Strahd von Zarovich will Kill You

Dawn broke as any other in Barovia. The weather was gloomy, and the sun was definitely not shining. The travelers got up and made themselves ready for the ritual. During the morning, they watched other guests of Strahd make their way toward the castle. The Vistani envoy seemed notably intoxicated and not in very good shape.

At the castle, Tepurin and Urwin were both greeted by Rahadin, Strahds’ best man. While Tepurin was forced to give up the sending stone the travelers had given him, Urwin managed to hang on to his. Off to the side, Ezmeralda and Rictavio managed to use the door, Xuza gave them to get to the heart of sorrow unnoticed. They set up their ambush, waiting for the signal from the travelers for the best moment to make their stance. The final guests to arrive were Emil and Zuileika Toranescu, who were there to honor their relationship with Darren and what Darren had done for them. Against all odds, the two actually managed to sneak into the bride’s room, convince her to leave the castle with them and get out. This caused a ruckus in the castle that prompted Tepurin and Urwin to get in touch with the travelers and let them know it was time to make their move.

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

The battle was fierce and required some of the travelers to accept all the help they could get, including the help of dark powers. About halfway through the battle, Vampyr forced Strahd to join the fight, and for the first time in centuries, three champions of the amber temple faced each other on the battlefield. Cinna was faced with some hard truths about her stay in Barovia, after which she overcame her past trauma and burned the closest thing she had to a father to the ground.

The battle ended with the lost travelers triumphant and Vampyr captured. For the first time in centuries, the sun peeked through the clouds of Barovia. Cinna bid Strahd farewell and promised him Tatyana would be waiting. All seemed well until Marillion and Xuza suddenly tensed up; there was still the matter of the other two champions of Amber Temple to deal with. Xuza put his trust in Darren to take care of whoever left and informed Marillinon that he would not be walking away from this. Marillion, reluctant to hurt anyone at first, responded by almost turning Xuza into stone before having a change of heart and surrendering to Xuzas mercy. Whether it was due to Xuza realising the only course of action that would free Marillion from Zantras, or due to there being no mercy to be found in Xuzas heart, Marillion soon found himself dying at Xuzas hand, followed closely by Xuza who had completed his deal with Shami, who as a consequence removed her influence on him. Both Xuza and Marillion thus found themselves in the land of the dead, that was much more empty than the last time Xuza visited. Xuza was given a choice to stick with Shami and return to the land of the living, which he aggressively refused. In contrast, Marillion’s patron was not happy with his surrendering and promptly abandoned him to his fate.

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