Okay, it's a 20. And then Jesper. Oh. Reception.

I know you're trying to run the stream as well. If you could spin one more plate. Yeah, come on yep yeah i got the nine okay so yes but you're keeping your eye on the road but your nerves like you're you're kind of just looking down at the road and the horses rather than what's up ahead of you because you know how these roads can be and you've you know so much is playing on your mind and these strangers that you've brought into your lands and all the different things that are going on but zika you kind of staring out into the darkness there is a brief moment where this very overcast sky the clouds part just enough that the moon illuminates a bit more of the road that allows you to see it and up ahead

perhaps not more than sort of like 80 feet there is uh you see a body on the ground and a pack of about five wolves around it and they're kind of tearing at the body one has like various arms in its mouth another is eating into the flesh itself, these big bites. And you can see flesh and blood being torn out by these blood soaked fangs and moors. And standing behind this scene completely either oblivious or you don't know, but there is a figure stood with their back to the whole thing.

They're just kind of stood looking away from you as this man is being eaten. You're not sure if he's alive or if it's a dead body. He's being torn apart by these wolves. And Jesper, if he doesn't kind of like, he'll realize quite late if you don't say anything, he's not going to really realize until you're basically on top of them. Okay, I'll move to the front of the wagon up to wesper and just tap him on the shoulder and say to him something's wrong yes but there's this hello there's there's somebody up ahead uh he's he's being attacked by wolves by the looks i don't know yeah you begin to now hear like the whoa whoa i'll uh pull on the reins yeah you pull on the reins the horses like kind of

come to it but the horses oddly don't seem spooked like it's they just kind of come to normal stop um and then yeah you all see this sign this this sight a young man probably about yesper's age dressed in a very similar fashion um is yeah being torn apart by these wolves long dead now you can see the body has died probably days ago um the only thing you would probably notice is there's a crumpled letter still like clutched in his hand but the wolves are like biting legs and tearing flesh and feeding um one of the wolves looks particularly large and then stood behind them is wearing some sort of cloak is a figure just stood looking back

down the road towards the way you were going. I'll turn around quickly looking into the wagons like everyone draw arms something is wrong Okay I'll break my stairs

Yeah okay I'll break my staff yeah um and yeah I'll stomp out draw one of the three broadswords yep

it comes out so you you will get off the wagon at this point or are you some of you staying in the wagon or uh

Rose would probably get out okay so Rose and Zeros have gotten out but Zika Shadow and Jesper staying in the wagon or uh rose would probably get out okay so rose and zeros have gotten out but zika shadow and yes per staying in the wagon i will jump out uh grabbing the two swords that are by me unsheathed them both and then jump off okay the three of you jump off and as your boots hit into the kind of wet mud and this kind of like slopping sound as your boots squelch in. The wolves kind of very slowly turn their heads up, bearing these red-coated mouths as their fangs drip with flesh and blood. They just begin growling, but they don't move.

And then you just see a single hand come up from the figure, and then it turns. And stood before you is a tall, darkly handsome man. In a piece of red breastplate. A large, fur-like wolf's fur mantle with a big billowing red cape behind him. His skin is pale and his hair is long and dark, but not as long as Jesper's. And a pair of very

cold, very dead eyes stares back at you. So, it seems that I have some guests. And he steps towards you, and Jesper, there is no

mistaking who this man is this is the devil and falling to a knee he sees this and he's like you know your place Vistana you've done well so

introductions are necessary. I am Count Strahd von Zarovich, and this is my kingdom. He kind of looks down at you all. So you are the latest pawns in this game. A tragedy. A tragedy. And he just looks at you for a moment, as if waiting for a response.

Yes, we... Lord, we mean no harm. I apologize if we intruded upon anything that you were doing. I'm sorry. Sorry? Sorry? Sorry? No, my boy. There is no reason to apologize.

I do so love having guests. I must warn you of only one thing, travelers. You will find no respite here. Whatever purpose this Vistana has brought you here for, you will not see it succeed. This is my realm. It obeys my rules. As will you.

Do not meddle in my affairs, and your stay will not be unpleasant. And then he begins to just, he looks down at the body, looks back at you. Let the games begin. Let the games begin. And in a flash, his body seems to split into hundreds of different pieces that all seem to form into bats as this swirling storm of beasts and furs and wings flies up into the air and disappears down the road. I'll fall backwards onto my back and just be panting heavily.

No. That was him. Why are you speaking? Why are you about him? This is the person that he wants to Yes, exactly. You don't understand. You don't know who that is.

That was him, the lord of this land. He controls everything. Life and mostly death. We're all dead. I don't know why she sent me. Can I go over to Jesper and place a paw on where I think human hearts are and cast calm emotions. Okay. Yeah.

Perfect. And I'm just going to whisper, calm yourself, Jesper. Calm. You are no good in this emotional state. Thank you. All that fear you felt is gone, Jesper. You'd probably see... Oh, I've gone a bit blurry.

You'd probably see a golden kind of just wave of light just kind of go out from my paw and pass all over Jesper. And then come back into shadow. And you'd probably see me shiver a little bit first.

