[IC] Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[Waistcoatwill]

Bori

As the castle crumbles around them a huge surge of relief and joy surge through Bori. The constant crushing dread and despair had come close to breaking him at several points. Now that it was lifted his mood rebounded, he was half giddy and hugged his compatriots tightly.

He let the glow fade from Sergei's blade and reached out to the spirit within. What now, do you get to rest? I still have things to set right at home. If you still wish tonstay with me I'd be honoured to have you. A hiss of agreement from his mask.


He looks to his actually corporeal companions. Thank you all so much, it has difficult and draining but we managed it. I had almost lost hope that we could succeed, but we pulled together and did the impossible.

I have to go home to lay the souls of my tribe to rest in a land oddly similar to this. Maybe I'll find new companions and banish our mists the way we've done here! There is always hope it seems, no matter the difficulties! I wish you all the best of luck and favour from the spirits.

He removes a small decoration from his jacket that signifies his clan and hands it to Herbert. I would be delighted to see you all again, if Herbert can manage it. Although I dread to think what terrible events would have to happen to draw us back together again!

[TaiLiu]

"Before we each go our own way... should we exchange tokens? Pelor may soon grant me the ability to travel between planes. We may be able to meet again under better circumstances."

"Of course, your holiness."

Yikkol unslings her heavy crossbow and hands it to Herbert. Her adventuring days were over. She didn't need it anymore.

[dangelo]

Days stretched into weeks, and weeks into months. Summer came spilling over the Valley, orchards grew gold and green, the Svalich Woods teemed with game, and not a single shadow loomed besides the ones in the dim-lit halls of Castle Varanash.

Merchants, travelers and outlaws wandered to Barovia once the Mist was lifted. In addition to managing resources, collecting taxes, and holding court in his castle, Lord Zinro had to defend the land against criminals, rival monarchs and other warring factions who claimed the Valley was part of their territory; Barovia had disappeared for 300 years, and had been mostly forgotten on this side of the Mist. Nobles from Menzoberranzan sprouted left and right to offer their swords in vassalage and swear fealty to Lord Zinro, and soon there was a whole ecosystem of intrigue at play in Barovia.

When Herbert stepped through the portal, he brought the Church of Pelor two legendary treasures: the Icon of Ravenloft and the Amulet of Ravenkind. With these two items, His Holiness joined the highest ranking paladins of the order in dangerous expeditions into haunted cathedrals and necromancy temples and domains of dread, retrieving more and more lost relics. It was a golden age for the order, and soon Herbert was raised to Archpriest.

Bori returned to Talenta Plains with the Sunsword in his belt and the Helm of Brilliance on his head. The powerful soul of Sergei von Zarovich continued to live in the blade, lending Bori his power and mentoring him through their telepathic bond. Bori and Nethis hunted down creatures of the night, cursed artifacts, necromancers and other evil magicians, riding all over the Plains with the Sunsword raised above his head.

Asha found his ship empty, crashed and abandoned in a fiery asteroid at the edge of Deadspace. His crew had scattered after their encounter with the Mist, and it took him months to scan planets and planes to re-recruit them all. The heavy plates from Sergei's armor that hadn't fit Bori served as base for Asha to improve his bionoid armor even further, and soon enough he was back in action, fighting for freedom across the sea of stars.

"Time flows in strange ways in Barovia. Death isn't the end, and it is possible to hear stories from the future." Wasn't that what Madam Eva had said? Whether that was true or false, her world seemed to have moved on during her absence. Decades had gone by. Yikkol found her household empty, the walls taken by ivy, her hometown razed by war. The world had moved on, but with the knowledge left by her mother inside Pidlwick, Yikkol managed to not only rebuild the Guild, but to train new inventors and bring the people back to her province. Her family was never to be seen again in those parts, but she knew her children walked the earth with her mother's power in their veins, and possibly their children too, if it truly had been decades since the Mist snatched her to Barovia.


[SHUFFLE]


"Why, t'wasn't quite the end of it..." Madam Eva cackled, her voice breaking madly. "I don't seem to remember!"

"Leave her." Insisted the Ranger. "The woman has gone mad."

Sir Theo was adamant. "She is a Vistana of the Zarovan tribe. Only the ravens know this valley better than them, and I can't talk to ravens. Madam Eva, please go on."

"Oy, yes, I remember now." She went on. "There was peace in Barovia, yes there was, but for a while. You see, Lord Strahd isn't a common vampire... He wasn't bitten and turned by another. Instead, he forged a contract with the Dark Powers, o, that he did, that he really did."

"The Dark Powers?" Sir Theo asked.

"The Dark Powers, aye, who rule the Domains of Dread. The reason why you shall never defeat Lord Strahd. The power behind his immortality. The Devil is one with Barovia and Barovia is one with the Devil."

"And then? What happened then?" Urged the Ranger.

"Then..." Madam Eva laughed. "There was darkness."


[SHUFFLE]


The Valley of Barovia enjoyed a quiet summer day when suddenly lightning cracked, thunders roared, and the skies turned blood-red. Black smoke billowed from the woods ablaze, accumulating into a thick mass. Columns of undead knights marched into the fields, spreading death and destruction. Flying demons and gargoyles left a trail of blood in the streets of the village. Swarms of bats blackened the sky. Wolves howled in the distance. Blights flooded the woods. Everywhere there were creatures of the night, plague, death and war. Ahead of the undead forces was Rahadin, and leading from the rear, Strahd von Zarovich himself, reborn, riding his fiery Nightmare and swinging his sword in the air. His four brides flew across his sky, but his true favorite was Rue.

She lead the invasion and stormed the gates of Castle Varanash, bursting them open with her bare claws. Undead soldiers flooded the Great Hall, and Zinro's elven guard received them with the points of their blades. Once again the Mists surrounded Barovia, and Strahd's laughter echoed though the land.

The Mist snatched Herbert, Bori, Asha, Yikkol and Zinro, chew them, and spit them at the edge of the valley. There, the Svalich Road took a turn to the left and they glimpsed the cursed valley and the dark castle in the distance, looming over Barovia and its lost souls. They looked at each other, but their memories didn't seem to come back. Only a distant feeling of familiarity united them.

Up ahead, a Vistani caravan emerged from the Mist. "Oy, children." It was Madam Eva. "Are ye lost?"

(The end)