One of Us Will Die: Curse of Strahd 

Adventure Report 3: The Village of Barovia

Marjorie and Rowan wake up from dreams of their families. The former enjoying a nice story by the tree back at the farm while Rowan dreams of reading poetry with her cousin, Dahlia. The blissful dreams end as they attempt to wake Hope up from yet another nightmare of her sister in pain. Hope cryptically says goodbye to her sister in the dream as she wakes up.

Sabrione who doesn’t sleep, opens herself up to Marjorie about why she is in Barovia. She speaks of her life as an opera singer and her life with Ivan. The vampire implies that she is old beyond her years, and tells the shepherd woman of Ivan’s later betrayal, tricking her into drinking poison concocted to kill vampires. Her vocal chords were destroyed in the process. She could no longer sing, and therefore could no longer be admired and could no longer be loved.

Shouting is heard from the bottom floor as the party makes their way down to see Istmark the Lesser get slapped by Mad Mary for his inaction regarding the disappearances, revealing to Istmark, and the party listening in, that Walter is now also missing. The burgomaster takes the abuse like a man and waits for Mary to storm off. When asked if he needs a hug, he says he does not.

Before entering the carriage escorting them to the manor, Kellam and Marjorie head out to search for Walter and Gertruda, using the teddy bear as scent reference for Kellam. Rowan approaches Istmark and tells him that a strong man would ask for help. Istmark nearly brushes it off, thinking his father never asked for help only to remember all the times he helped him with work.

Rushing through alleyways, Kellam and Marjorie arrive at Bildrath’s mercantile and mark the shop before getting ambushed by six zombies. She manages to give them the slip as she heads back to regroup.

The rest of the party begins the funeral procession for the late burgomaster, starting from the mansion at the southern most part of town to the church and cemetery on the other side. The citizens of Barovia keep their windows and doors closed, too terrified of the outside world to even pay their respects to the dead burgomaster. The coffin is heavy, forcing the party to move slowly. Hope and Ireena share a moment where the latter expresses her anxiety over having to leave her brother to fend for himself in Barovia just so she can be safe from Strahd. To comfort her, Hope invokes in her the image of the sun shining over the land of Barovia again. Ireena sheds a tear, stating that nobody in Barovia can imagine such a world, but she is moved regardless, keeping that image in her heart as they carry her father.

Kellam runs across the street followed by Marjorie and the six pursuing zombies. She is saved by Rowan who dismembers the two zombies closest to her. Sabrione weaves through those two, destroying their brains with a dagger Rowan handed her earlier in the day before throwing it into the eye of another, killing three in a single flowing flurry. The rest of the zombies rush towards Ireena, Istmark and Hope. Ireena is the first to draw her weapon, but Istmark freezes, overwhelmed by all the emotional stress he’d been bottling in. Hope touches his shoulder and tells him.

“We’re all fighting with you!”

Prompting him to draw his pistol and fire at one of the zombies, destroying its brain. This, however, does not stop the other two running their way. Before Istmark can be bitten, Hope unleashes a powerful wave of psychic energy that blasts the zombie back and against another. Their heads are crushed by the blow.

People open their windows and step out of their homes to see the commotion. Istmark immediately uses his newfound confidence to address the crowd.

“I am Istmark Kolyana! One you know as Istmark the lesser! My family was in need and these four strangers from outside of our lands offered to help me carry my father to his resting place! You see the courage they show! What of Barovia? Will the people of Barovia help carry the coffin of a man they loved! A man who protected them, looked out for them, who gave them shelter in the cold nights! My father lived in the dark as did we all, but he was a candle. Will you help me raise him!”

Only six people rush forward to raise the coffin, something useen in Barovia for a long time, people motivated by courage and compassion for each other. The procession continues to the cemetery as people open their windows to pay their respects to a respected man.

After they arrive at the church, Rowan, Hope and Marjorie and the Kolyana siblings head inside to find Father Donavich praying loudly and alone. The pews are mostly broken, and the church is in ruin. It doesn’t like there’s been a service here in the longest time. He seems lost in prayer, almost panic until Rowan slaps him across the face to get his attention. The party convinces him to perform the last rights to which they reluctantly agree, but it seems that he is in a hurry to leave the church. A shriek rings out through the building, but only Hope is perceptive enough to hear it.

Outside the church Sabrione waits outside with the civilians as she is unable to enter a dwelling without being invited in, let alone a church. After hearing them talk behind her back, she addresses the civilians all of whom are terrified of her, and notices that there is one more in the group. When she asks for all their names, the latecomer steps forward and shows him her face to reveal that he is in fact Ivan the Vampire Hunter, her ex-lover and the man she came to Barovia to kill. To protect the civilians, Sabrione orders them to fetch flowers for the dead. The moment the two are alone, Ivan draws and shoots, missing Sabrione and catching a dagger to his face. He draws his sword and their fight takes them into the village and through the streets as they viciously go at each other. Sabrione mocks him, reminding him of the state he’s in, rubbing into his face the irony of who he is now, drawing attention to the pathetic state of his existence. Smiling and laughing the entire way, she has the upper hand.