You're eating my emotions, eh? This is why the cards picked you, I assume. The wolves begin to dissipate, and you can see them making their way back into the forest, watching you warily, but the wolves begin drifting apart. So Rose is watching the wolves intently with her hand is on her bow, she's got an

arrow drawn, and she's glaring at them and she looks very angry. Yeah, the you can see, Rose, these wolves are not acting like beasts. They are following orders. These wolves, if acting like beasts. They are following orders. These wolves, if these were natural wolves,

they would have attacked you guys. The second that you didn't draw fire and weapons and things like that, they would have been on you. But the fact that they just waited, and then as soon as their master seemingly left, they're just off into the woods. I mean, I drew a sword. Yeah, well, you had, like,

one of you armed, but yeah, like, that's what I'm saying. If these were normal wolves, they probably would have attacked, but the fact is, is they didn't. Yeah, no, I'm doing exactly the same as Rose, like, right next to her. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Do you have many wolves

in this land? I don't have any. He has all of them. By all of them, how many do we mean? I don't know. We tend to avoid them. There's a lot. And they all bow to him. Jesper, speak calmly. Who is this man that we just met? Why are you so scared of him?

Without him, none of this would be the way it is. His power, his grip on Barovia is held tight. It is his land, his power. It's held tight. It is his land. His power. For what I'm told, these mists are also his. The death. The undying. It's all him. For centuries, he has reigned. Everything he does... is out to get us. I'm sorry friends. I've brought you to your death.

So he knows you came to fetch us to kill him? I don't know what Madame Eva had in store for me but nothing goes without him knowing. Maybe he thinks this is all futile. Or maybe we're... I don't know her plan. We need to go speak to her straight away. I agree. Me too.

This is... This is bad he was there waiting for us I've never seen him before so have the wolves garden completely now the wolves yeah they've now

reached the edges of the they've disappeared into these gnarled thick woods on either side of the road and the woods are thick and massive you can see that they stretch on maybe for miles here uh the only thing left is this body this savaged brutally ripped apart body and it's still just like clutching this letter and it's just lying in the road yeah um can i approach that and take the letter from its hand? Yeah, sure. Absolutely.

It's bloodstained, crumpled, but sealed still. And it bears a strange seal upon it. While Rose is taking the letter, can I start to, I guess, tend to the body, like turn it over, close the eyes, just try and cover it as best I can and say some prayers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. So you begin this kind of process. Yeah, Rose will

nod at Shadow in thanks for what she's doing. Okay. Zeros and Zika, while they're doing that, what are you guys doing? I'll turn to Jesper and ask, what game? You must understand,

my big imposing friend, you are but an ant on the heel of Strahd. You are nothing. None on the heel of Strahd. You are nothing. None of us mean anything. He is a god in his lands.

We are a pawn on the chess table. And he's having fun with us. Why would he do that? Why would anyone do that? I don't know. He's beyond any of us. Madame Eva, again, she will know more. Why he is like this, why he has been terrorizing our lands, putting us in fear For so long. Why you?

I don't know. Can you touch me again, Kat? Please? I think it's wearing off. One moment, friend. I am dealing with this poor soul here. So as you are... Can I... As you are tending to the body of shadow... Can I open the letter as well while she's tending to the left

as you begin opening the letter yeah as you begin opening the letter shadow um the the body is completely savaged it looks like it's yeah died to wolves has been has been probably here for a few days um and you notice that yeah like the wolves there's something you would notice it almost immediately is that this body has been dead longer than those wolves and strad were here as if he waited and then set the wolves on it just as you arrived you get the sense that he was waiting with this body specifically for the moment you would all arrive and then he commanded the wolves to start eating it. Because all of their bites and the bite marks

are fresher than what killed him. And as you are doing that, can you make an initiative roll for me, please? Everybody? Just Shadow for now. Oh, God. That'll be a seven. Well, you're lucky because you notice in just with enough time

the body, you hear it as it reaches for you as this spark of undeath takes it and it goes to grab you. What do you want to do? I guess... Can I hiss and pull back i'm dead and uh i guess i guess yeah immediately i would probably cast guiding bolt sure do it just cast Do it. Just cast it. So apologies, my first time being a cleric. So ranged spell attack.

I should have a bonus there. Did that do it? Yeah, so I rolled a six to hit. That is unfortunately, yeah, d20 plus four. You rolled a two and then got a plus four. So you'd have advantage because technically uh yeah this thing is pretty slow so roll again um it's pretty slow and it's prone you're aware of it like i'll definitely give you advantage it's almost like a surprise 15 on my second uh on my second roll yeah so this time the radiant energy blasts into

it for 12 points of damage sorry i know you were about to read that out um so the radiant energy blasts into it for 12 points of damage. Sorry, I know you were about to read that out. So the radiant energy kind of comes out as you stand up quickly and it strikes into the creature's body. It seems to kind of shudder on the ground and parts of its flesh have been blown away, but it still kind of reaches up for you. So this is a surprise round so it will go and then everybody else will basically get a chance for it to to go uh

um the next attack roll gets advantage on it that's well remembered so uh does would a 12 hit you no would a 5 hit you that's also a no no and then finally does a natural 20 hit you yes it does yes 23 that's going to be five plus uh d4 so that is eight points of damage as this creature tries to grab you like it tries to swipe you with these claws like these not like it's basically tries to like grab you and punch you twice and then it seeks its its rotten teeth and half of its jaw is hanging off one of its eyes has been pulled out of its socket and it clamps down onto your arm and you feel it its human teeth bite into the flesh and almost try and rip part of your flesh off but you managed to kind of pull it away at the last second um i'm not gonna have you guys

roll initiative because this thing is so slow i'm just gonna say everybody take a turn against this thing because it's so slow so we'll just start with shadow and then we'll just go around in clockwise i guess or i guess like the two fighters would probably react faster so shadow and then uh zero awesome rose rose first as well, yeah. Oh, sure. Alright. Sure. So yeah, you see this thing just kind of like... And just start biting into shadow. So I'm right next to it, so I'm going to pull out my short sword.

