Strahd von Zarovich will Kill You

Dawn breaks as any other in Barovia. The weather is gloomy, and the sun is definitely not shining. The travelers get up and prepare for the ritual. During the morning, they watch other guests of Strahd make their way toward the castle. The Vistani envoy seems notably intoxicated and not in very good shape.

At the castle, Tepurin and Urwin are greeted by Rahadin, Strahds’ best man. While Tepurin is forced to give up the sending stone the travelers had given him, Urwin manages to hang on to his. Off to the side, Ezmeralda and Rictavio use the door Xuza gave them to get to the heart of sorrow unnoticed. They set up their ambush and wait for the signal from the travelers for the best moment to make their (potentially last) stand. The final guests to arrive are Emil and Zuileika Toranescu, who are there to honor their relationship with Darren. Against all odds, the two actually manage to sneak into the bride’s room, convince her to leave the castle with them, and get out. This causes a ruckus in the castle that prompts Tepurin and Urwin to message the travelers and let them know it is time to make their move.

Going to take advantage of their opportunity, the party informs Rictavio of the attack’s beginning. Rictavio and Ezmeralda attack the heart and its defenses, which consisted mainly of Cassia. Meanwhile, the travelers read the first line of the ancient ritual. They are immediately bombarded by the darkness and mists of Barovia. Vampyr is not going down without a fight.

The battle is fierce and requires some of the travelers to accept all the help they can get, including the help of dark powers. About halfway through the battle, Vampyr forces Strahd to join the fight. For the first time in centuries, three champions of the amber temple face each other on a battlefield. Cinna is faced with some hard truths about her stay in Barovia, after which she overcomes her past trauma and burns the closest thing she had to a father to the ground.

The battle ends with the lost travelers triumphant and Vampyr captured. For the first time in centuries, the sun peeks through the clouds of Barovia. Cinna bade Strahd farewell and promised him Tatyana would be waiting. All seems well until Marillion and Xuza suddenly tense up; there is still the matter of the other two champions of Amber Temple to deal with. Xuza puts his trust in Darren to take care of whoever remains and informs Marillion that he will not be walking away from this. Marillion, reluctant to hurt anyone at first, responds by almost turning Xuza into stone before having a change of heart and surrendering to Xuzas mercy. Whether it was due to Xuza realizing the only course of action that would free Marillion from Zantras or there being no mercy to be found in Xuzas’s heart, Marillion soon finds himself dying at Xuza’s hand. Before properly comprehending what he has done, Xuza feels Shamis’ influence is leaving him, resulting in Xuza falling lifeless on the field in Barovia. The spirits of Xuza and Marillion find themselves in the next plane, in the (now much emptier) land of the dead. Xuza is given a choice to stick with Shami and return to the land of the living, which he aggressively refuses. In contrast, Zantras is very unhappy with Marillion surrendering and promptly abandons him to his fate.

Back in the land of the living, Cinna jumps into action and attempts to revive her fallen companions. Marillion, feeling the weight of Zantras having been lifted from his shoulders and the darkness lifted from his eyes, chooses to accept Cinna’s lifeline and return to Barovia once more. Xuza, feeling a warm apology from a goddess he thought had abandoned him, chooses a different path instead and goes into the light.