Hope sends a psychic message to the rest of the party about it, but only Rowan stays behind. Father Donavich refuses to leave unless all leave the church with him but is tricked when Hope projects an image into his head of the two following them out when in reality they in fact have stayed. The psychic traces the screaming to a trap door that is chained shut. At first they attempt to use a surgeon’s kit to break the lock, but Rowan instead opts to break the trap door with several murder-strokes from his longsword.

Sabrione is gone by the time the Kolyana siblings, the priest and Marjorie emerge from the church. The civilians did gather flowers for them though! Continuing to the plot, Istmark assists in the digging of his father’s grave. While waiting Donavich and Marjorie discuss their reasons for coming to Barovia. Donavich reveals that a party of three composed of Ivan, Asha and Morgwyn, Marjorie’s daughter, passed through Barovia ten years earlier. At one point, the four led an assault on Ravenloft castle and some Barovians followed them. All were killed in the assault including Donavich’s son Doru. As punishment for their defiance, Strahd turned the rebels into mindless vampire spawn all of whom had to be killed or driven away. They both admit that they miss their children, both swearing that they would do anything and everything for them.

In the basement, Rowan is nearly ambushed by a vampirized Doru but is saved by Hope. The two fight Doru in near perfect synchronization with Rowan fighting him off with his sword and Hope either tricking him into eating rocks or using her psychic abilities to support the knight. Unfortunately, Rowan does get bitten but does not get too affected by the vampire’s poison.

Just as Sabrione is about to land the final blow, the full moon appears in the sky and reveals that Ivan, sometime during his stay in Barovia, contracted lycanthropy, something known to be impossible or at least unsurvivable. His body grows as he transforms into his werewolf form and impales Sabrione on his claws. Ivan reveals that he lost everything in Barovia, even his revenge. All that’s left of him is his hate. Strahd just gave him somewhere to direct it.

“I should’ve known. I suppose you really did turn out to be Strahd’s bitch!”

Just as he is about to bite her, she grabs his second pistol and shoots him through the brain. Before she can finish him off, Asha appears and helps him escape, warning Sabrione “Please don’t become like him.” before disappearing into mist. Sabrione screams into the cold night air as her injuries get the better of her and she falls off the roof, severely weakened.

At the cemetery, Istmark delivers a heartfelt eulogy for his father, accepting his role as the village’s new burgomaster, declaring that he will be strong for his people and that the will one day see the sun shine on Barovia. Strahd von Zarovich then appears among the people and approaches Istmark. He intimidates and coerces Istmark to kneel before his lord to show his friends, family and citizens exactly what kind of leader he is. Despite his sister and everyone else’s pleas, Istmark knows that Strahd will retaliate against the people of his village if he disobeys. He further cements his identity as Istmark the Lesser and kneels to kiss Strahd’s ring. A triumphant and smug Strahd walks past him to Ireena and offers her a place at his side. She only responds with a slash to his face from her sword. Slighted, unwilling to force her due to his own pride and unable to retaliate against the object of his desire, Strahd smashes her brother’s kneecap before returning to Castle Ravenloft.

Back in the church’s basement, the final blow is struck on Doru as Rowan takes a wooden stake and stabs it into his chest. Hope uses her powers to drive the stake in further, breaking the boy’s ribs and piercing his heart. By the time Sabrione arrives, bleeding, injured and in a rage, Rowan and Hope have already located and freed Walter who Donavan had kidnapped as Doru’s next meal. The psychic uses her surgeon’s kit to close the vampire’s wounds before Rowan, in an act of desperation, offers her throat to her. Sabrione drinks but stops herself in time before doing any damage to Rowan or succumbing to her hunger.

There is no rest for the three when Father Donavan arrives, Marjorie following. Rowan stands and throws a bag of vampire dust at the priest’s feet as they watch him hold it to his chest and mourn.

Marjorie hands the last of the dream pastries to the wounded Sabrione who eats it reluctantly. Immediately, her vocal chords are restored and her voice heals. Memories of her life as an opera singer come back as a wave of joy overwhelms her.

At midnight, Ireena asks the party to join her at the cemetery. They gather around her father’s grave when the March of the Dead begins. The spirits of every fallen adventurer that failed to destroy Strahd rise from the graveyard floor and proceed to Castle Ravenloft. Rowan shares one last goodbye with her cousin who she now understands is dead. Dahlia implores her to find her way home and to live her life. As they watch, the procession ascends the castle and jumps from the highest tower into the river below. Ireena addresses the party.

“I’ve always been terrified of the March of the Dead as a child. Every midnight, I would hide under my blanket until it was over. Now, I realize it doesn’t happen to scare us. The dead are giving us hope, they’re showing us the way forward. As long as there is somebody alive who makes the decision to stand against evil and corruption, there will always be a chance that one day the sun will shine on us again. I’ve never been outside of Barovia, but I know that Strahd isn’t’ special. There are always men like him… everywhere… and they’re all the same. They collect followers; people they’ve tricked into believing they can be saved by the horrors of the world only to fall into more horror under their rule. They terrorize those who refuse to follow them, and they silence all who opposes them… but if nobody stands up to them…”

“… nothing will ever change.” says Marjorie.