Endur's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[Le Noir Faineant]

Dareios grins grimly and whispers to the hungry orc:
"If you die from the poisoned flesh and wine, where shall we bury you, my friend?"

 

[Rhun]

Skorl smiles at Dareios, baring his fangs. "If I die, burn corpse. No come back as zombie."

 

[Le Noir Faineant]

Skorl's blatant answer completely distracts Dareios from Thredra for a moment.

Laughing, and somewhat stunned, yet relieved to see that his companion hasn't lost his good temper, he pulls over to take a bottle of wine.

"Cheers, my friend!"

He raises his the bottle, then, becoming aware of the strange woman again, decides to put it down again, grinning towards the orc. "Forgive my caution, but I don't feel safe here yet."

 

[Endur]

Thredra Aranax sits down at the table. She eats food from all of the different dishes that have been prepared: Roasted beef, roots and herbs, and sweet fruits and vegetables.

With obvious enjoyment, Thredra drinks the amber liquid out of her wine glass, and then asks Dareios to pass the bottle so that she may refill her glass.

 

[Legildur]

Ismark the lesser frowns in frustration as he twirls the left side of his moustache. He nurses a goblet, but doesn't taste the food or wine, instead mulling over their circumstances. Having now committed himself to putting his body on the line for Barovia, he is eager to get on with the job.

The summons to the Castle was, ostensibly, to validate his position as Burgomaster, yet no mention had yet been made. And now, with a serious situation facing them, being brought here at great urgency, under false pretenses, and now wasting time (as he saw it) with civil niceties was starting to grate with him.

He continues to manipulate his moustache as he impatiently waits for Thredra to address them.

 

[Le Noir Faineant]

Dareios passes her the bottle, yet doesn't look too friendly at her.

"M'lady, I would prefer if you could explain us why we were summoned here and which is the plague that haunts this land. I think that the time for" - he looks like if he was to spit - "dining will be later. Friends of us have been killed. Innocents are being murdered. I don't see where we have time for idle chit-chatting at all."

Dareios crosses his arms before his chest, waiting for the woman's reaction.

 

[Voadam]

"That was an illusion, to draw out assassins. The count is a careful man then. With magic at his disposal. Is he a wizard or have the services of one?" Jack is quite surprised by that turn of events but sits to eat and listen to the woman who is acting as host.

 

[Endur]

Cedric gets a closer look at the organ and decides that the organ is not an illusion, but he does not know whether the music was illusionary or not.


Thredra responds to Jack, "In his youth, Count Strahd von Zarovich was a mighty warrior. He thundered across the land like the wrath of a just god. When he grew older, he met the love of his life, Tatyana. Before their love could be consummated in marriage, a curse struck Castle Ravenloft. Everyone in the castle was slain except for the Count. His relatives, retainers, soldiers, and his beloved were all slain. The Count himself was inflicted with undying suffering.

"Ismark and the other villagers have long known that the Count has lived longer than most mortals. They do not know why, however. The Count asks that you do not reveal his secret to the villagers. He does not want to burden them with his tragedy.

"The curse is also why the Count has never asked the Burgomaster of Barovia to tax the villagers to pay for new retainers and repairs for the castle. The Count fears that a restored Castle Ravenloft would suffer again the effect of the horrible curse.

"The count has, however, brought in a small number of retainers from outside the village. Specialists such as myself. We have focused on attempting to determine the nature of the curse and whether there is any cure. One of the specialists created the illusion you saw earlier. We have looked through many ancient texts, but we have not yet found a cure."

 

[Legildur]

"This is all very well, Thredra," Ismark acknowledges, having already known some of the local lore. "If you experts are unable to solve the puzzle of the curse, then why were we brought here?"

 

[Rhun]

Skorl nods in agreement as Ismark speaks. "Yah, Ismark right. If experts no figure out curse, how we do it?" The half-orc looks about the table, then drains his glass of wine in a single swallow.