Timeline

Current Date (Faerûn): Uktar 2, 1494

Current Date (Barovia): Хололуна (Xololuna) 5, 735 OR Розалуна (Rozaluna) 15, 718

Days Passed Since Trollskull Opening (time experienced): 38

Days Passed Since Trollskull Opening (Faerûn): 924

Day 1 (Tarsakh 23, 1492)
The Trollskull opens; our heroes fall through a portal, beginning their Feywild adventure.

Days 2–6 (Tarsakh 23, 1492)
Our heroes' Feywild adventures. Lost time for Osrin.

Days 6–9 (Tarsakh 23–Tarsakh 26, 1492)
Our heroes journey to Skalnaedyr; fatefully interrupted on Tarsakh 26 when the mists of Barovia claim them.

Day 1 (Prizrachnayaluna 5, 735/?)
Arrival in Barovia. Beginning of Death House adventure.

Day 2 (Prizrachnayaluna 6, 735/?)
Conclusion of Death House adventure. Our heroes meet Granny, Ismark, and Ireena. They accept the mission to escort Ireena to Vallaki. Osrin's first nightmare.

Day 3 (Prizrachnayaluna 7, 735/?)
Our heroes bury the burgomaster, adopt Doru, con a priest, and make their way to Tser Pool. Ayduin sees his own dead body for the first time. Everybody gets some free food, wine, and fortune-telling. Osrin's second nightmare.

Day 4 (Prizrachnayaluna 8, 735/?)
Journey to Vallaki. Our heroes fight a revenant and learn about the Order of the Silver Dragon. Osrin's third nightmare; she makes a deal with Sykane. Bodaway's first nightmare. Our heroes fight Strahd for the first time, lose Doru, almost all die. Ayduin is good at everything.

Day 5 (Prizrachnayaluna 9, 735/Mirtul 23, 1492 or later)
Journey to Vallaki. Our heroes press on, fight over a windmill, use friendly fire Charm Person. Osrin receives messages from Cal and finds out they've been gone a lot longer than they thought they were. Bodaway passes on a message for El'zai through Osrin. Bats! Zombies! Ayduin sees his own dead body for the second time! Our heroes collapse in exhaustion and hope nothing kills them in the night. Ri-An and Ayduin both dream for the first time.

Day 6 (Prizrachnayaluna 10, 735/?)
Journey to Vallaki. Our heroes get word back from Cal, who says she found Grik Jakkenstone for Bodaway's message. They run into some familiar Vistani friends and adopt a stray noble. Sylvain develops a Thing about Wolves. The party makes it to Vallaki, gets interrogated and logged, makes it to the Blue Water Inn. Osrin duels Vasili and it's a lot harder than she thought it would be. Ireena pays up the party but they volunteer to keep hanging out with her anyway. Our heroes meet Rictavio, who delivers unwelcome news.

Day 7 (Prizrachnayaluna 11, 735/?)
First full day in Vallaki. Our heroes do some shopping, find out the church isn't hallowed ground, go to an orphanage to try and fix that and fix a case of demon possession instead; Bodaway and Sylvain almost die. Vasili turns up and brandishes his rapier, makes friends with a traumatized child. Our heroes go back for a bath and a rest while Ireena, Ayduin, Ri-An and Vasili go to run some more errands. They greet the burgomaster, who is friendlier than they expected. They meet his captain of the guard, who is way more into Bodaway than expected. They drop by the coffin shop to see about some bones and find a lot of sus shit to look into later. They go to dinner with the Lady Wachter and find out she's supes into Strahd and has a prophecy that concerns them. Sylvain and Bodaway talk Ireena down before she can try to stab their hostess. The gang breaks into a coffin shop and finds a bonus seven (7) vampires. Sylvain and Bodaway almost die. Then Sylvain actually dies, but Zantras fixes him in exchange for a deal. Grghshnq dies and is not offered a deal. Strahd turns up and speechifies at Ireena; she agrees to go with him if he'll leave our heroes alone. The bones of St. Andral are taken out of Vallaki. Everything is terrible forever. Ri-An tells a powerful being to fuck off (somewhere, back in Waterdeep, a dwarf smiles). Bodaway receives visions from the Raven Queen.