And... So 14 plus 7 to hit. That will hit easily. It'll be plus 5 with your short sword, don't forget, because your longbow gets an extra plus 2. So 2 plus 3, I think. Yeah. Oh, wait, no, sorry, I rolled the wrong thing.

I rolled the wrong dice. I'm a D6. That's all right. Yeah, you're looking at your longbow. My bad. That's all right. Yeah, you're looking at your long face. My bad. Yeah. That's okay. One plus three, four. Woo, big hit.

Yeah. You stab into it, and you kind of see it shuffle for a moment. You almost tear through one of its arms, but it doesn't quite get all the way through being a piercing stabbing motion. It kind of sucks out. There's still fresh blood in this body. It's been dead long enough that the blood comes out as this thick black

sludge. It's, you know, congealed and it's become kind of putrid in its own body over the last few days. And it doesn't spray so much as it just sort of begins to leak out and it's covered all of the blade itself with this thick Icarus blood.

Then I guess, like, Xeros, do you want to do something? Yeah, I'm going to action search. Okay. And just wail on this thing. Okay. Just two downward slams. So plus six to hit.

Natural one. Followed by... Oh my god. Well, I'll hit up because this thing ain't hard to hit. The second one is a 12. What was that? The second one is a 12. 12 will hit. Oh, wonderful.

So 2d6 plus 4. So 11 damage. Oh, I can re-roll that too. If I wanted6 plus 4. So 11 damage. Oh, I can re-roll that too. If I wanted to, so I'll do that. So it's 9 plus... 4 plus 5, 9, 13. 13 points of damage. Can you roll a d20 for me?

Oh, God. Okay. No, that's 12. Ignore that. 4. My God, my rolls are awful. You sever one of this creature's legs as you chop down with the greatsword. No, that's 12. Ignore that. 4. My god, my rolls are awful. You sever one of this creature's legs.

As you chop down with the greatsword, it just cleaves one of its legs off entirely. And the leg kind of goes scattering behind you with the force of the blow. But the creature, even though the blood is leaking out of it, still just got enough energy that it's trying to claw again towards Shadow and get a grip on them. But one of its, it's now kind of like hobbling on the ground

only able to pull itself along with one leg in its arms as it makes its way across. Anybody else want to do anything? Yeah, I can cast Array of Frost at it. Sure, go for it. I guess. The leg, by the way, as you severed it, you think,

you kind of watch the leg go skittering along the mud and then within a second the leg kind of like rights itself and it begins kind of hopping towards

the rest of the body it's gone evil dead no oh no do not watch so Zika what does it look like when you

what does it look like when you cast this ray of frost? Zeke is really genuinely terrified Like this is awful for her Do you want to take disadvantage for fear? Oh yeah, go on then Let's do it I love it, let's do it

It's a nat 20 on the first one Oh my god Oh my god I love it. Let's do it. So Nat 20 on the first one. Ah! Oh my god. Oh my god! And Nat 20 followed by a one again. Again, yeah. So my claws are trembling. I'm trying to summon the warm energy of Lyra to guide me,

but I'm just really struggling with it. It's just too much. And it's like, I think that the zombie looks up at you and you can see its jaw kind of slacked and it kind of unhinges for a moment and its jaw, like the flesh, rips away as it kind of looks over you. And you can't help but see the kind of shape of the man who would have once been there.

This young man, probably no older than Jesper, these bright eyes would have once been where this now half-empty socket and this glassy, undead eye remains. And just that image and the fear you're already feeling, the bolt just goes wide as this ray strikes across the ground. Shadow or Jesper? I will pick up my two swords, being calmer. And I will very dexterously spin towards it and aim for its head with my sword and dagger

which is a little longer than the average dagger go for it i'm using my mobility okay it's just a regular d20 to get plus 5 13 that will That will hit. Lovely. D4 plus 3 for the first one. As if it's with your rapier, it's a D8. It's your dagger on the wrong one. Well, that's the dagger. Okay. 11 and 16.

Oh. Yeah, you need to roll to hit again. Just see if you roll to hit. Yeah, you did my hit with this I think Jesper you kind of launch forward the rapier skewers through the throat you bring the dagger down on the side of the head and with enough force you can kind of rip kind of separating the kind of head and the

neck from each other as it completely comes loose and the creature just kind of falls back to true death as it just slumps in the mud. I say go to rest, brother. Yeah, you can't help but notice

the same Vistana clothing on this young man. But yeah, it falls to the ground lifeless as the mist enshrouds all around. That's why. And then, Rose, if you still turn your attention to the letter. Yes.

That's what it says. Yeah. Read. That's. yes that's what it says yeah read that if you scroll down you should be able to read the text of it thank you oh oh so if you read it out loud Katie

and then podcast listeners can know what it says okay hail to thee of might and valor I a lowly servant of barovia sent to honor thee we plead for thy so desperately needed assistance the love of my life arena koyana has been afflicted by an evil so deadly that even the good people of our village cannot protect her she languishes from her wound and i would have her saved from this menace. There is much wealth in this community. I offer all that might be had to thee and thy fellows if thou shalt but answer my desperate plea. Come quickly, for her time is at hand.

All that I have shall be thine. Kolian Inderevich, Burgomaster. That's what he says. I see. That's what it says. I see. I will probably pass this to Jesper. Thank you. I don't know who this person is.

Do you know of them? No. Have I heard of this before? You'd know the Burgomaster of... He's the Burgomaster of Barovia, the village of Barovia, one of the three main settlements, basically. So, yeah, you know the Burgomaster. I don't think you would know who Irena is.

Maybe you might have heard that... You might be just like, I think it's her daughter or something like that, his daughter. But you know the Burgomaster. He's supposed to be an actual good man in Barovia. He's caring and tries to do the right things. He's one of the rare good ones. Yeah, I'd say that's probably what you know about him.

