ೃ⁀➷ Chapter 01

Previously, Adira met a man by the name of Ismark at the Blood of the Vine Tavern. When asked if he knows of any available work in the town, he offered Adira a job himself. He is in need of help with escorting his adopted sister to the settlement of Vallaki. Upon arrival to the Burgomaster's Mansion, Adira is met face-to-face with her fraternal twin sister, Aine, whom she had been certain had died. However, Aine is not the same sister she remembers, and has become quite hardened (if not a little crazed) since their time apart.

While Aine is convinced that the land of Barovia is a literal Hell, Adira is by no means convinced. Prior to entering the village of Barovia, Adira had faced Madam Eva, a fortune teller and leader of a Vistana gypsie group. Madam Eva fortold that Adira would find her sister alive and in the land of Barovia while also revealing their current predicament of being trapped within the realm. Within Adira's fortune, Madam Eva drew five cards which foretold the events that would transpire as well as what would be expected of Adira in order to stand against the villainous Strahd and leave the realm with her sister.

Aine requested that the three of them take the coffin which housed the late burgomaster to the nearby cemetery, as he had been a kind father-like figure toward her during her stay. With the constant attacks to the house, Aine was not comfortable with leaving his corpse to be raided and desecrated. Thus, Adira, Aine, and Ismark left with the coffin-in-toe and made their way toward Barovia's single cemetery and church.

Atop a slight rise, against the roots of the pillar stone that supports Castle Ravenloft, stands a gray, sagging edifice of stone and wood. This church has obviously weathered the assaults of evil for centuries on end and is worn and weary. A bellow tower rises toward the back, and flickering light shines through holes in the shingled roof. The rafters strain feebly against their burden. The heavy wooden doors of the church are covered with claw marks and scarred by fire.

The much taller and masculine form of Ismark stood at the front of the coffin, bearing its weight, as Adira and Aine took the back. Despite the late morning hour, rolling thunderclouds cast a gray pall over the land. The village of Barovia was never without the gloomy gray overtones, warning of an ever-encroaching storm. Droplets of mist, born from the regions thick humidity, burdened the air with the taste of rain.

Both Ismark and Aine had not been spared from the greying world, the dulled tint of their skintones casting, in contrast, Adira to appear abnormally vibrant amidst the backdrop.

The man who her sister seemed to care for was way more heavy then she anticipated. There were three of them and only one of him, but she could really feel the coffin digging into her shoulder. But the eerie church was finally in sights and she was thankful for it.

"Where do we go from here? Inside or?" She asked her two companions from the back of the coffin which was where she had been situated.

Aine's cold cobalt stare peered ahead. "Ismark, was a grave dug for your father?"

"It was," Ismark gave a shrug as he added, "But we'll have to speak with Father Donavich regardless." From the front of the casket he hauled one of the two doors open. Upon entry of the old church, the three were greeted by a two-foot-wide, twenty-foot-long hall and at its end a brightly lit chapel. Immediately, the group was assaulted by the foul reek of mildew from rotten wood and debris. Four doors, two on each side of the wall, lead to adjacent chambers. But in the distance, the chapel is clearly strewn with debris.

A weakened, soft voice, male in origin, can be barely deciphered from down the hallway, belonging to a man deeply reciting a prayer. However, the prayer is blotted out by a sudden inhuman scream that rises up from beneath the decaying wooden floorboards.

Aine had changed so much, but the world seemed really hostile so it was understandable. It gave her determination to do what madam something said about getting her out of here.

"^{Father Donavich}," Adira whispered the priests name to herself to try and memorize it. But there was no way she could, she was awful with that sort of thing. The building was in shambles, she was surprised it was even standing but she supposed it was the stone that kept this place steady.

Rotten wood was not a pleasing smell at all, but neither was holding a corpse mere inches from her nose. Adira tensed, eyes growing wide when she heard the horrible shrivel beneath her feet. But she was the only one, the other three seemed unaffected.

She wanted to speak to Aine, to ask her privately about it, but while they were still holding the coffin she couldn't really do anything.

The inhuman scream which rose from underneath the floorboards alerted both Ismark and Aine, whose forms quickly stiffened with alarm. The tall, masculine build of Ismark the Lesser turned to gaze back in the girls direction, his eyes connecting with Aine in a silent understanding.