Day 8 (Prizrachnayaluna 12, 735/?)
Second full day in Vallaki. Our heroes try to recover from the trauma of the night before. Ri-An mourns Grghshnq. Bodaway learns about the events of the night before and throws up. Sylvain tells everyone about his side of things (minus certain deals). Ayduin and Sylvain check in on the priest. Osrin checks in on the bard. Bodaway makes a ball. Eavesdropping is hard when you don't speak the local language. The gang mourns Grghshnq en masse, sends a friend of Danica on some errands, gets kind of drunk, and continues to prove that Ayduin is only bad at one (1) thing. Ayduin makes a deal with Seriach, and Bodaway speaks to Khirad for the first time.

Day 9 (Prizrachnayaluna 13, 735/?)
Third day in Vallaki. The Festival of the Blazing Sun. The party is attacked by cultists and abducts one in return. They meet Arabelle, fight some dire wolves, realize Sylvain has developed A Thing about wolves (Sylvain denies this), go to the Vistani camp, learn about the dusk elves' dark history, and get their belongings delivered by a beleagured and bloodied Ispati.

Day 10 (Prizrachnayaluna 14, 735/?)
First day post-Vallaki. Arabelle is rescued and Chuckles is now a thing everyone just has to deal with. The party meets Kasimir, who offers his help to them. Bodaway rejects Khirad, Star of Secrets.

Day 11 (Prizrachnayaluna 15, 735/?)
Bodaway unintentionally delivers a warning to Kasimir — thanks, Raven Queen! Our heroes make their way west to the Wizard of Wines winery and find a dead burgomaster instead. They take the body to Krezk and meet their third living burgomaster. They get to the Abbey of St. Markovia and kind of wish they hadn't, but at least Ismark gets resurrected. Chuckles tries to sneak up the stairs for Reasons but is tragically ordered not to. Ezmerelda spies on the party.

Day 12 (Prizrachnayaluna 16, 735/?)
Our heroes meet Ezmerelda; a tentative alliance is struck. The Symbol of Ravenkind is discovered and given to Ri-An to bear. The party visits the sacred pool of St. Markovia and receives its benefits. The party solves a mystery in under two hours and gets a fight with a ravenous demon child as a reward. They retire to the abbey, where Osrin speaks to the Abbot, Sylvain speaks to Ismark, Ri-An quizzes Osrin about her wings and also sarcasm, and everybody works on their homework.

Day 13 (Prizrachnayaluna 17, 735/?)
Our heroes leave Krezk, bidding farewell to Ezmerelda. At the edge of the Wizard of Wines vineyard property, Rudolph bids them farewell; immediately after, Ayduin is attacked by a poisoned crossbow bolt from an unseen foe. The rest of the party realizes Ayduin made a deal when the bolt doesn't kill him. A chase ensues. The assailant is revealed to be Arrigal, who is captured and interrogated. Arrigal reveals that Strahd learned of the party quizzing Arabelle and that he's been ordered to kill one of them to save her. Sylvain says alright why not it's not like I haven't died before. The party puts this discussion on hold in favour of finding out what's wrong at the winery. The answer? A lot. Sylvain and Osrin try to stealth over but find themselves ambushed by a mob of blights; battle ensues. Many problems are vocally identified by Ayduin.

Day 14 (Prizrachnayaluna 18, 735/?)
A much-needed day of rest. The party learns about the gems of the Wizard of Wines, and agrees to go to Yester Hill to try to take one back once they've recovered a bit.

Day 15 (Prizrachnayaluna 19, 735/Flamerule 26–Eleasis 1, 1493)
Osrin confirms what Sylvain had already suspected from a dream: back in Faerûn, over a year has passed. The party journeys south to Yester Hill, where they fight a tough battle but ultimately succeed, stopping a ritual, annihilating the forest folk forces there, reclaiming the gem, breaking the Gulthias staff, and destroying the Gulthias Tree itself (in large part thanks to Grghshnq's overnight efforts that evening). They see Strahd and Ireena, which is about as enjoyable as you'd expect under the circumstances.