I relay that information. This is clearly important. If Strahd were here to place this. You know, I feel like it's part of the, when I look at Zeros, the game. So to speak. But this is important.

Someone dear to him is afflicted. Well, it sounds like finding her would be a good option to see what she has been affected by maybe we should go to your master and then onwards to find arena uh yeah well you will need to pass through the village of Barovia to reach the camp where Madame Eva is. Yes, that's the little itch with that is we will be passing through his village anyway.

So maybe we'll find out soon enough. We must be cautious. This body, this theatrics with the wolves, it was placed here by this draad for us to find. This letter, he knows what it says. He knows that we will go on this path. Yes, yes he will. And he'll know everything.

And frankly, I don't know what to do other than help people in need so uh i wish i had more for you all we go with our eyes open Hmm. But first... But first, I must properly send this poor soul to the fugue plane. Excuse me. And then I'll go back to tending to the body and piecing it back together. You might not have much luck with that, poor fellow. But give it a go. You might have more power. Who knows? Good luck.

The dead must still have the rights. So what does it look like when shadow does this like what is shadow's method of of you know sending the body off do you do anything to like bury it or is it like uh just a prayer over the body pulling it back together i think if nobody stops me i will probably reach into my pack and uh pull out a very ornate shovel head that i attached my quarter staff and start digging a hole by the roadside um and if nobody stops me i'll just carry on doing that and you know um burying the poor soul uh as together as i can obviously i probably don't have time to stitch him back together, but if I did, I probably would. I'll take about an hour to dig a shallow grave and put the bodies

in and stuff like that. I think if she starts doing that, I'll turn to Zika and say, she wastes her time, and I'll open the wagon door for her and just go back to sitting there. Have like a sit down. Rose will probably

help Shadow to speed up the process of burying the body. I respect your dealings with the dead but I urge you to make a little more haste

because there's a lot more death coming up and a lot of bodies to enter and whatnot. You could always help, Bard. I've had my fair share of burying my friends, thank you. At least teach me a little of the ways of the funeral rites of the Vishtani so I can get this right. Well the Vishtani, well... Yeah, I'd say like the Vishtana and the Barovian funeral methods are burn the bodies because they know that if you just bury them they not sometimes come back to life. So I think it's more funeral pyres

than burials let there be no trace of what once lived so that it doesn't come back in a way it didn't intend fair in which case I'll stop I'll stop burying it and

yeah set fire I think I've got a tinderbox and stuff like that and i'll i'll um build a quick funeral pyre and yeah say some prayers and yeah send this poor soul on their way i think that would be the vistana method i think the barovians still bury their dead uh because of old customs but the vistani would probably burn their living because they know better um yeah okay you guys spend that time doing that yeah and you uh you you feel satisfied in what you've done and the road continues on um the wagon continues making its way down this old road until eventually uh tall shapes begin to loom out of the dense fog that surrounds everything here. The muddy ground gives way to slick, wet cobblestones,

and the tall shapes become recognizable as village houses. The windows of each stare out at you with pools of blackness for eyes, and the silence of this place weighs on you heavily until the sound of a solemn church bell rings once twice and then fades away to more silence you make your way through the twisted narrow village it's it's a village more than a town but the houses here are packed tightly enough together that there are clear streets there is no defensible wall it is all sort of mixed amongst each other and you can see that on a small hill there is a church with a bell tower and what appears to be a cemetery behind it and as you

make your way through the only building that you can see with any obvious life is there appears to be an inn where a sickly glow of yellow light is escaping from the cracks beneath the door and the seams of boarded up windows. Everywhere else is near dead silent. If there are

people in these houses, you will need to get a lot closer to find out. What sort of time is it it's late it's you know late evening you know you're getting close to sort of like you know it's hard to tell because the night so overcast the moon really only comes out in these short bursts but maybe you're like approaching sort of like 10 p.m ish it's it's late evening um and yeah there's just no sign of life whatsoever here um apart from this one building this inn that you can see uh directly on your way shall we find somewhere to stay uh Stay? You want to stay somewhere? Well, what do you propose we do? You know this land.

We're strangers here. We need to know what to do next. Brovia, this village is a wonderful place, full of life and happiness. I wish. It is not that. The people here are strange, and they are not Vistani. We must be cautious around them.

Some are not who they once were, or have been who they were for a long time, but aren't aware of it. That sort of thing. So, more of those zombie people? No, not quite. There are some people that... You'll see.

You'll see. I don't know if I want to see, Jesper. I'll be honest with you. I wish I didn't have to show you, Zika. But they're going to be here, and they'll make themselves known. Okay. It's going to be okay. You said joy and warmth and your god, Lyra, was it?

Think of her. Yeah. I'll try, yes, but I'll try. We need her here right now. Yeah. It is also quite late evening, so obviously if you guys will need to eat at some point, you might have trail rations so you can keep going um but yeah the wagon creaks its way through the kind of main

road leading through town and as it draws closer to this inn building you see the door kind of cracks open a little bit um and a uh another vistana a vistani man very similar to yes but kind of wearing the same sort of red and yellows, kind of pokes his head out. He has like a thin mustache and turning into a sort of goatee. His hair is shorter and sort of like cropped at the sides as he looks out and he calls. He just looks up. He's like, hey, is that wine? Are you bringing wine?

Oh, who's that? One second. Do I I have wine I can't remember I start rummaging through my little you might standing up a second there's a storage chest under you uh I think I've got wine yes here we go ah come bring it in we ordered this ages ago but we've been waiting on our delivery oh I mean come, come. I turn around and wink at everybody else and hop off.

