Strangers from Distant Lands

A new group of adventurers came into Blood of the Vine a couple nights ago. A couple of dwarves, a few humans and then one huge guy who turned out to be a half-orc. They looked pretty banged up when they got here... the one human woman in the party got worked over by something on the road... she's missing one of her ears. I told her it would make a lovely scar - didn't want to hurt her feelings any, because with the way she's arranged her hair, she's obviously self conscious about it. I mean, I can't blame her... if something ripped my ear off, I'd wear my hair down over it with a scarf so no one would ever see it...
 
Ismark Kolyanovich apparently hired them to take his sister, Ireena, to Vallachi. Apparently Strahd wants her and means to take her for his bride. Ismark doesn't want this to happen, so he's foolish enough to think that hiring this band of fools will protect her. No one can be protected from the Devil or the Land, and he is both. It is a fool's errand. But, I wasn't going to turn down the 1000 gold that Ismark offered to help guide them... and this should be a good story if nothing else...
 
And, that's how the chain of events began that led to me being once again in a Vistani wagon traveling the roads across Barovia. We're on our way to talk to Madame Eva. I'm so excited because I've heard about her for as long as I can remember, but I've never actually gotten to meet her in person! I did see her wagon once... though none of the Vistani would let me see her. I can't wait!
 
Apparently, these people think that they came to Barovia on a ship... which I thought was pure insanity because there is no port or sea here... Barovia is landlocked. Apparently, some of the Vistani believe them though, so maybe there is something to it. The Blood of the Vine is full of adventurers who claim to be from all kinds of weird places... apparently these people arrived from a city called Waterdeep in the land of Faerun. I will need to find out more... one of the men, Trevor Belmont, he says, fancies himself a monster hunter... he said he has a lot of stories that I wouldn't believe from his family and their exploits. He said that after he was obviously offended that no one here has any idea of who he is, nor do most of the people care.... I told him I'm always in the market for stories. He's a pig, just like all other men, because he had that look when he asked me what I was interested in trading... I told him that I could trade my own stories, or maybe a dance, if his tales turned out to be really good. Men...
 
The wagon is stopping... I'm going to see what's going on...
 
*A few minutes later.*
 
Oh my god! I just talked to Kiril Stoyanovich! None of my new companions have any idea about how insane that is! He was there, just standing in the middle of the road... He told everyone that there are wights ahead and if we paid him, then he would take care of the problem for us. The idiots I'm traveling with were all confused, until I told them very clearly and slowly that Kiril is the most capable hunter in all of the land, and that he spends days and weeks at a time out in the mist! No one can do that without dying!
I jumped out of the wagon and went to go talk to him with Oswald and the dwarf, Erkii or something like that... I got the rest of the group to agree to pay him... and I pulled out my pouch to cover the rest of the balance, and he winked at me and said not to worry about it, he would give me a discount. Then he slapped my ass and walked back into the forest.
 
I know what I said about men earlier... but let me just say... most men are not Kiril Stoyanovich... I normally don't get flustered around men, but damn... some men are just what a girl wants, you know?
 
I'm going to just stop now just in case someone is watching what I write...