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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Endur" data-source="post: 3179162" data-attributes="member: 3346">Willow summons a dire badge to valiantly hold off the zombies while the party escapes.Without air, Darieos and Ricven struggle to survive.Suddenly, Ricven can feel air from a tunnel that Boo made.  Moments later, Darieos can also breathe again.Ricven and Darieos, with a little help from Boo, manage to dig themselves out of their early graves.Up on the roof, Nikolai sees earth covered figures rise up out of the ground.Boo even manages to dig an air hole to the female warrior Ashlyn, but she was buried deeper than Ricven and Darieos and needed assistance from Ricven and Darieos to be freed. Ashlyn thanks Boo, Darieos, and Ricven for their efforts.  She says, "Mathilda and Thendrick left over an hour ago to get the village priest.  They left me here to guard the townsfolk, but I never thought they would be gone this long.  Most of the surviving townspeople are in the inn.  I was holding the zombies off by defending the barricades until a very strong zombie broke through the barricade.  Let's rebuild the shattered barricade before the zombie horde returns!"Alessandra, Cedric, Jack Morrow, Lia, Willow, and Skorl make it all the way to the town square, avoiding groups of slow moving zombies as necessary.The party reunites and enters the Inn (with the sign "Blood on the Vine") on the front double doors.Literally hundreds of men, women, and children are crammed inside the inn.  Every bit of floorspace, including the halls and the stairs, has somone sitting, lying down, or crying on it.The innkeeper looks over the party and says, "We're sold out.  You'll have to sleep in the stables." After seeing the looks on the faces of the party, the innkeeper adds, "Sorry, a little bit of gallows humor there.  You wouldn't like the stables, zombie horses I'm afraid.  You are welcome to any floor space in the inn you can find."In a shadowy corner, sitting at table by himself and drinking wine from a goblet, is a nobleman.  Everyone in the inn is deferential to the nobleman, and when the party enters, they deflect all questions towards the nobleman.Looking up from the dregs of his goblet, the man speaks to the party members."I am Ismark the Lesser.  My father is -- was -- Kolyan Indirovich, the burgomaster of Barovia.  His body lies these ten days and more in the mansion.  My sister remains with him, barricaded there against the undead."Danovich the priest used to ward the church and the village, reciting holy prayers from dusk to dawn while wearing the holy symbol of ravenkind, a legacy of the Church of Pelor that has protected this land as long as anyone can remember."Two weeks ago, fierce wolves attacked the village in broad daylight, slaying Doru, Danovich's son, and several other people.  Danovich went mad with grief, and refused to bury his son or perform his holy duties, or even permit anyone else to conduct funerals."My father tried to persuade Danovich to see reason, but that failed.  Finally, my father took the holy symbol of ravenloft back to our mansion and recited the prayers himself.  "Twelve days ago, my father wrote a letter asking for the Church of Pelor to send a replacement priest.  "Ten days ago, my father died.  Poisoned in his own home!  And the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind was stolen!"Two of my father's oldest friends disappeared that night and have not been seen since.  "And now the dead have begun to rise, in vengeance for our failure to conduct funerals.  "My lady, will you become our village priest now?  We desperately need someone with the authority of the Church of Pelor to conduct funerals and other services."   </blockquote>

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