Day 16 (Prizrachnayaluna 20, 735/Eleasis 2–11, 1493)
The party makes their way back to the winery, then to Krezk. Osrin learns about the Coalition. Sylvain asks everyone about their dreams, and not everyone answers truthfully. The gem is restored to the Wizard of Wines winery. The party arrives at the abbey, prepared for one resurrection, and instead having to perform another one first: on the allegedly quite racist Dr. Rudolph van Richten. They do that, Arrigal kills Sylvain (with permission), Strahd and his vampire squad (and three new, terrifying women) showed up, then left with van Richten's newly re-murdered body a number of seconds later. Sylvain and Zantras bickered, Sylvain caught empathy for another vampire spawn, Sylvain got resurrected. Osrin expressed three emotions in a single day and predictably couldn't sleep that night.

Day 17 (Prizrachnayaluna 21, 735/?)
Sylvain slept the morning away, while Ri-An began to repair their trust with Chuckles, Ayduin took up whittling, Ismark said his goodbyes, and the party realized at least two Vallakian cultists are now staying at the abbey as "priestesses of the sun." Several discussions were had, including the first group discussion of the Coalition. Various solutions to the ethereal spies problem were discussed, including everyone practicing their secondary languages and Ri-An constructing a lantern. The party found a blacksmith who specializes in armour but quickly realized that if they wanted to offer services in exchange for work rather than gold, they were going to have to take on some big tasks, with the eradication of the local werewolf problem or drastically improving the village's food supply problems as two obvious examples. They decided to take to sleeping in the village rather than the abbey, and formed a cuddle pile on the floor of Magda Yankov's cottage. Ayduin failed to endear himself to a goat.

Day 18 (Prizrachnayaluna 22, 735/?)
Ri-An woke up half the party, discovered some free armour and metal from their very generous host, and woke everyone up again hauling it back into the cottage. Sylvain learned from Zantras that he cannot contact "her or him" through dreams, and had a chat about boundaries, corruption, and consequences. Ri-An fired up the forge, Osrin did this, and Ayduin whittled. Bodaway and Ayduin noticed a strange sulfurous smell (it was Ayduin). Sylvain did some light reading and made progress in his tempestuous relationship with Chuckles, before saying hi to a friend and his friend's many, many sheep. Osrin did this. A stranger came to Krezk's gates (it was Ezmerelda), and the party and their ally caught each other up on some of the life or death situations they'd recently faced. Ez and Sylvain went up to the abbey for information and... technically got some information, just not the information they wanted. The gang agreed to talk more once Ri-An finished making the lantern that would allow them to know exactly who was spying on them from the Ethereal Plane, and when.

Day 19 (Prizrachnayaluna 23, 735/Eleasis 15–Eleint 13, 1493)
Ri-An finished their lantern, and the party found one (1) very angry-looking dead dwarf spying on them. They established that the lantern allows them to see creatures on the Ethereal Plane, but not to interact with them physically, even with the Symbol of Ravenkind. Ri-An went off to forge through some of those feelings, with Osrin and Ayduin following. As Ri-An was still beaming glorious sunlight from their chest as they rolled through town — the first sunlight seen in Krezk in at least a couple generations — Ri-An may have accidentally started a cult in the process, though they disavowed the cult by taking off the amulet, ending the effect, and slamming it down beside them while they worked. By this point, Sylvain had gone to investigate why people were running towards the forge. Both Osrin and her twin vampire spawn realized at around the same time that the Symbol of Ravenkind was there for the taking; Osrin grabbed it a fraction of a second before her twin appeared out of thin air and tried to snatch it. A brief battle ensued, resulting in two (2) dead vampire spawn, one (1) banished fire pony, and two (2) additional stress points for Osrin. They had a quiet day after that, taking what rest they could, and a lucky thing, too, giving the sight that would greet them in a few hours.

