A Dread Mist: Episode Four

A Dread Mist: Episode Four

no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well
            - Warsan Shire, “Home”

Whirring and humming with obscure energy, the metal gnome introduced itself to you as “Picklick Teenynozzle.” You accepted his offer to heal your wounds with no small amount of trepidation, given his strange interest in Shera’s pads and misunderstanding of where ears are supposed to be. However, it all turned out well. The clack-clack-clack of hoofs on the riverbank startled you, and “Pick” as he wanted to be called bid you farewell. Before he left steaming into the forest, he let you know he could be found again just by walking into the woods and following the yellow moss.

Delron and Adoril concealed themselves among the trees as the party prepared to do battle with whatever approached. But when an old crone, clad in vibrantly colored wraps emerged on the trail, accompanied by four silent horsemen, she casually spotted them and with a hearty chortle greeted you all: “At last, children, you are here! And just at the right moment, of course.” Oddly, Scritch was nowhere to be found. She introduced herself as Madam Eva and asked if you would help her prepare to banish Death House.

Your trust of her grew with her uncanny knowledge of each of your lives and hearts. With magical powers unlike anything you’d encountered she grappled the evil mansion and cast it from existence – though she said it would eventually return, bound here by the tortured souls within.

You accompanied her to her camp, following the river as it became a deep ravine – a thin smudge of a bridge far overhead. Before long, the river opened to a lake. A small camp of lively folk seated around a bonfire, singing and making merry. Inside her tent around a cloth covered table were exactly five human-sized and one gnome-sized (with a step ladder) seats. Shera asked for her assistance reassembling the shattered orb from the chamber of shadows in Death House, but the object was best left alone, although she took a portion for safekeeping. Then, asking Adoril for the deck of fortune cards – a “Tarokka Deck” as she called it – she offered to reveal your fates.

“Karrn,” the words scratching like dry parchment from her lips, “was never been a soft man, but he has saved this land from many a threat and shepherded his people through their unending imprisonment. But of late, he has fallen under a dangerous influence. The shepherd is driving his flock over a cliff. He must now be stopped.”

The cards she laid before you told of a tome penned by the hand of Karrn himself containing secret knowledge, a holy symbol of hope, and a blade of pure daylight. They spoke too of an enemy of his, who could become an ally of yours. Finally, they told of a place where Karrn would always be found.

This card is the rope that binds timber and stone. The enemy of thy enemy is no fair friend, but a potent tool against the devil. Win him over! I see a minstrel with a diminutive companion aping tricks to hide his secrets. 

This card is hope. It is fragile, engulfed by his menace. Protect it. The treasure lies in a dragon’s house, in the hands of a corrupted champion of a once-proud order. He keeps a lonely vigil, but has forgotten his charge, knowing only hatred. Stoke or extinguish – you will find the thing you seek.

This is a card is strength and power. A blade of daylight hidden in a kingdom of night. Claim it! Beyond amber doors, guarded by the amber man, lies a mountain of fool’s gold. Buried therein waits the true treasure you seek.

Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. Behold, he is here! In the depths of Barovia’s darkness, in the one place to which he must return but where he can never find rest.

This card is the past, from the mouth of the devil Karrn himself. His truth -- seek it! I see a wizard's tower perched at the edge of a lake like a middle finger. His name and his servant will guide you to what you seek.

She then beseeched you to make haste to the village of Little Barovia, “although they do not deserve your aid, they desperately need it.”

You followed the wagon-wheel rutted trail through the woods to a crossroads. Atop a pole, a wooden sign with “Little Barovia” carved deeply into it pointed left. While to the right hung signs for “Castle Ravenloft,” “Vallaki,” “Krezk,” Argynvosthold,” and “Wizard of Wines.” Broken in half on the ground, was another sign that read “Berez.”

Strewn along the roadside lay clothing, boxes, broken carts, and household goods of all descriptions. Before long a stream of muddy, harried, and heavily burdened townsfolk appeared from the left. One explained that their home of Little Barovia was under attack by an enraged Karrn, before hurrying on her way.

From the other direction, a plump old woman came along, pushing a small trolley and selling “Dream Pasties.” A couple with an infant child purchased two and let the woman coddle the child while they went to eat on the side of the road. She called herself “Granny Sophie,” and through means fair and foul you acquired several of her treats.

Just then, a crash and gurgling scream erupted from the side of the road. The two refugees who had gone to the side of the road were being eaten by an enormous troll. Years of study gave Damakos a flash of insight that the beast might be weak to acid and fire. And, so, amid curling tendrils of acrid smoke and flame, Shera crushed the beast’s head.

At that moment, a striking young woman with auburn hair galloped up on a horse with five guardsmen. Introducing herself as Ireena, the daughter of the Burgomaster of Little Barovia, she thanked you for saving the townsfolk. Noting your skills, she asked you to help move her elderly father safely, freeing up the town guard to accompany the remaining refugees. You agreed and raced onward as the sun slipped lower on the horizon.

Approaching the village, you first spotted pillars of smoke rose high in the evening sky. Broken doors, shattered windows, timbers and battered (eaten?!) bodies in the streets – what had once been a quaint village was in ruins.

Along the way, Ireena checked on a distraught woman named Mary who refused to leave her home in case her daughter, Gertruda, who had run away several nights ago returned. Lancelot, in fact, is Gertruda’s dog. With Mary’s blessing you took him with you in hopes of reuniting the two.

Arriving at the Burgomaster’s clawed and barricaded mansion, you met Ireena’s wizened father and boastful older brother Ismark. It was her brother’s foolish desire for glory that convinced him to join the Mad Mage in revolt against Castle Ravenloft. This failed rebellion precipitated Karrn’s destruction of the village. Thus far, they’ve managed to fight off Karrn’s minions, but each night the attackers increase. Since moving the old man so close to nightfall would be dangerous, you holed up in Ireena’s bedroom and laid a trap.

As darkness gripped the house, you could glimpse wolves patrolling outside at a distance. Brutal blows wracked the front door. Shambling corpses broke through, and Shera raced up the stairs, tossing ball bearings in her wake. Lured to follow her, the rotting zombies stumbled on the trap, before finding their purchase and slouching up the stairs.

Your ambush cut the creatures down, scattering twitching pieces of gore in the hallway. A tremendous calamity of blows at the kitchen door signaled the arrival of another foe. Meanwhile, Damakos’ magic injured a wolf on the perimeter, but it stood its ground. The distinct whoosh-thump of a handful of arrows striking the building reverberated in the cramped room. Then, the kitchen door shattered from a feral bludgeoning. A horrifying creature of dead bodies stitched together erupted into the bedroom.

Your weapons beat mercilessly on the creature, but it was an inexplicable explosion of magical power from Damakos that finally annihilated the monstrosity. Only then did you realize the house was aflame. Delron grabbed the Burgomaster from his hiding place in the closet hoping to carry him to safety. At that moment, a phalanx of ensorcelled daggers took flight from near the wolves and leapt through the window, plunging into the back of the burgomaster.