Okay. What's that supposed to mean? What is that? What is the wink? What is that supposed to mean? Are you sure that you were definitely sent to this man? It doesn't seem like he knows what to do or who to trust. I don do or who to trust.

I don't know who to trust here. You can trust me. Well, I know that, but beyond that... Well, you asked. You said, I don't know who to trust, and I'm sat right here next to you. It's not like I buried your brother or anything. It's fine. I know. I didn't mean to offend I'm well aware I just it's a very strange

place Shadow it's a strange time true the man who is talking to Jesper kind of looks up he kind of sees you Rose before he sees the other non-humans and he's like lady come on come inside and have a drink. It's cold.

You shouldn't be traveling around at night anyway. All of you. Oh, my God. And he kind of sees the rest of you. He's like, you're not from Borough. You're outsiders. You should come in now. What he says. Okay.

I'll gingerly start making my way up come come come he looks at you Jesper he's just like you can leave the wagon around the back if you need to come in have some wine you shouldn't be outside

not here in Barovia in the village why are you in Barovia in the village we own the inn. This is our inn. Right? Yes.

Interesting choice. Yes, yes, yes. And you are traveling in the companion also, bringing... What is this? Dragons that walk on two legs? And a cat? And a cat that stands as tall as a man? Ah, yes, you must come in.

Come in. And he gestures into the inn. I'm not the man. You heard the man. Let's go. I'll look to Xeros just for his... just for some advice or just for something. I'll just nod. That's it.

Okay. That's it. That's all I got. The man sort of ushers you inside That's it. Okay. Okay. That's it. That's all I got. That's all I got. The man sort of ushers you inside, and inside you find, I mean, to call it... Well, first of all, as you're making your way in, you can see that above the doorway, there is a sign that hangs kind of askew. It looks like it's fallen into disrepair. And the name of the tavern is...

It was originally called the Blood of the Vine, but somebody has scratched out the F and replaced it with an N, so it actually is called the Blood on the Vine Tavern. You can see that there is these grapes, these blood-red grapes kind of standing uh as the main symbol um but as you are hush uh ushered inside uh there is a fire uh it doesn't give off much warmth but it's far better than the cold of being outside um and you can see that there are three individuals kind of huddled inside and then a very large burly bartender who seems to be at the back

and the three individuals all appear to be Vistani like Jasper and when you motion inside you can see there are two women one appears to be the man's wife and then the other you assume is their daughter and he gestures you inside he's just just like, Welcome, welcome, travelers. My name is Elenka. This is my wife Mirabelle and our daughter Sorvia. This is our inn. What by the Dark Lord has brought you here to this place? Fate, mostly.

Come, friends. We are so lucky to be among friends here. Thank you. Yes, yes, you are among friends here. This place is, well, not safe, but... The devil does not bother us here. You are visitors? We do not often offer a free drink, but perhaps a wine?

For at least one glass for you each? That would be most kind. He kind of looks to everybody else like, yes? I think I would prefer water, thank you. Just water for now. You are definitely not from Barovia, young lady. Here we drink wine, and it is good wine here. Not much of it left, but we have some.

And what about the dragons that walk like men and women? This is... I've never seen like one of your kind before. One has got sparkly, colorful bits on it. Do you carry paint? Is this a canvas? Is, yes. Yes, I'm an artist. Well, I hope that your subject

might be... Oh, yes, yes, of course. We would love that. Me and my wife and daughters, absolutely. A little bit of color and life in this place would be most welcome um i'll be honored to oh yes well let me fetch a wine and he goes to the bar and you can see the barman is very different he doesn't dress like these three the barman wears these drab grays and browns um a larger heavyset man he just is cleaning glasses and then he finishes cleaning one puts it on the shelf picks up the next one cleans it puts it back doesn't say a word you

don't see him speak to anyone you don't see him do anything except clean glasses and if you watch him for a time he finishes cleaning the last glass on the shelf he puts it back he seems to look around then he goes back to the very first glass that is already clean and he cleans it again and he just does this over

and over and over um you see the Vistani Alenka walks up to him and he's like aric bottle bring us a bottle of the of the mash uh and he just kind of looks up and you can see these just really sad looking eyes yes he just reaches up takes a, gets glasses for everybody who wants one, pours, pours, pours, pours, puts the wine back. Wine.

You see the Vistani kind of gathers it up. He's like, talkative as ever. And he kind of comes back to you all. He's like, ah, here we go. One wine, one wine, a wine, and a water, I guess, for this young lady. Ah, yes, come and sit. It is good to have other people around. It has been particularly dark days of late.

It's okay, friends. They are Fistani, like me. You can trust these people. Yes, yes, of course, yes. You can trust us here in Barovia. We are the only people with a little soul left. Well, not all. There are still some Barovians who have a bit of life to them.

Your barkeep doesn't seem Vistani. Oh, Arik, no. He's a Barovian, and well, he's not quite all there, if you know what I mean. Was he always like this? Is that something to do... Yes, is it something to do with the Was he always like this?

