Act 1, Scene 5: The Road to Vallaki: The Battle

The following morning, Sylvain was the first to rise. He noticed a Vistana skulking through the shadows of the camp, then realized Doru was also awake. The two made the best possible use of their time alone together in the pre-dawn hours: learning how to swear in Barovian while Ireena slept on, unaware of the terrible crime against good taste taking place in her midst.

Osrin had nightmares for the second night in a row while Bodaway, having had a second helping of Granny's Extra Special Nighty Night Pies, had beautiful dreams that made it literally impossible to wake him up before he got his eight hours in, even when water was dumped on him. Sometimes when my cat wakes me up at 3 in the morning because she decides she doesn't like the food she has out and she wants fresh kibbles instead, I wish I had Granny's Extra Special Nighty Night Pies. While Bodaway dozed on, and after Ri-An made a recording of Doru cramming as many Barovian curse words as he could into six seconds, the group discussed their options for moving forward.

They had three choices. The first, and fastest, would be to follow the Vistani's footpath along the river to the bottom of the canyon at Tser Falls, and scale its side to reach the bridge up top. The main issues with this were the matter of a 1,000-foot climb, how broken their bodies would be if they fell during that climb, and the fact that one of their number had no hands, while another had no feet. Though Doru volunteered to carry everyone up the canyon, our heroes were not jazzed at the idea of being carried up a 1,000-foot sheer canyon wall by a vampire they'd met the day before; weirdoes.

The second option — and, despite everything just described, the one that was said to be the most dangerous — was to cut through the Svalich Woods until they hit the road again. This would save time compared to having to follow the road back to the crossroads and continuing on that way. However, as even the Vistani tend not to go into the Svalich Woods due to fear of the things that dwell there, it was suggested that if our heroes took this route, they would probably die.

The third option, and the one that would take them the longest, was to retrace their steps back to the crossroads and carry on along the main road. It was also, however, likely the safest route open to them, with one stipulation: the longer they took to move forward, the greater the chance they'd end up spending two nights on the road to Vallaki rather than one.

Still, after some discussion, the group agreed to take this slowest option, not eager to find out which of their number could survive a 1,000-foot drop or whatever lived in the Svalich Woods, and so they set out, with gifts of food for Ayduin and Bodawa from Atanasie and Manda, and a hat — less ostentatious than Lech's, but still a fan creation — for Ri-An, prompting Ri-An to wonder whether or not they were now betrothed to Lech. This prospect did not seem entirely unpleasant to them. Meanwhile, with Bodaway still fast asleep, the group began their journey with Doru carrying him bridal style. This was a startling way for him to wake up about an hour later.

Not long after, they came to the crossroads again, relieved to see the gallows empty once more. However, that relief was quickly overridden by apprehension as they spotted an armoured figure by the gallows. A moment of tension stretched out before, suddenly, the figure let out a cry of rage and began running towards them.

Our heroes got into position, the fighters moving forward to defend the rest of the group — and somewhat bewildered to see the figure run right past them, heedless of what blows it took in the process, as it charged straight for Doru, beginning to attack him with a vengeful fury. The rest of the group intervened to protect Doru, and only then did the creature direct some of its ire at our heroes, proclaiming itself a member of the Order of the Silver Dragon, calling them filth in league with darkness. When finally it fell, the group examined it in some more detail — Ayduin and Bodaway concluded that this was a revenant, and an unusual revenant at that, as most revenants could only prolong their lives to seek vengeance for a year at most, whereas by the state of this revenant's shell and armour, it had been kept alive for much longer. Noticing an emblem on the creature's sword — an elaborate "A" with a dragon curled around it — Sylvain took a rubbing of the symbol, and the group moved on, unsettled but largely unharmed.

As they walked on, finding themselves once again surrounded by the Svalich Woods as the daylight waned and the road stretched forward ahead of them, Ayduin realized they were being followed, quietly alerting the rest of the group. As some of the party's allies were not as subtle as they could have been, the figure seemed to realize it had been made, and melted back into the shadows of the woods.

Eventually, our heroes made camp, seeking shelter on higher ground where they'd be able to see anyone coming from the road or woods, and where they'd have a reasonable chance of seeing anything creeping down from the mountains. Making a small fire, they set up their watch for the night, with Bodaway tying Doru up then untying him again, prompting various lewd comments from the young vampire.

While most of the party slept, Osrin once more found herself tortured by nightmares, as did Bodaway. For Osrin, however, her recurring nightmare took a strange turn, when a radiant figure intervened in the carnage and approached Osrin, offering her relief from the guilt and fear that plagued her. She introduced herself as Sykane, and said she wanted to help fight against the needless suffering that took place in Barovia. She could give Osrin the power to heal and protect her friends, if Osrin was willing to accept the gift. Though suspicious, Osrin agreed, and so the first deal was struck.

Meanwhile, in the waking world, only Ayduin noticed the slow approach of the wolves that surrounded them, and even then he only noticed at the last possible moment.

A fierce battle ensued, though the party quickly discovered that even a dozen wolves weren't much of a match for them. Aside from Sylvain being severely wounded at the start of the battle, our heroes were holding up well under the attack — right up until one of the wolves moved closer and showed itself to be rather different from its fellows.

Upon making eye contact with this wolf, Ireena began to panic and back away, staring in horror. The first clue that most of our heroes had that anything was amiss was when they discovered how much more difficult it was to pierce this wolf's pelt, and how it seemed to immediately heal from any blows that did strike true, seeming to take no damage whatsoever.

Ri-An was the first to feel the full might of this wolf's rage, as it leapt up and bit Ri-An until they fell unconscious, their natural armour blackened by the horrible power of the wolf's bite. Not long after, the wolf revealed itself: Strahd von Zarovich in the flesh, ready to take what was his. Swarms of rats erupted from the earth and began to attack the party, who fought with a new desperation, all of them far too aware of the threat in their midst.

Our heroes found themselves suddenly bereft of an ally, as Strahd ordered Doru to attack Bodaway, and Doru discovered what he hadn't realized before: that Strahd's power over him was absolute, and that with an offhand remark, Strahd could force Doru to do whatever Strahd wanted, no matter how desperately Doru didn't want to carry out the order. The pain on Doru's face was easy for anyone to see, but he did as he was told, and began to attack Bodaway with all that he had.

While Osrin and Ayduin took down the remaining wolves and rats, Ireena panicked on the ground, and Bodaway struggled to stay conscious through Doru's assault, Strahd turned his attention to Sylvain, lifting him up and draining him of life. Osrin began to fall to the rats' continued assault, before suddenly standing again, her eyes blazing with white-gold power, her form radiant and full of life.

That might have gone very poorly for Strahd, if he hadn't charmed her a moment later and politely asked her to sit the rest of the fight out.

In the end, it was Ireena who ended the fight, by holding her own rapier to her throat and telling Strahd in a shaking voice that if he didn't leave, she would kill herself. The moment that Strahd studied Ireena's face, gauging her resolve, stretched out longer than it should have, but at the end of it he nodded, ordering Doru to finish Bodaway off then follow him to Castle Ravenloft. So Strahd melted into the mists, Doru sank his teeth into Bodaway's neck one last time, then fled into the night after his master.

With three of their number unconscious and fighting for life, another now forced into enmity with our heroes, another charmed by Strahd and barely conscious herself, those who remained up set up a watch for the rest of the night and waited for the grey dawn to come, praying all of them would live to see the next day.

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