CoS Chapter 2: The Village of Barovia

Barovia & Castle Ravenloft Art: https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/023/838/714/4k/jon-pintar-barovia-jonpintar.jpg?1580490437 Music for Travel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G6CskLxgMI&list=PLGvEMtY18bM1rgNPTQ03Jgt2ARxUfTe4O&ab_channel=MABMusicTTRPG Music when seeing Barovia & Castle Ravenloft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLF6VFME2jc&ab_channel=11bitstudios

Road to Barovia

Travel Time Death House -> Barovia: 3.5 hours
Muriel the wereraven is outside of the Death House, and has tipped her feathers blue. She takes a good look at the party, and follows at a distance. Once they enter Barovia, she leaves. She warns of danger and helps in combat.
The mists part, the rain stops. The sun becomes visible as a white orb in the skies, though its light is dimmed through the clouds. It is currently setting. Following the path, they come to a small hill. When standing on top of the hill, they gain a vision of Barovia and Castle Ravenloft with the setting sun behind it:
As you emerge from the twisted canopy of the dark woods, a breathtaking vista unfolds. The dimmed sun dips toward the horizon, casting long shadows over the land. Below, nestled in a desolate valley, lies what matches Stanimir's description of the Village of Barovia, a cluster of ancient, weather-beaten structures huddled together as if for protection. To your left is a river as clear as the bright winter skies. It seems to come from a large waterfall, visible in the distance. Perched on a sheer cliff overlooking the village and river stands an ominous silhouette of a massive castle. Its walls and spires are etched in black against the dying light.
A chill wind sweeps through the valley, rustling the trees and carrying with it a sense of dread. The air grows colder as shadows lengthen, creeping ever closer to the village below. Night is not far away. Despite the gathering gloom, a few flickering lights can be seen in the village, small beacons of hope in an otherwise darkening world.
After leaving the Death House, the players need to cover a short distance before getting to the village of Barovia. Before seeing the village, they come across the fields of Barovia, which are empty after the sun has set. Dark beasts like wolves roam the fields, but only keep watch over the players. The players get attacked by bats, but Muriel helps against them.

The Village of Barovia

Village of Barovia (official): https://5e.tools/adventure.html#cos,-1,approaching%20the%20village,0

Village of Barovia (DragnaCarta): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XxtOoBUk28nK8M82ffrngX-9axmglwqC/view?pli=1

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXTNvDeFdVU&ab_channel=MABMusicTTRPG

Barovia Art: https://i.redd.it/64cbbtvdvdj21.jpg

When entering the village, they see the following:
As you step into Barovia at night, an eerie silence envelops the village. Dim lanterns flicker weakly, casting long, dancing shadows on the cobblestone streets. The buildings, weathered and decrepit, loom like silent sentinels, their windows dark and foreboding. A thick mist clings to the ground, swirling around your feet and muffling your steps. Occasionally, a mournful wail or the distant howl of a wolf pierces the oppressive quiet, reminding you that danger is never far away in this cursed land.
Volenta may be inserted somewhere in Barovia at night.

Town Square: Market

The town square has a statue of Ismark the Great, Burgomaster of Barovia, bane of Vampires.

Granny's Dream Pastries

Pastries: 6 slices per pastry, cost is 3 gp.

Flavors: Redberry, Pinenut, Cheese & Chicken/Herb

Eat before bedtime!

Effects: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/plfhww/dream_pastry_mechanic_for_evil_dms/

Other Market Stalls:

Oder's clothing and fabrics (Mended and patched-up cloaks and tunics, Woolen scarves and mittens (worn but warm), Roughspun blankets and cloaks, 2nd hand leather

Danica's Apothecary (Vials of dubious potions and remedies, Bundles of dried herbs and poultices, Small jars of ointments and salves for wounds).

Denweth's Livestock (Scrawny chickens in makeshift cages, A few goats or sheep (looking weary and thin) Sparse baskets of eggs and milk jugs, a single scrawny donkey (ears)

E1: Bildrath's Mercantile

Bildrath's wares cost four times the price instead of ten times the price.

E2: Blood of the Vine Tavern

Ismark is here. He tries to talk to one of the characters and get them involved with Ireena. If the characters struggle, he says that Ireena has political power and can serve as a guide for Barovia and give them information. She can also get the players into Vallaki.

Kevin's new character is also here.

Barkeep is 'mist-touched'. Some may be 'sun-touched'.

E3: Mad Mary's Townhouse

Gertruda is in Castle Ravenloft

Mad mary will visit burgomaster's mansion if her house is not visited.

E4: Burgomaster's Mansion

Garlic & Silver Beads

Travel during the day, hide during the night. The vampire looms then.

The players receive the map made by Ismark's father. Ismark has no information on most map points.

