Curse of Strahdanya | Ep. 39 | The Devil Cried: Part 2

You're back in Castle Ravenloft and listening to Cursus Thradania, a legend of a Ventress podcast. Last time, the Azran expedition decided to not play fair by getting a goddess on their side, namely the Raven Queen. Scared much? Then they tried to get yet another advantage on me by destroying the gigantic Ruby in the heart of Castle Ravenloft. Unfortunately for them, to get there, they had to rely on the most infuriating little puppet man who did more harm than good for them. Even more unfortunately for them, they discovered they could not so much as damage the Ruby heart. All the while, it gave them horrific mind-altering visions. Hopefully they got the point that there is little they can do to defeat me. Yet, they think their little wedding plan will still work. Will it? I wonder. This episode is brought to you by our generous supporters on Patreon. We now also have a merch store where you can browse more than 20 amazing eventress theme designs. You can buy a shirt, or become a patron yourself by following the link in the show notes. We are eternally grateful for your support. Without out of the way, let us proceed with the conclusion of Chapter 19, The Devil Cried. Hey, coming? Yes. Let's go. Let's go as quickly as we can. I am so very tired. With Victoria's help, though you don't have Escher to lead you through the castle, you are able to sniff out the secrets that make a quick trek of it back to the room that you all share together. Louncing on the city in the main room is Escher reading a book. He doesn't even look up as you enter, though you can see a faint shutter through his body as you enter the room. I'll put the keys down on the floor. Well, it looks like you didn't die. Did you kill it? No, we did not kill it. Oh, you didn't kill that horrific thing that scares the Countess herself? Hmm, color me surprised. Your point was well made, Escher. I will give you that. Is there anything you're hiding from us about that thing? Any insight about the thing? No, nothing about it in particular. About anything? Oh, about anything? Yes, anything. Well, I'm hiding a lot. Would you like me to undress? Great. We don't have time for this foolishness, Professor. I'll open the case and I'll walk out the stairs. Am I invited? No. Oh, tisk, tisk. Babies having a tantrum. Fine. No. No. Yes. You're invited. Please join us. Look at that, Victoria. Looks like you have no say. Not today. Threats. We may come to be friends yet he takes his finger and he tilts up your chin. I like that fiery spirit. Let's go. We still need you. Let's go. Oh, say it again, Clayton. Say it again. Clayton called you Clayton, and you prefer Professor. And when he says Professor, you can, you can find him. Clayton's fine. Clayton, it is. Lead the way. The define Sergei immediately and tell him everything we saw. We shall spare no detail. Even how he almost massacred our own companion. Oh, I want to hear more of this. Forgive us, Connor. I am so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Connor, I am sorry. We were trying to save you. Do I know that? Sergei, as I walk into the mansion. As you open the door, once again, slumped over, you see Sir Clutz. This time, all Pep and his step completely removed. Oh, lady, I does not want you in the house. Sir Clutz, I can cast Turn Undead at any moment. Well, I'm going to see you tomorrow. Thank you, Sir Clutz. Come see me when I cast as he walks down the hall. I'm going to just limp in, like, clutch you by woods that just exhausted, going to try and like find somewhere to just lay down. I'm nearly poor myself at glass and bourbon. Sergei? Sergei! Your voice echoes and booms. You hear the shuffling of feet, the slamming of a door. What do you mean you let the whole get in? Slam, slam, slam, slam, slam, slam, slam, slam. It almost masks the sound of Sergei's footfalls as he makes his way down the hallway. He shakes his head, puts his finger in his ears, rolls his eyes, looks back towards the wing of the house that Arabel calls her own as the final slam of the door in the sound of giggling as Sir Clutz has finally done something to appease Arabel. The silence falls again and Sergei enters into the drawing room. I will be pouring a large glass of some kind of liquor. If you don't mind, I would like one as well. Yes, please. I fear our work is not done here tonight. What? How now can you possibly? My connection to the morning lord is strong, but not strong enough to pierce the veil of another god. The queen. I need the chapel, and it is best that what I do be done before the wedding is prepared. I need it silent, I need it quiet, I need it tonight. I ask that you would escort me to commune with my god. You know where it is? I can find my way around this castle. Of course, we'll take you there. How much time around Trippy thing? A few hours at least. Look, we are very tired. You look tired. Tell me, what has befallen my friends? We tell them