Twenty feet down the hall, the girthy figure of a man dressed in dark cowhide robes was clearly visible. "Something isn't right here." Ismark intoned and brought the casket down to set on the floor. "We'll have to keep our wits about us."

Ismark motioned for the two girls to follow his lead further down the hall and toward the brightly lit, albeit destroyed, chapel room.

What looked like a non-existent reaction turned out to be completely wrong. She had jumped the wagon with her thoughts and felt a bit guilty. Their fear became her own and she felt a growing darkness.

"Something isn't right here." The man named Ismark remarked and finally took the lead to lower the casket. "We'll have to keep our wits about us."

"Wait," Adira spoke out waving her hand to make him stop. She looked to her sister. "He's not moving, just praying, there's a creature underneath us. Just give me a minute to see if I sense anything."

She felt a bit embarrassed saying this, but it was better safe then sorry. So she focused to see if she could notice anything out of the ordinary before they tried to speak to this priest.

Perception Roll:

Adira called out to Ismark and Aine, bidding them to wait. "Just give me a minute to see if I sense anything."

Tuning into all of her wisdom and experience over years, Adira attempted to scout out the hallway for anything out of the ordinary. Upon close inspection of the debris and claw marks, Adira could recall the Burgomaster's residence, where she had found Aine, to appear in very much the same condition. Ismark had previously informed her of the devil Strahd, a vampire who dwells in the dark castle which looms over the town and that he often had hoards of evil minions visit the town to terrorize it.

The inhuman scream and guttural growls that rise from underneath the floorboards clearly indicate to Adira that this creature — whatever it may be — is beneath them.

Ismark and Aine exchanged wary glances with one another but for the time heeded Adira’s advice. Ismark placed his hand on the hilt of his long sword while Aine drew her bow. They too were uncertain of the events in the church and whether or not Father Donavich was safe to approach. While the two had approved of Adira’s plan to approach Father Donavich, they both stood at the ready to jump in at any given notice.

The chapel was in shambles, with overturned and broken pews littering the dusty floor. As Adira entered deeper into the large and open quarters she could spy dozen of candles mounted in candlesticks lighting every dusty corner in a fervent attempt to rid the chapel of its shadows. At the far end of the church sat a claw-scarred altar, behind which knelt the priest in soiled vestments.

As Adira continued her approach, Father Donavich’s voice became more clear to her ears. The man was deep in an endless chant of prayer, his voice hoarse and weak and his body slumped on the floor before the altar.

Unfortunately, Adira had not been trained exceedingly in the skill of stealth. It was not one of her proficiencies and the ruined debris scattered all across the floor in which she attempted to sneak over turned out to be far too big a hurdle for her to stealthily glide over.

There were far too many shattered pieces of wood and rubble, Adira’s boots grinding over the debris no matter how hard she attempted to lighten her step. The noticeable amount of noise from her painstaking effort to quietly traverse the more precarious path brought Father Donavich from his prayer and turned his attention in her direction.

However, it was Father Donavich who received the scare of his life. The older, girthy man fell straight backward with a look of horrified fright stretched across his pasty white complexion. He immediately crossed himself in another prayer, his large hands rising to snap the cross hanging from his neck and hold it out in an aggressive manner. “Begone evil vermin! I banish thee from this holy sacred ground in the name of our Morning-Lord!” The man’s voice shook as much as the outstretched hand which gripped the holy cross.

Ismark the Lesser hastened his steps through the chapel to take up residence beside Adira. “Father Donavich, calm yourself.” He offered the man a hand to stand on his feet. “The evil vermin in which you speak is shrieking from below the floorboards.”

Aine approached last, bow still in hand. Father Donavich rose to his full height but was not pacified by Ismark’s words. Instead, they appeared to fluster the old, balding man. “What? Oh, no, no. You have it all wrong, Ismark.” His frail and hoarse tone were accentuated by his blatant manner of attempting dismissal. The deep, black bags etched underneath Father Donavich’s eyes gave the impression he had not seen sleep for many days. “Have you come to pray to the Morning-Lord?”