Day 20 (Prizrachnayaluna 24, 735/Eleint 18–Highharvesttide)
Magda Yankov, the party's host for their second stint in Krezk, had apparently committed suicide in the night. Ezmerelda was the first to catch sight of the body, the blood, and the silver dagger he'd apparently used to slit both his wrists and his own throat. A brief investigation ensued, with Ezmerelda proposing getting out of Krezk as quickly as possible, Bodaway searching for clues, and Sylvain seeking out Vitaliya, trusting that she'd know the best course of action. Sylvain, chatting up a guard at what was emotionally if not literally 3 in the morning, somehow managed to convince the guard that a) everything was totally chill and b) on an unrelated note he urgently needed to know which cottage was Vitaliya's. Vitaliya and her husband Matfey followed Sylvain, and took the death in stride, as most Barovians learn to with time. They advised the party get what sleep they could, and leave once it was light out, assuring them that they would handle the revelation of Magda's "suicide." Sylvain convinced Imithren to play a game from across planes, and Bodaway and Osrin managed to finish their long rests, while the others kept an uneasy watch and prepared their things for a speedy departure. As dawn came, the party left, with Vitaliya and Matfey expediting their exit from Krezk, and they headed east, for van Richten's tower. On the way, their most notable encounter was the sudden appearance of young Victor Vallakovich — filthy, starving, and clearly halfway out of his mind — who has apparently been teleporting all over every few seconds to minutes since the day of the riots, when he tried to teleport out of Barovia. With our erstwhile heroes not realizing Victor was the villain who threw the two fireballs that killed so many and kicked off so much destruction that day, they tried to figure out how best to help him, with Sylvain in true Sylvain fashion setting Victor up with clothing, food, wine, water, and a bag to carry it all in. Arriving at the tower, they found a crowd of Totally Normal Villagers who just happened to act a lot like zombies in magical disguise, and slaughtered them, thanks in large part to Ezmerelda's lightning bolts and the TNVs' lack of strategy. Finally, they made their way into the tower. After a brief discussion, they decided the tower was not their best option for the time being, and pushed on to the Vallaki Vistani camp, where they found a few surprises: a soft and battered Arrigal, an utter lack of malice from Luvash despite the danger they'd put Arabelle in, and a very casual vampire spawn van Richten as their new guard dog. (Also a ghost that apparently everyone but van Richten can see? Anyway.) TLDR: Several of them got drunk, because what else are you supposed to do with that. Ri-An saved Arrigal's favourite elf, and also became a legend among the Vistani for outdrinking Luvash. Luvash tried to score with Ezmerelda and, shockingly enough, did not succeed.

Day 21 (Prizrachnayaluna 25, 735/Highharvesttide)
The day began with Arrigal gently awaking a very drunk Sylvain to deliver a sealed letter from Strahd. TLDR: Sup, I've got the Martikovs. I'm tired of Ezmerelda hanging out with y'all, so she can come here ASAP, or the Martikovs can die. Oh, also, you have to leave now if you want any chance of making it here on time, so good luck with exhaustion and what that'll do to your speed! Our heroes and their ally were, understandably, displeased. Still, Ezmerelda heads off on her own, and the party tries to finish their long rest, with mixed results. Sylvain speaks to Bren in his dream, with somewhat less precision than the first time. In the morning, our heroes get their first glimpse of Escher, and learn that Strahd is now directly ruling Vallaki by way of his regent Father Lucien Petrovich, and that the Vistani are no longer banned from the town. Hooray! They make their way to Vallaki and see the aftermath of the Festival of the Blazing Sun, learning that the Martikovs have become the town's latest scapegoats, and that several of their (alleged) allies and co-conspirators have been put in the Reformation Centre. They learn that the orphanage is fine, if crowded, and that the church is much the same. Making their way north, they encounter Jeny, a definitely-at-least-half-crazy old lady sitting out in the pouring rain with a similar elderly female friend, who proceeds to heckle them. Bodaway gets snarky with her and she gets cold fast. Bodaway realizes, as she walks away, that he has made A Terrible Mistake. He immediately makes a speech and, curses notwithstanding, succeeds at winning Jeny over. The party pops inside and requests various favours in exchange for various forms of mischief. After leaving, they poke around Wachterhaus and Sylvain spots a nervous-looking woman who tells him to go see Friedrich Pasternak, a member of the guard. Upon meeting Friedrich and sharing modified tea sorcery with him, they secure a meeting the following morning at the Reformation Centre with one of the reformers. They return home and make their various preparations for the following day. Guilt-ridden dreams plague Bodaway, drawing him deeper into the mists. Meanwhile, Ayduin has a spiritual experience with a raven, Osrin fails for the second time to break her pact with Sykane, and Sylvain does not manage to charm their resident vampire spawn Ethereal spy dwarf.