everything, and spare no detail. And say, we've had one hell of a day. We tell them everything. I will at least tell them everything that I've seen, with no detail, with no spare no detail. I'll then say, and if there is anything that you've gleaned from the hairpin that could possibly help our theories that we have to confirm or deny, be incredibly helpful. If the morning lord deems me worthy of his countenance, I will ask for those answers inside the chapel. I will see what I can discern. But what you have told me, you see as his face gets, his sadness overcomes it. If what you are telling me is true, then my sister had no choice. Yes. Her oneness was taken from her long ago. And well before my birth, if what you are telling me is true, I may not have never truly known my sister. She was cursed from the beginning, called to this land, and made a slave of the blood queen. And even though we've killed Baba Lysaga, it feels like a lifetime ago. She still haunts us. Her life's work is seemingly complete. She only killed the puppet, and did not kill the master. Almost complete. But if we must commune with the morning lord, I will do everything in my power to assist you, Sergei. I need to do some praying of my own this evening. Let us not delay. If there is nothing more to do here, let us leave. If a small child beats the door over and over and over, it is hard to think in my own mind. And it just keeps happening. If there is an opportunity for us to get into a fight, I strongly suggest we utilize diplomacy or flee. I am not feeling entirely myself. Let's just move quickly as fast as we can, get this over with, make sure Sergei gets there and back safely. That's all we can do. I'll down my drink. I'm going to do an Iroh and just immediately fire heat a cup of root tea and just down it. I'll knock back my drink as well and basically stand up and adjust my holster and get ready to head back out. You quickly make your exit. The sounds of Arubel playing off in the distance can be heard, her giggling, her boisterous and loud, she's happy and content. As you make your way out of the mansion yet again, begrudgingly, this isn't what you had planned. You're tired, you're weakened, you're mentally exhausted. As you begin to make your way through the castle, it feels as if time is passing quickly. Your mind is wandering, all of you focusing on the shared vision you experienced in the room with the heart. None of you thinking about which way your feet are falling. As you find yourselves entering into the entrance hall, the loud thud jolts you all back into reality as standing off to the side is a hunched over dusk out. You'd seen him before an elderly man who had greeted you upon entrance into this place, giving you direction to the dining hall where he had met Stradania, but you didn't talk to him much. You vaguely recall his name, Rahadine. As he slings an axe on his shoulder, you see as he pulls up another form in front of him, a body completely slumped forward, unconscious, a bag tied around his neck or his head. He places the head on an anvil, the axe swings down and severs the head from the body. He then throws the body to one side, the last of the people in front of him. You see off to the side, a pile of headless corpses and a pile of rolling heads. As he takes a kerchief out of his pocket, he begins to wipe himself off, cleaning the blood that he just spattered his face. He doesn't seem to notice you. He looks like a butler, doesn't he? Yeah. Excuse me, Rahadine, your name was, yes? He turns around. Apologies for my attire. I have finished my work for the evening and I'm ready to head to bed. Is there something I can assist you with, Sir Clayton? What are you doing? Why is the butler beheading people? Well, simply speaking, the lady wills it. The invitations have been sent all over Baroviat for the wedding tomorrow to make sure that it is filled with grim with guests galore. All those who declined shall decline no longer. All right. And the guests are presumably arriving tomorrow. Late in the day, the carriage will be picking many up from across the lands. The castle will be filled to the brim. It will be lovely, he says, as he wipes some blood from his chin. How many guests are we expecting tomorrow? Hundreds. I see. Strahdanya would not have the wedding anything less than the greatest spectacle in all of the land of all time. She knows how to put on a spectacle. And these poor souls simply committed the act of declining a wedding invitation. He looks back and forth at all of you, his countenance completely stoned. He seems undisturbed in any way. Very well. I will say a prayer for all of you. All of them. And I'll... He nods at you. If you need anything at all, you may call on me. And you, Victoria, I will come for you tomorrow. When? At the time of her choosing. You will ready yourself away from your friends, for they have a task to play tomorrow as well. Of course we do. Yes, as expected. Have a good