Yes, is it something to do with the curse that we have heard about? I mean, if you infer that was he always like this, yes. He is soulless. He does not have his soul. Don't know what else to tell you. He's a shell. Yes, he's a shell. How does one lose that well they missed your soul can't get through them so they are here and there's not enough of the living ones left i mean vistani like this hell this handsome young man and he points to

jasper myself and our kind we can come and go, we can meet people in other worlds, worlds like the ones you've come from and we can have children and we can do all sorts of fun things but if you get my meaning and he kind of winks at his wife when he says that but the Barovians well, there's only so many

souls here, so not every child gets to have one some of them grow up a little bit like alrick here i mean he's technically alive he's not a zombie or anything like that but it's just nothing to him he just i tell him to do something he does it no complaints but just doesn't get any joy he can that's it very yeah don't know what else to tell you very yeah don't know what else to tell you so he is born like this yes yes there's several children like him sad I know tragic but this is the this is what per over is the Barovians made their choice they should not have killed the

Lord when they did shouldn't have like killed the lord. Not like us Vistani, we knew better. Yes, yes we did. Shouldn't have killed the lord. Is that a different lord to the one that we have seen, Jesper? There's one lord of these lands. Only one. Only one now and always. And, yes.

Yes, it's a long story. I mean, the details are scattered, but we still want to know a little bit more. I'm not a very good storyteller, I must admit. I wish I was, but I'm not really. But Madam Ava knows how to tell it. I wish I was, but I'm not really. But, uh... Madam Ava knows how to tell it, but... From what I remember...

Our Dark Lord comes from a royal line. And he... He made a dark pact. He gained some powers or something. And the people killed him for it. And ever since... Am I going to close the windows while he's talking because I'm paranoid of

the windows are already closed they're like barred with heavy wooden bars like they've been nailed in there's no shutters or glass here it's all just heavy woods and you can see when he speaks his voice does drop yeah I'll just look around making sure there's no like

points of entry from the outside world to listen sure yeah he just kind of leans in and his voice goes darker Yeah, points of entry from the outside world to listen. Sure. Yeah, I know. He just kind of leans in and his voice goes darker. He watches us from the castle. You might not be able to see it from here, but if you go up to the cemetery, you can see it.

Castle Ravenloft, they call it. It looks down out upon all of the lands he commands. It's his kingdom. These people are his people. What a lovely lot they are, too. Oh, yes, we are. Would you believe it? Oh, you just...

Never mind. He kind of looks at you oddly and kind of waits for a moment. But come, friends, where are you from? What are your names? At least tell me that. It's been so long since we've heard new names. My name is Shadow Beyond the Veil. I was going to say, you are very quiet.

Shadow Beyond the veil. A strange name, but then you are a strange creature, I can imagine. Can we shorten that somehow? Shadow, perhaps, or veil? That is acceptable, either. Very strange. And you can see the daughter of this Vistana is looking at Shadow like cat

pet cat but is kind of like watching with eyes wide the wife is very quiet and just kind of sips a glass of wine slowly kind of smiling as her husband talks and speaks to you but nothing to doesn't really jump into the conversation but he

Elenka kind of like gestures from Shadow. And what of you, my draconic friends? What are your names? My name is Zika Bistan and this is Zeros Bistan. He's my brother. I didn't know you were related.

You are siblings? Well, yeah. No. Wait, you are are but you are not we're brother and sister Zeros it's fine it's fine we are blood

yeah that makes you brother so you are related right strangers I'll never get used to it we're working on it. We're working on it. That sounds good. I think you should. And what of you, long lady, the water drinker? You'll be drinking wine before you leave Barovia, I promise you that.

Well, the way things are going, maybe so. I'm Rose Vinandi. Rose, now that is a good name. That is a fine name. Yes, very good. Well, we are honored to have you here. And what about you, Vestana brother? What's your name? I don't think we've met before.

Yes, Ber, pleasure to meet you. It's good to see some Vestani in this village. You choose a strange place to hold a business. Well, you know, the people here, they need wine. Everybody needs wine. We figured that this was a good way to do it. And besides, with the girl growing up, we didn't want

to be roaming around too much longer. We've done our traveling. We've done our duty to the Lord, shall we say. And he kind of gives you a knowing look with that, Jesper. Like, you know what I mean. Wink wink. But as you are, as he kind of

finishes that conversation, there is a loud knocking at the door and all the kind of jovial welcomingness shoots out of the Vistani's face as he looks at it suddenly. And you hear a kind of

very kind of dry voice like, hello? Hello, is anyone there? It's me, it's Father Donovich. I was ringing the bell, it is time for evening prayer, perhaps you didn't hear it? I really think that we should

all gather for a prayer to the morning lord this evening, more than ever. Please? Hello? Anyone? And you see the Vistana kind of for a prayer to the morning lord this evening more than ever please hello anyone and you see the Vistana kind of looking at each other and looking at Jesper like what do we do do we open the door I don't like the sound of it

but we must father is that really you yes yes it is me I know it is strange to be out at this late, but nobody came to the evening prayer. I really feel that you should. The morning Lord will bless us. He will protect us.

You're going to stand up and walk over to the door. I won't open it, but I'll just get close to the door and just leave. Oh, my goodness. And then you hear the shuffling of feet scurrying away. This voice, this unexpected deep growling voice enough

to scare whoever was outside away. And I turn around adjust my chainmail and then come and sit down. Does Zeros or Zika drink by the way? Because there is a glass of wine in front of you but i don't know if you guys would drink it zika did you drink it i'll i'll drink i'll i'll have the wine yeah i'll take so i've been holding mine but i haven't been drinking anything so the moment

she finishes hers i then just pass that and put that in front of her as well okay so you get another one i, it's okay wine. It's not amazing, but it's strong and right now a drink is kind of warming at least. Kind of staves off some of the fear. What does Shadow drink? Yeah.

I'm kind of staring at the barkeeper and I'm kind of doing little experiments. Like if I move one of his glasses to the other side or if I just, you know I'm kind of doing little experiments like if I move one of his glasses to the other side or if I just you know just kind of I'm just trying to the fact he has no soul I don't yeah so like you kind of move the glass

and he's like he looks at you please don't and he kind of gets up and he picks it and takes it back to its spot and cleans it Bob Dolenko what is it like back to its spot, and cleans it. Hope to Alenko. What is it like not having a soul?