Day 22 (Prizrachnayaluna 26, 735/???)
Osrin and Ayduin go for a run. Osrin enjoys it, and Ayduin endures it. Ri-An and Bodaway discuss the matter of their friends' pacts, and how they might save them from their own poor life choices. The moral of the story: you can't make someone save themself, but you can be there for them when they try. A discussion ensues regarding the purpose of the morning's meeting, and whether or not they'll be able to refrain from starting a prison riot. (The general consensus: no, but I guess we've gotta try.) They go to the Reformation Centre and see some of how it works, but not any of the people they're looking for. They are introduced to Calorfin, a high elf who reinforces all of Sylvain's negative stereotypes about elves, who accepted centuries ago that the best thing you can do for Barovia is discourage people from fighting its lord, as she's seen, over and over again, what happens when people do. The party disagrees with her assessment. They resist the urge to start a riot and leave without incident. Sylvain and Bodaway go north to visit Jeny again, seeking the Mad Mage's name — she doesn't answer at first, but they have a good conversation about murder. Osrin, Ayduin, and Ri-An stay in town to help with clean-up efforts, and scar young Rudolph for life when he approaches Ayduin to pass on a message and the three immediately go what do you know about the assassination attempt on him. (The answer: nothing, please don't concuss him again.) The message, hastily delivered when they decide not to kill him in the middle of town: Strahd has ordered that the forge be put back in good working order immediately, if they'd like to help restore it. Jeny doesn't know the Mad Mage's name — have you tried asking him yourself? Pies are now in Vallaki; Bodaway resists. They follow up with Friedrich and get some advice, but precious few answers. The gang goes back to the house to sulk, read, make balls, and vandalize books. Ayduin takes a walk and tries to connect with nature. Bodaway experiences the two deaths of Erasmus van Richten, and Osrin fails to break her contract.

Day 23 (Prizrachnayaluna 27, 735/???)
Ayduin and Ri-An have an early morning chat about deals and contracts. Ayduin finishes his whittling while Ri-An drafts a very casual scroll for Ayduin to use in future negotiations. Osrin and Bodaway go for a run, and Bodaway asks questions Osrin is unwilling to answer. Ri-An consults with Sylvain regarding the contract notes, and sets about revising it into the most thorough, condescending how-to guide you could hope to take with you into the Nine Hells. The gang goes to the Reformation Centre to visit with Funda, with much the same result as the previous day's conversation. In a turn that no one could have predicted, the chat does not go well. They decide to go drink by the lake, and fail to charm the Mad Mage with their smoke signals, though they do create an epic diss track for Strahd. Returning to their squatter's paradise, they discuss how they might send a message to the Mad Mage, and there is, briefly, a unicorn. (This was unintentional on Ri-An's part, but did make them very happy for a fleeting moment.) Ri-An and Ayduin start an impromptu dance party, and Vallaki townspeople take to impromptu dance parties about as gracefully as you'd expect. (No riot, though.)

Day 24 (Prizrachnayaluna 28, 735/???)
They begin the day at 2 am, when upon seeing a group of practically unarmed townsfolk including several children and an octogenarian who are trying to flee to Krezk in the dead of night, they decide the best course of action is to go with them, despite one of them not having finished a long rest yet, one of them being mysteriously unconscious, and one of them being at half-health. Somehow, they make it to Krezk with only one person dead and only one person missing a limb, after battling multiple waves of wolves, dire wolves, zombies, and one attack by a few swarms of bats. Ayduin and Sylvain both suffer debilitating periods of sickness, with Sylvain's manifesting as a headache and Ayduin's showing up as a cough that brings the lingering smell of sulfur in full force. Osrin's eyes, when she awakes, are back to normal, but breaking her pact took a toll on her. Arrigal arrives to ask them what the hell they're doing. Bray arrives to tell them HE ESCAPED FROM CASTLE RAVENLOOOOFT. (And he brought friends!) The gang, and all the commoners they're escorting, get a firsthand demonstration that the Martikovs and their allies are indeed wereravens. At Krezk, they're informed that with winter already there in Krezk, the villagers have no interest in another dozen mouths to feed, but after some bargaining from Vitaliya, they're given permission to take their wards up to the abbey. Just as they're settling down for their long rests, however, they notice a large number of wolves hopping over the abbey's outer wall, seemingly cutting through the grounds towards Krezk. TLDR: They fought the wolves and... either no one won or everyone did, because they did save two people and kill two werewolves and several wolves, but two of them were bitten, and the rest of the wolves escaped, along with four hostages. Despite all this, Sylvain scores a definite win when he breaks his pact with Zantras, with a little help from Tymora.

