Act 1, Scene 4: The Road to Vallaki: The Vistani

Somewhat later than anticipated due to the small matter of having had to convince Donavich to help, subdue Doru, discuss what to do with Doru, and convince Ireena it's totally a good idea to take a baby vampire along with you on a road trip, the party set out from Barovia on their way to Tser Pool, where Ismark and Ireena said they'd be able to safely pass the night among the Vistani. Ireena and Doru both offered lessons in the Barovian tongue, with slightly different foci.

Along the way, they encountered a gallows, initially empty, then suddenly populated with a rotting corpse the moment they began to move away from it. To most of our heroes, this corpse looked unfamiliar; to Ayduin, it looked a whole fuck of a lot like Ayduin. He did not disclose this fact. The party moved on.

Making their way along the side path that leads to Tser Pool, they noticed it getting darker much earlier than they would have expected for late spring. This is because, as they learned not long after, it was in fact mid-autumn in Barovia. Not long after the sky grew dark, they came upon first the sounds then the sights and smells of the Vistani: singing and music and laughter, a roaring fire, dancing figures, warm food and flowing wine. The camp was guarded by figures positioned in some of the wagons at its perimeter, but the Vistani joyfully welcomed our heroes, with one in particular — young Rudolph — running forward to befriend them.

Stories were exchanged and libations were offered. Ri-An stunned the Vistani with a compelling retelling of our heroes' adventures so far, earning the temporary use of a fabulous hat in the process. For the second time, the party heard of the mysterious wizard who had come through Barovia — Rudolph claimed to have seen the entire battle from a distance, saying he saw the wizard fall to his death. Doru was pointedly silent throughout this exchange. Not long after, Rudolph encouraged them all to go learn their fortunes from Madam Eva. Ireena volunteered to stay behind with Doru, while the rest of our heroes, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, approached the main tent.

Madam Eva appeared to know far more than she reasonably ought to have done, greeting each of our heroes by name before they had the chance to introduce themselves, along with various cryptic comments. She offered to show them signs of the future — both tools they would need in their burgeoning quest to defeat Strahd, and prophecies of a more personal nature.

She directed them to a tower guarded by golden knights, a garden dusted with snow, a sleeping prince, a fallen paladin, and the beating heart of the castle. When it came time to speak of our heroes' individual futures, she warned Bodaway of an imminent betrayal, told Sylvain that unless he learned to accept the full breadth of his emotions he would never reach his goals, predicted a foe older and greater than Ri-An would realize in their future, advised the use of allies with intellect when Osrin encountered foes relying on brute force, and told Ayduin he would encounter someone with tremendous magical power beyond all thought of control.

And, with that, Madam Eva dismissed the group. They returned to the fire, where some of them stayed up late into the night exchanging stories with the Vistani, while others went to bed earlier, exhausted by the day's events. Ayduin and Bodaway in particular bonded with Atanasie and his wife, Manda.

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