Burgomaster had a heart attack because of stress

The players receive chicken soup for lunch or dinner.

A Rat, spy of Strahd, is watching the players.

Ireena is fascinated by the March of the Dead, and can tell the players about it (and join them). One year ago, a powerful wizard staged a coup against Strahd. Doru was his leading commander in Barovia. They never heard anything back from anyone but Doru, who was punished by a fate worse than death.

Ireena: Noble stat block (trained by Ismark).

Picture Ireena: https://preview.redd.it/ireenas-reincarnations-v0-3jfjejr93yt81.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=e5e6e5e023c19d6ba315d19b3b268d99ca2ebb57

Picture Ismark: https://publish-01.obsidian.md/access/7db64b11c71d88572ddc6cd06b888976/images/Ismark.png

Ireena: Asks questions about the party members, is curious of adventurers. Ireena is attracted to Letov.

200 gp

As you lay eyes on the woman, you see a beautiful young woman with auburn hair cascading over her shoulders, contrasting sharply with her pale complexion. Her eyes, a deep, soulful brown, reflect a mixture of curiosity, sorrow and determination. She stands with a grace and poise, dressed in simple but well-kept clothing that speaks of her noble lineage. Despite the darkness that surrounds her life, there is a resilient spark in her gaze, a quiet strength that seems unyielding in the face of the relentless dread that plagues Barovia.
Ireena was given the windmill sword.

E5: Church

Art: https://preview.redd.it/txjhrhw5fw571.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d572d8369176a0d96f45585ba6de1aff610eb3ad

Doru has joined the old wizard in a revolt 1 year ago. It was quelled (see March of the Dead)

Doru wants 'just a little blood'

If Doru is killed, father Donavich hangs himself. The bell tolls.

E6: Cemetery

Ireena insists that the Burgomaster, her father, is buried here before leaving. During the Burial, Rahadin pays a visit to offer Strahd's Condoleances.

March of the Dead: includes a bunch of adventurers but mostly peasants and are the remains of the revolt 1 year ago that tried to kill Strahd.

Prayer of the Morninglord

O Morninglord
Lord of blessed light and patron of new beginnings
We commend into thy mercy and thy radiance Master Kolyan Indirovich
Now departed hence from us and gone evermore into your glory.
We beseech thee to grant unto him thy mercy and everlasting peace
As thou deliver'st him from this everlasting darkness into infinite light
From pestilence into growth
From shadow into day
And from death into new life.
Grant him entrance into Your land of light and joy
In the fellowship of thy saints
And the brilliance of thy presence
By Your will and grace.
After the prayer, Rahadin visits:

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtQ9hizvZzM&t=66s&ab_channel=FaboMusic

As you gather around the grave, a chill fills the air, and the mist thickens, coiling like a serpent at your feet. Out of the fog surrounding the graveyard steps a tall, elven figure, his skin pale and his eyes sharp and cold. His black cloak trails behind him, and with each step that crunches the graveyard's gravel beneath it, the air seems to grow heavier, a faint whisper of distant, tormented cries carried on the wind. He halts at the edge of the mourners, raising a sealed letter in his hand. "My master sends his condoleances"

It was your master who killed him! Screams Ireena with tears.

Noh. It was his own hubris that killed your father. Says Rahadin.

"I am Rahadin, a humble servant of Strahd."

Rahadin's Screams

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c_bI9ERiWU&ab_channel=SyuziKusto

As you step closer to the elf, the air around you grows heavy, tense. Then, without warning, a wave of sound crashes over you — distant at first, then deafening. A chorus of voices fills your ears: screams of agony, desperate cries for mercy, ragged sobs of despair. The sounds come from everywhere and nowhere, piercing your mind, gnawing at your sanity. Each scream is a new pain, a fresh horror, echoing through your skull as if the torment of countless souls surrounds you. You feel their suffering like a thousand knives, sharp and relentless, impossible to ignore.

Strahd's Letter

Dearest Ireena,
It is with the deepest grief that I learn of the death of your kind and noble Father; and, especially, that it is affecting your young heart beyond all sensation. In this sad world of ours, sorrow eventually comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with the bitterest agony, because it so often takes them unaware. Your elders, no doubt, have learned to ever expect it.
I am anxious to afford some alleviation of your present distress. Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You surely realize now that you will never smile again, is not this so? And yet it is a mistake. You are sure to be happy again. To know this, which is certainly true, will make you some less miserable now. I have had experience enough to know what I say; and you need only believe it to feel your heart warm once again. The memory of your dear Father, instead of an agony, will yet be a sad sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer and holier sort than you have ever known before.
Please present my kind regards to your afflicted brother.
Your lord, master, and love, Strahd von Zarovich