Day 25 (Xololuna 1, 735/???)
With Ayduin and Sylvain taken into custody to see if they go all murder-doggo on the full moon that night, the rest of the party is left to discuss what to do. Cures are researched. Conversations are had. Guards are pissed off. But ultimately there's little to do beyond go down to the village that night and wait to see whether or not Ayduin or Sylvain have been turned. For Sylvain's part, he babysits a progressively grumpier, coughier Ayduin.

Day 26 (Xololuna 2, 735/Marpenoth 1494)
In the wee hours of the morning, the bitten pair are led to the top of Krezk's wall along with the others who were bit, carefully tied and hung upside-down from the wall as they waited for moonrise. When it comes, Ayduin and Sylvain are proven safe, but one of the men they saved is most definitely not: the party watches as he transforms and as he is pulled back up into a sturdy cage, where various guards and other helpful bystanders beat him to death with silvered weapons. As the party makes their way back to Krezk, Osrin hears from Cal again, and learns another year has passed. The party passes the fuck out, and Ayduin fails to break his pact. This becomes obvious to the others when, the following morning, Ayduin is fast asleep and can't be roused. Much of the day is spent looking after him and discussing their options. Vitaliya, Klavdiya, and Bray come up to the abbey and Vitaliya tells a story of a drow man who made a similar pact and succumbed to evil when he awoke from his illness. While discussing the soullessness of your average Barovian, Bodaway compares them all to chesterfields, a comment I will literally never let him live down (in large part because it was very funny) (but also because I'm mean). Sylvain begins receiving messages from Kyra. An invitation arrives in Krezk, delivered by Doru: Strahd would love to have you all for dinner, besties. After some discussion, the party agrees to accept, if only to see Ireena. Ri-An looks into the blacksmith, and discovers the blacksmith was one of the people taken by the werewolves. The NPCs of Krezk become progressively more frustrated with the party's inability to understand food shortages. The party becomes progressively more frustrated with the NPCs of Krezk. They discuss logistics, scheduling, and what to do if Ayduin doesn't wake up soon, including but not limited to asking Strahd to use his teleportation circle, and asking for a carriage. Sylvain tries asking a basic question and gets scarred for life when he learns what became of the Krezkovs. Ri-An tries asking a basic question and has to run around asking half the abbey's NPCs before they end up with a firm answer. Ayduin gets a solid nap. That night, Bodaway dreams of nothing and an alleged deva and maybe a god or two help Ayduin break his pact, thus ruining my plans of forcing the party to kill one of their own. </3

Day 27 (Xololuna 3, 735/Marpenoth 13, 1494)
The party is relieved to see Ayduin wake up from his trance seemingly feeling more like himself again (and certainly smelling more like himself), only to be perturbed when Bodaway wakes up with the worst case of dry eye Barovia has ever seen. The party discusses how to proceed, including the idea of half-blind Bodaway, Osrin, and Ri-An going alone on what's either a diplomatic mission or a life or death situation at the Fidatov estate, and the DM works very hard not to have facial expressions. Klavdiya comes up and points out that they have no idea what they're walking into and also reminds them that commoners have 4 hit points, and an AC and Wisdom score of 10. They decide that maybe going to the Fidatov estate in their current condition isn't the best idea, and instead Sylvain and Ayduin agree to go gather intel in town, while Osrin and Ri-An go hunting to try to provide Good Meats to endear themselves and their pet commoners to the town of Krezk, and Bodaway has a nice bonding session with Savva, complete with push-ups and storytime. Osrin and Ri-An bring back some dire wolves, Sylvain and Ayduin bring back some gossip and possible compromises, and the party makes an early night of it, hoping Bodaway's eyes will be better tomorrow. Bodaway has a vivid dream of Strahd, uh, saving the people of Vallaki from the Reformation Centre, from the perspective of Funda. The party is abruptly woken up by a very chipper Volenta skipping through the door with a whole gaggle of (mostly dead) Vistani behind her, and she informs them they needn't bother themselves, as she's just there to schedule some resurrections! The gang goes, "...kay."

