State of Affairs

Upon first entering Barovia, Vervain had observed that it is suffused with an elevated amount of negative energy not unlike what she would expect to find soaking into a battlefield that was being tended to by a Suppression Company much later than it should have been. Over time, these scenes drain the color from their surroundings, weaken the living, and corrupt the environment in a slowly spreading range. It is the duties of Suppression Companies like the Cemetery Gatekeepers to beat back this entropy and to slay the undead that rise from it. Perhaps Barovia once had organizations like that to sustain it, but that must have long since past for it is a cold and dreary place where even sunlight is an uncommon blessing.
 
She had warned that prolonged exposure for those not acclimated to it could have adverse effects on one's health and mental state, and these worries seem to have been confirmed by many of the denizens of this land and the shifting temperaments of her own companions. It can't be healthy to live here all of one's life, and it is no wonder that melancholy is the prevailing emotion in this place. Fortunately, it does not appear as though the other effects have begun to set in. As far as Vervain can ascertain, healing magic still functions as expected even if curses and other afflictions are stronger than they otherwise might be, and the natural healing process is doing just fine for her companions.
 
Vervain herself cannot say the same, though. She had already gone over what was considered a safe amount of exposure to negative energy over the course of her career, and it was partly because of that which put her in charge of acquisitions and supplies rather than staying on the front line. It has already been noted that she somewhat resembles the sallow folk of Barovia with her a shade of pale and metabolism slowed such that she has gained more than her fair share of gray streaks in her dark hair. Worse, though, is her body's ability to repair itself effectively. This has been on a downward trend for some time, even before coming to Barovia, and she does not expect it to pick up again even with clerical intervention. She had as part of her kit a good store of medical thread and needles along with some scrupulous paints to disguise the worst of her malady, but as time went on she feared that it might decline to a point where it could not be easily concealed.
 
It was not unheard of for warriors and mages in her line of work to find a precarious path through this sort of condition, but such cases were rare and in many instances verging on mythological. Grave Knights and Archliches. Death Wards and Psychopomps. Most of the time, though, it was either retire before it got too bad or crumble. The life of an active Suppression Company was sustained by its ability to recruit, and although members could expect a fair tour of duty, the turnover rate of veterans was higher even than a standard military. Armies did not usually need to worry about the ground under their feet and the air they breathed being the thing that wore them down. The Suppression Companies did, and even if they had a greater number of clerics than a typical nation's armed forces, it could only go so far to preserve them.