25 - 5/29 : Solemn Reflections

Nora, the Aspect of Pride, remained as the last of Morrigans minions standing in defense of the vampire Herself. Nora's pride was her undoing, lending her to be quite useless during most of the fight, but when specifically challenged and targeted she unleashed a fury of blows. But all the same, while Morrigans attention was firmly on Judge, she fell under the rest of the parties combined assault.
With only Morrigan remaining, the fight raged on. But the vampire would not go down so quickly, for with blade and spell she unleashed her wrath on the exhausted party members.
But, the groups numbers and perseverance prevailed, and finally Iona, Morrigans aspect of pride, fell. The castle once again roared to life, and teleported to a new, familiar location. Sitting in a gigantic marsh, the group could see a small town sitting on the edge of a vast ocean. Their old town of Saltmarsh, where everything began.
Morrigan continued her assault, but the overwhelming strength of the group finally caused the vampire to falter. She briefly fell to a knee, stretched both hands towards the heavens and begged, "Hecate... please! I need your aid!". As if in response to her pleading, from the ground silver chains sprung from the floor and grasped her wrists. She looked up in terror as Judge stood stoicly before her.
Hanfred threw his shield aside and grasped the sunsword with both hands, around him swelled the divine fury that only The Muse herself could bestow on her most faithful servant. Cloth bellowed, dust blew in the wind conjured by might and glory itself, and yet Judge's words echoed above it all.
"Today, you will come face to face with whatever saw fit to let you exist in the universe, and you will have to justify the space you’ve filled."
Hanfred raised his sword, and amidst the raw chaos, shining tears glimmer on the corners of his eyes, falling back into the turbulence behind the warrior like shooting stars against the eternal darkness of the heavens.
"Lucinda, my beloved shadow. Daitha, the last of my beautiful failures. Cyra, brightest flame I have gifted to this universe. Gilean, whose love outshone the most luminous of stars and scorched the very earth. Ireena, the glowing spark in the final corridor… Guide my blade and my spirit. Hear the resounding cacophony that is my final plea for repentance! May I be worthy of your forgiveness and love."
As he rushed forward, he bellowed what he believed to be his final words, his testament to the universe, his proof of ultimate meaning. "I am a Knight of the Muse and Paladin of Muir! I am a servant to bloodied sword! To whatever wicked place your soul goes, tell them Hanfred Vel sent you there, and let it be a warning to them!"
Morrigan recoiled in horror and a horrible grimace crossed her face as the blow struck. Her form began to shrivel and crumble, her hair, fingers and clothes fade to dust and scattered against the castle floor. Her limbs disintegrate in front of her eyes... rippling up her stomach, to her chest and up her neck, but before she faded completely, the group swore they saw a wicked grin cross her face. Finally her form had been reduced to dust, and Morrigan was no more. A moment of silence took over, unsure if this was the end. But something was amiss.
Qiao was standing before Morrigans shriveled right arm, and without hesitation picked it up, and grafted it where Morrigan had blasted hers away.
With little time to admonish Qiao for succumbing to the temptations of evil, something blew in the wind. The gigantic structure once again lurched and heaved, towers shook and twisted as if alive, and as if from thin air, the group heard a haunting voice call out from the darkness:
"You thought yourself heroes? That you would vanquish the wicked one, and bring peace to the realm? That you would right your sins and avenge the souls of the damned? Oh how mistaken you are... I must thank you, for I knew not the key to my... ascension."