Day 28 (Xololuna 4, 735/Marpenoth 14–23, 1494)
Ayduin starts his day off with a little stroll around the abbey and a reflection on winter, death, and life. He tries and fails to read bad smut. Ri-An shows Ayduin the beginnings of their book. Bodaway wakes up with weird scabby eyes. Osrin and Sylvain continue to receive messages, with Cal wondering just what is your relationship with these fabled Dark Powers young lady and Kyra wondering how the fuck do you know about Gull? Savva becomes Bodaway's seeing eye commoner and Ri-An and Osrin take turns beating the crap out of healing Sylvain then healing the damage. Sylvain and Ri-An offer magical healing to Alya, a Vistana fighter, who declines. Bodaway's scabby eyes fall out, revealing a pair of newer, older eyes beneath. The gang tries to get some privacy and Dworic is not particularly considerate about it. They agree to go to the Fidatov estate next to see if they can solve Krezk's hunger problem and help secure their pet commoners' place there, and that after the dinner with Strahd — assuming everything doesn't wildly change before then — to refocus their efforts on the war rather than the battles, and to seek out the leads Madam Eva gave them so long ago. Ri-An fixes some spoiled food in Krezk, Sylvain has some water, and Ri-An tells Sylvain a charming story about how sometimes cannibalism, magic, and resourcefulness can all come together into one delicious meal. Sylvain receives another message from Kyra, and the whole world continues to be perplexed by Gull. Back at the abbey, everyone prepares for the following day's journey, with Bodaway and Ayduin both reading books of equal importance and similar subject matter. Sylvain leads a card game, and Osrin asks Cal about the Fidatovs. Later that evening, when all but Sylvain are asleep, Strahd drops by to break the news: unfortunately they can't use his teleportation circle, but he's happy to send his carriage for them. They wouldn't mind spending the night at the windmill, would they? (They would.) After he leaves, they resume their long rests, a little less restful than before.

Day 29 (Xololuna 5, 735/Rozaluna 15, 718/Marpenoth 28–?, 1494)
Ayduin is the first to wake, and spends a few hours trying to focus on his porn and ignores Sylvain and Osrin's sleep-mumbles. Ri-An wakes, and they discuss the implications of the sleep-mumbling. Osrin absolutely decimates everyone in a run. The party heads down into Krezk and out the gates, catching a glimpse of a Vistani wagon headed east on the Old Svalich Road. They head into the woods, following the overgrown path to the Fidatov Estate, which gradually becomes less overgrown, less icy, and they... find themselves in an idyllic (if still grey) spring scene, looking not only at Fidatov manor itself, but the sprawling farmland beyond, the manicured gardens, the fountains, the benches — and in the distance, the hedge maze. While trying to figure out what the fuck is going on, Ri-An ritual casts Detect Magic, and five minutes into the casting an older gentleman who appears to be the Fidatovs' butler comes out to see what their business is. He notifies the party that they will have to leave their weapons in the front hall if they wish to meet with the Lady Fidatov, a request that they don't like at all. They spend the next six minutes strategizing about how to evade this sinister request, including the proposition that the Lady Fidatov take a walk outside instead with five armed strangers, their mechanical beast, and their murderous mechanical jester. Weirdly, the butler does not think much of this suggestion, so instead Sylvain and Osrin go inside, with Sylvain marked by Bodaway's blood magic, so Bodaway can track them. The Lady Fidatov greets the pair and gives them a tour of her home, showing the dining room, library, ballroom, promenade, upper balcony, and eventually taking them to her private meeting room, where they get down to business. Meanwhile, those outside meet an older man in a periwinkle suit, come out to smoke his pipe and see what the strangers outside were all about. He introduces himself as Dalibor Dorakova — Danica's grandfather. Both groups quickly realize the sort of trouble they're in: as far as both Marilena Fidatov and Dalibor Dorakova are concerned, it is Rozaluna 15, 718, and the ill-fated party where so many of Krezk's nobility disappeared has not yet taken place.