Fine. What do you aspire to? He just looks at you, and it's a sad look. You can just see there's just nothing. There's no ambition. There's no joy. There's very little.

The only emotion you can really pick up on is fear. When the door, like, went, he looked as scared as everybody else did. But there's no joy. He just is like, to survive that's the glass back takes the next one cleans that puts that back next one can I try and take his hand and just hold his hand and no he doesn't know he won't let he he'll just snatch his hand away like stop just leave

i my heart breaks for you friend he kind of looks at you for a moment then you will not farewell in barovia and then he goes turns his back and goes to like carry something to the back room. As this all goes down and the evening continues, Lenka kind of like, you know, doesn't offer you any more wine, but the fire is at least warm and you can hear, you know, the sound of like shuffling around and things like that. The evening is progressing.

You don't really hear any noises from other houses no other guests come into the into the tavern until around what you must think is about midnight when there is an ear-piercing scream that echoes through the entire town even with the windows barred and the door shut you can't help and it's it's a genuine woman's scream of panic and fear and then you begin to hear the clash of what sounds like maybe blades or like creatures growling and scrabbling um coming from outside and you see the vistani look around just like ah none of our business and he begins shuffling his family out to probably the stairs that lead up to their living quarters I was in the middle of doing my painting

oh sorry you go no you go no no it's alright you go what do you mean none of our business none of your business there are people out there in need then I suggest you go and help them Do you mean none of our business? None of your business? There are people out there in need. Then I suggest you go and help them, Shadow

Beyond the Veil. And then he's like, you'll have to finish your painting another time, Miss Zika. My family needs to get safe. And he begins taking them upstairs. And do you notice, he doesn't wait for you. As soon as him and his family are upstairs, the door that's like

the little kind of like ladders that lead up to the second floor is pulled up and shut. It's good to see this stuff. Does that happen often around here? The screams? Do we know what that is? Do you know what it could be? Should we help?

It's probably someone being killed or butchered by some unthinkable horrible creature of the night well then shouldn't we help well that is why another scream echoes as Jesper speaks another kind of like

this time it's joined by like the sound of like a man in battle kind of like aah come on get away the sound of like a man in battle, kind of like, ah, come on! Get away! The hand that was dealt to me is for this purpose. Then I will follow your lead. If you are truly the soldier,

or the Avenger, or the Elementalist, or the Priest, I look at all of them I can't go on my own I need help the deck was not dealt alone I think anytime there's a scream anyone that's like looking at me there is like a wince like a very very subtle wince but otherwise like after each scream I'm

kind of like looking at Zika like waiting for them to be told what to do waiting for a command yeah if you want to save a life maybe now's the time to do it I'm gonna go towards the door okay Okay. Rose begins pulling out her gear. Yeah, you open the door and yeah, you can definitely hear the sounds of fighting coming from not too far away. She needs to check where exactly.

I will start following Rose. Where she goes, I go. Okay. Yeah, so it's coming out of the tavern itself. It's down a street, but, you know, kind of like a narrow row of houses to your left. There appears to be a large house at the end of the row of the streets. This one here. If you scroll down a bit, you should be able to see it.

This one here. This large house, you can see that there is a ring. There's like an iron fence that surrounds this large mansion. The fencing has been twisted and torn. There are stones loose and broken, and you can hear the sound of thumping against wooden walls and a kind of cackling screech coming from creatures somewhere around the house.

And you can see that some of the windows have been broken and things like that. So, Rose, you begin making your way that way. Go on. When we were kind of waiting in the inn after our conversations, would that count as a short rest? Sure, you can take a short rest, yeah.

Yeah, absolutely, that's a short rest. You had like two hours of sitting around drinking wine and enjoying a fire. I'm going to do that then and roll some hit dice. Sure. Very good. You took like a... Yeah, she did.

I got it. By a zombie. Yeah. So yeah, you hear this kind of terrifying screech. Rose begins making her way for the door. What's everyone else doing? I'll take a deep breath. Mutter a Vistani prayer under my breath Wait for the door. What's everyone else doing? I'll take a deep breath. I'm following Rose. Okay.

Mutter a Vistani prayer under my breath and walk out as well. Drawing my swords. Leaving the two dragons inside for now. I'll clutch my Lyra necklace and just mutter to myself, if this is the fate we're given, then so be it. And I'll look to Zeros and gesture him to come with me, reluctantly. So be it.

So be it. In that case, I'll walk ahead of her, and await her to follow me, and then draw the sword. Okay. You begin running towards this house, which isn't too far away it's a short dash um down the street and you can see that you see for the first time a couple of the houses

you know no light inside but you can see a couple of like haunted faces similar to the bar keeps um in the the tavern kind of staring and looking out, trying to see what's going on, but not coming anywhere near the doors. As you rush down, you can see that a small group of husked kind of shambling corpses are slamming

on this huge pair of doors that lead into the mansion. There's maybe about six of them kind of like gripping onto it trying to pull the boards free um up above there is at least a couple of the windows have the boards have been ripped free and you can see flying demons or devils you're not quite sure but they have these spined wings and tails and they're kind of darting backwards and forwards as a crossbow bolt flies out of one of the windows nearly impaling one as it sends it spiraling it turns and flings

its tails these spines into the windows uh as you begin running up and the sound of your armor and your weapons kind of hitting against each other uh a quite a handsome looking barovian man this one full of life there's no mistaking that this barovian is completely different to the one that you met in the bar uh blonde hair kind of streaking down down to his shoulders you can see that he's wearing sort of chain mail shirt and he has a sword in one hand he kind of risks looking out of the the window for a moment. And he looks down and he sees you. Hey! Hey, you there! Please! Please help us! We'll pay you or something, but we need your help! There's a back door around the other side!