Goddess of the Eternal Night

It seemed that by releasing Morrigans essence, she had bonded with the soul of the castle, and her essence had been imbued with the power of creation from the shattered remnants of the Ioun Orb. The worst nightmares of the party had come to pass, as standing before them was Morrigan, Goddess of the Eternal Night.
The castle once again heaved as if it had taken a gigantic breathe of foul air, and teleported to a mysterious new realm.
The castle appeared to be on a gigantic slope, as if resting on the side of a mountain that seemed to descend into the infinite. Covered in spiked rock, wind rushed down it with alarming ferocity, occasionally sending a boulder cascading down to the depths below.
Morrigan raised her one arm and pointed it towards the halfling, before saying: "Wixley... I CURSE YOU." But the halfling resisted the very curse of Morrigan herself, and was able to confound the Goddess as she grappled with her newfound power.
Next she turned her attention to Fabian, raised her one arm and pointed it towards the Sorcerer, before saying: "Fabian... I CURSE YOU. Your vanity and self indulgence will be your undoing. You will suffer from leprosy and the pox, but be unable to cure your affliction. You will suffer from this for the rest of your days!"
Morrigan briefly looked at Qiao and a smile slipped across her lips, but the Goddess continued until her gaze fell on Judge. Her one arm raised one last time and settled on the fearsome warrior, "And Judge... you wish to know what Curse I have in store for you? But I will give you more than that, I will give you what you crave. A chance to end my evil once and for all. Your companions can deal with my minions, and you can have your vengeance!"
Unfortunately Morrigans wrath was unbound and unrivaled as she unleashed her spells and scythe upon Judge, while the remainder of the group contended with two fearsome three-headed hell-hounds she had summoned to her side.
With a terrible strike against Judge sending him to the ground, Morrigan raised her hand and the castle roared to life once again. The Goddess continued, "Now...while my power is contained to Gehenna, my castle... is not!" and with a harsh jolt Ravenloft teleported from the Plane of Gehenna to a new location. The landscape was a desolate wasteland with rocky outcroppings and sparse, twisted vegetation. For as far as one could see there were volcanoes and rivers of magma. The sky was starless, full of choking smoke, and glowed a dark red, likely due to the balls of meteoric flame that seemed to be all over the sky.
"Do you know where we are?" She smirked. "A place full of your sins. Did you think you could escape from them? So many lives have been claimed by the nine hells on your account."
"And you... Hanfred. Your curse... is existence. You wanted nothing more than to die in the crucible of battle, to excise my evil from the land and right the many wrongs of your pitiful life. Instead, you will live... forever. You will watch as my machinations and minions corrupt and destroy civilization after civilization. You will watch as everyone you get close to, everyone who offers you safe harbor or a mere gesture of kindness, is hunted down and butchered by my minions. You will suffer for eternity, knowing that you could not stop me. And your curse is..."
She paused. A single lemure had crawled up the side of Ravenloft and flopped onto the steps. It meekly moved towards Judge, the flow of combat had nearly ground to a halt as the Goddess stood there, unsure of what had caused this turn of events. Judge instinctively wanted to end the wretched creature, but before he could, he suddenly realized just ... who this was. A presence he knew, that he hadn't felt since a past life. The Lemures voice cracked and sputtered, but finds its tone as he said, "I am sorry, father. Please... forgive me!". A hand reached out towards Judge, trying to find understanding and forgiveness for the wrongs committed in the past.
As Judge touched the creature, he found himself filled with Divine Energy, as if Muir herself had forgiven him. His armor-like skin chipped away, revealing his human form below until standing before the Goddess in all of his glory was the chiseled form of Hanfred Vel. Morrigan roared in anger, a flick of her wrist sent Gilean flying back into the depths below, and the Goddess renewed her relentless assault.
Hanfred Vel, with the fury of Muir and the power of the Sunsword, led the battle against the Goddess and the fight renewed. And even a Goddess revealed that she could know fear, her strength waned without her plane bolstering her power.
Hanfred prevailed, and as he struck a ferocious strike against Morrigan, she stepped back, holding her remaining hand over the wound as it gushed with energy. The castle unceremoniously teleported once more, and the familiar landscape of Barovia stretched out before the party once more. Morrigans form crumbled, a pained expression twisted her face in anger as she tried in vain to recover from her injuries. Slowly, the gigantic form faded to dust and Morrigan disappeared.
The sky cleared for but a moment, a single ray of light broke through the clouds and shined down upon Castle Ravenloft. For the first time in ages, the group felt at peace.
This was soon shattered as flames began to pour from the sky and an enormous six-armed woman broke through the clouds.

Ascension

Flanked by two hounds of hell the size of mountains, the group gasped in horror as Hecate herself began to channel magical energy.
The plane itself felt like it was collapsing, ripples in the sky broke and revealed the void above, as if the curtain of reality was being pulled back. But she struggled, as if there is some manner of pushback, and suddenly Hecate lurched forward. Her hounds snarled and ripped at the air, as if some mystical force had assaulted their mistress.
Dark clouds closed around Hecate, expelling her from the realm, and a familiar, haunting laugh slowly rose from the darkness.... and Morrigans laugh was heard one final time.
With a jolt, the castle roared to life one final time, its bricks rising and rippling, sending the party hurtling out of the castle and harshly into the ground below. Hanfreds armored shell had returned, Muirs blessing gone, returning him to the familiar warforged the group had fought alongside through their many battles in Barovia.
The group saw Ravenloft teleport away to some unknown realm, and peace settled over Barovia.
Many had fallen, but Ireena, Ismark and even Dmitri stood among the group. Bewildered, battered, broken and dwindled, the army that had been mustered stood victorious where Ravenloft once was. The only person conspicuously absent was Qiao, who seemed to have slipped away in the fight. Barovia had changed, clearly not a realm of darkness any longer, but one full of life. In the distance, the last light of the sun shined down upon the lands for the first time as it slipped below the horizon. The group stood on an overlook facing the vast Sinnar ocean and saw the moon rising over the sea. A deep, blood red moon.
The End.

