Dareios turns the heads of the statues, and confirms that they once depicted human faces, although whatever force knocked the heads of the statues off the their bodys also marred the faces.
The watchful members of the party do not see any evil forces lurking beside the road. Nor do they see or hear any wildlife except for the occassional howl miles off in the distance.
After traveling another 800 feet down the Old Svalich Road, the forest opens up and becomes a plain.
The party has entered the valley of Barovia at last. Night falls as the party emerges from the ancient forest.
After following the road for another four hundred feet through increasingly dense fog, the party begins to see dark shapes emerging from the fog, the buildings of the village of Barovia.
Mist blanketed the village, smothering the streets and marooing the buildings, forming an archipelago of crumbling masonry in a gray, hopeless sea.
The streets are cloaked wtih mist, limiting vision to a few dozen feet at most.
The buildings at the edge of town are dark without lights. They look abandoned, burned out, or barricaded.
Suddenly, a wave of bats, rats, and wolves emerge out of the darkness and move aggressively against the party. The bats, rats, and wolves act in a strange manner, plodding forward rather than charging and silently without squeaks or growls.