Come in as quickly as you can! My father is waiting there! Please! And then he kind of has to duck inside like, Irina, no! And you can see him, like, lunge for somebody and pulls them back. I will dart to the back door. Irina, interesting. Yep.

Okay, so following his instructions, you run around the side of the building, making your way, kind of almost like slipping through a gap where this iron fence has been torn apart. And you can see that there is a barred back door. As you reach it, a small slot

kind of slides open and you see the wild eyes of an older looking middle aged man as he looks out he's just like, you there! Are you going to help us? We want to. Please, let's in. And he throws it open and you see quite a portly man wearing

a velvet vest. He isn't wearing any armor, but you can see that he has what appears to be like a silvered hammer in his hands. He's like, inside, quickly! He's above us! Now! Okay. He pulls you all inside into a fairly well-furnished manor house house into what appears to be like a kitchen and then he slams the door and bolts it numerous times, these big heavy steel bolts, and then

puts a chair in front of the door as well and is just like, Upstairs! The devils! They are trying to kill me and my son so that he can get her! And he kind of pulls you out. He doesn't even stop to really look at you, he just makes his way upstairs not even looking behind him as you can

hear the sounds of something being smashed and broken and then you hear the voice come arena we are meant to be come to me now come and then you just hear her like get away from her you devil

and then things being thrown around and smashed uh yeah and yeah you guys make your way upstairs i'm assuming yeah you can see that the door looking from where you are there's like a corridor that leads from the back door to where the front entrance the entry hall may be and you can start to see that some of these creatures the zombies have actually ripped like holes in the door. And there's these bloody stumps of fingers that have been worn, almost like broken in half as they've tried to pull the wood itself apart. And they're beginning to kind of look through and you can see these haunted faces of armored zombies. Like...

Breaking the wood as they go. It probably won't take them long before they break through. Can I use my channel divinity and turn undead? So you're going to go up to the door and then you're going to turn undead. Yes, please. Okay, well, why don't you tell us how your turn undead works? So you'd probably see me reach into the pocket of my robe and pull out a holy symbol that you can't quite see

and then I'd press it against the door and start muttering words of a prayer. Technically, Mark, you need to make a wisdom-saving throw of DC 12 for every creature within 30 feet. Sure. And what you'd see is probably similar to what you saw before with Jesper, like a kind of golden

blast kind of just come out and cover the door with kind of strange runes and etchings and symbols of a scarab beetle. Okay. And then what was the DCc again kim 12 12 okay um so you hear and and at the moment i think you just frighten them away i don't think you destroy them at your current level um no so they yeah they try and move as far away as far away

from me as they can um so you hear take this kind of yeah you hear this kind of uh inhaling of breath like a um as these creatures begin shielding their eyes from this and it it's it is a light but i guess there'd be like a heavy darkness around you as well kim like the darkness yeah they pull in around shadows you'd see yeah like heavy darkness like clawing around shadow um making the area around her darker but then the light uh pressed against the door becomes incredibly bright as it burns for a brief moment um and yes you hear the sound of these creatures retreating away from the door so that's's what Shadow does as Shadow moves, as she moves up to the door and does this. The rest of you rush upstairs.

And you follow the older gentleman into quite a large bedroom with a big four-poster bed, a desk where there are these almost little, quite precious little dolls, like a child's dolls that have been set out, but they don't look like they've been touched in years and years and years. And on the bed, in kind of a nightgown, clutching what appears to be

a holy symbol in one hand and a knife in the other, is a quite striking woman with dark skin and dark, kind of almost reddish hair, and she's staring at this window that's been ripped open and floating outside the window.

You see the same man that you saw on the streets themselves. You see Count Strahd himself. God, come to me. Invite me in, Irina. And you can see that holding her back is

the muscular, blonde, handsome Barovian you saw before. He's physically holding this woman back and kind of trying to turn her away, and he's got his hand over her mouth. But at the other windows breaking through them are these three-spined devils.

Their clawed hands, and almost like hawk-like features. They're like, kind of smashing around. And that's probably where we're going to roll initiative next time to open up the Curse of Strahd. It's a little bit early,

but otherwise we're going to have to jump in and do a thing. We're going to have to roll a combat. But yeah, we'll kick things off there next week when you guys roll initiative. Back again! so much he's got his own stuff to do he's you know he's got his own things he's a busy man he's a busy man this is absolutely wonderful i am i am enjoying this so much you like the mood has been set i love it um yeah this is creepy as hell and i love it i live for it and just to make a point you know obviously it's a brand new campaign it's a very big tone and shift people are gonna have to get into their characters we're gonna have to kind of get settled it's a new thing

for us um so yeah but i think that yeah it's it's set things up and yeah things will kick off more extremely uh from now on and those of you who know curse of stride will know that i've already just did things ever so slightly little tiny tweets yeah see you then please do spread the word like always i always say this if you can't sub if you can't donate that's fine the best way you can support us and the stream is spreading the word post about it on like the dnd reddit post about it on the r the RPG Reddit, send it to your mates on Facebook, all of that stuff. That's genuinely the best way you can help. So from that, take care, look after yourselves,

stay healthy, stay safe, and don't invite Stratton. Wash your hands. No, do not invite Stratton. Don't invite Stratton. Don't do it. Because he'll come. All right. Bye.

Goodbye, everyone. Bye. Sleep well in your house. Thank you.