Portraits

Wixley - The small halfling fights with bow and is an expert in dealing with undeath. She has abhors cities and civilization and is much more comfortable in the wilds. Her signature ability is to use spirit bats to knock back her enemies. Wixley resisted the power of Morrigans curse, and now finds herself in the world with Morrigans evil still a plague upon the lands.

Fabian - A powerful sorcerer overflowing with magic, the aasimar sorcerer brings a potent suite of spells to the table to take down all foes. Cursed with leprosy, Fabians form disfigured and they have sought to find some way to reverse the vile Gods curse.

Judge - The stoic worshipper of Muir, his combat expertise and righteousness leads the group to glory against all evil assailants who would dare challenge the group. During the trip to Argynvostholt, Judge revealed that he was none-other than Hanfred Vel, a famous Paladin of Muir. He had a great burden on his soul, and had returned to put a stop to the the tragedy that he believes set in motion. Judge was cursed by Morrigan with nothing but existence. To see Morrigans shadow fall on civilized realms for the end of his days. After being returned to the Plains of Mayfarrow, he has departed to lands unknown with Ismark in tow.

Hanfred Vel - For but a brief moment, the Paladin of Muir was blessed by his Goddess and Judge returned to his original form. While still unable to fully stop Morrigan in her ascended form, he was able to banish her back to Gehenna before returning to his Warforged form.

Qiao Tai - An astral monk from the distant realms of the Xha'en Hegemony, she has traveled far and found herself in the lands of Barovia. After resting at the Church of Solanus, she heard the commotion in the graveyard and quickly rushed to the groups defense to fight off Morrigan's undead. She joined their group in the crusade against the vampire. In a fight against Morrigan, her right arm was obliterated by Morrigans necrotic magic! During the final fight with Morrigan, the vampires arm was the only part of her that survived Judges wrath. But Qiao saw an opportunity and picked up the vile artifact, grafting it to her own arm, and granting her vast power to enact vengeance on those who have wronged her.

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Ireena Kolyana - The adopted sister of Ismark, she bears a striking resemblance to Panicka Vel, a famous adventurer who once accompanied Morrigan on her journeys. Morrigan had offered Ireena to join her numerous times, but she continued to refuse. She has discovered an affinity for fire and learned to control it, gaining fire spells. She has departed with Melody towards the north in search of Panic, to find out her heritage and to seek a new life in the vast world.

Melody - A young girl turned by Robin, though a vampire it did not seem to corrupt her the way it does all else. She only wished to do good, but weirdly was unable to resist actually following through once she said she would. As if her vows demanded that she go through with them. She also was weirdly able to resist the controlling aspects of the ones who turned her. With Morrigan gone, she hides from the sun and has departed with Ireena as her protector. She remains as good natured as always, and seeks a way to survive the wrath of the sun.

Ismark - Ismark was met in the Village of Barovia. Morrigan had become infatuated with his sister to some unknown sinister end, and the two feared for her life. They had joined the party in the journey to Vallaki where they sought safety. He had done his best to put on a brave face, and with Judges help has been training to be better at combat. He was captured by Morrigan but by pretending fealty, was able to keep her from turning him long enough to be rescued. With the dust settled, he has chosen to pursue Judge and seeks a new life as an adventurer.

Fiber - A mysterious sentient rug, it floated around and seemed to bond with Ismark. Though uncertain why, the rug was by far the strangest thing encountered in Castle Ravenloft. It now floats around Ismark and seems intent on keeping him safe, even after the party returned to the material plane.

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Nora Dinan - Aspect of Pride

Hell Hound of the Night Goddess

Morrigan - The devil herself and curse upon the lands of Barovia. She had confronted the party once at the Village of Barovia and her minions have been a constant thorn in the parties side. She set in motion the events at Vallaki, appeared before the group on the return from Argynvostholt. She appeared at the ruins of Berez, where she tried to ward the party away from a statue of a moth woman that bore a striking resemblance to Ireena, who later turned out to be Panicka Vel. Morrigan has consistently tried to recruit the party to her evil deeds and seeks out Ireena, though for what purpose is unknown. In the final fight, it seemed the vast energy of the Ioun Orb, and the very magic of creation itself, had seeped into the castle, and with Morrigans defeat it fused with her essence, elevating her to a Goddess. While banished from the mortals realm, her ascension as the Goddess of the Eternal Night now threatens the civilized people of all worlds, and Morrigans tale continues.