evening, Rahadin. I'll see you tomorrow. He nonces head at you. He kicks one of the heads off to the side that had rolled a little too far as he wipes the blade of the axe on one of the lifeless bodies. Throws it over his shoulder and walks off down the hallway, humming to himself. Sergei, please continue. Sergei continues forward, pure foots falls, echoing on the wooden floors, not snuffed out by the carpeted flooring. She slowly makes her way towards the large arched doorway of the cathedral. Sergei stops for a moment as he looks at the images carved into the door. He takes a deep breath as he opens, as he opens the door and moves forward. The cathedral is beautiful. It is clean, completely devoid of cobwebs and dust. Work has already begun. As you can see that some decorations have already begun to be put up. Large black garlands, beautiful bright red roses. A plush velvet runway cloth all the way down the center. And standing ominously almost in each of the corners of the room are figures human sized. All of them stand in attention. And as Sergei's eyes fall on the first, he lets out a choked gasp. As he clutches at his chest, it cannot be. He rushes forward to one that is the closest to him as he looks up into its unmoving eyes, these statues. No, not statues at all. Almost in a stasis, figures of undeath standing there, unblinking, unmoving, unbreathing. As he looks up into their eyes, he begins to cry, tears streaming down his face as he reaches out and grabs the cold dead hand of the woman before him. Not you. Why? Why? He holds himself together for a moment. I cannot do this. I cannot query my God in this state. I cannot do this in a room where you exist like this. Who is this? He looks up at her. This is my faithful friend. Bane Blanchett, one of my four knights, one of the guardians of the morning Lord. Estradania took my life. I could hear them rush up the stairs after me. I heard their arrows fly and their weapons clang. And I knew before my last breath was taken from me that she would end them. But to rise them like this, to not let them have eternal peace, is far from anything that I could ever imagine as they stand here, lifeless, always. These were the knights that killed Estradania for the first time. They were my friends. They were my best of friends. I'm so sorry for your loss, Sergei. He stands on his very tiptoes, this woman on a pedestal in front of you. He reaches up and he slowly runs his hand along her face, just completely unmoving in her undeath. So next, are you familiar with this form of undeath? It's crazy. I can see. So what kind of undeath? We have like a vampire, we have like zombies, skeletons, what I know. Roll a medicine check. Oh, medicine check. It's not very good. Man, my abilities. Oh, I'm disadvantaged. Thanks. Thanks, Art. That's 10. No, it's unlike anything that you've seen before. You're looking at them, you can tell that at first glance, they look like statues. They're standing on pedestals as if they were just stone. But they are quite clearly the bodies, not decaying. Only slight decay has come to them. They're clearly undead, but they are unmoving. They're unflinching. They are not zombies or ghasts or whites or any of the things that you have encountered before. It's almost as if they're just held in stasis, not able to find the afterlife. How are they on the pedestals? They're just standing. They're not like tied to anything. Oh, no, sorry. So I guess not standing, but they are each atop a horse. They are a stride and a horse. And all of them are in a heroic pose, almost. Is it like a nightmare or a normal horse, a dead one on dead horse? It seems to be a normal horse, as far as you can tell. Is the horse also in stasis or is that stone? Roll a perception check. Alright, 22. It appears to also be in a stasis. I think these were their steeds too. Also trapped in this undead tomb. Killing them was not enough for Countess. She had to raise them and even their steeds. She had to punish them. Keep them as decoration and a place of worship, a holy place. God forbid that her brother have friends, have family, have anything she could not have herself. A wicked, lonely bitch. I would like for you to know. I would like for you to know of them. Of course. I'm going to hear their stories. Come, we'll see them. And he ushers you close to the statue he stands in front of. The countenance of Dane Blanche. You can see that in the very base there is a small placard that says Dane Blanche. He lets off a little laugh. Before becoming a knight, she was a socialite. She is beautiful. She was well known for her warmth and for her kindness toward anyone. Her commitment to her friends and her family. We met only briefly at one event. And though she believed she hid it from me, I knew in that moment that she fell for me. I made sure to never show her that I wanted love from her. But I let her know that she was loved like a sister, like a friend. And we were like siblings. She was strong. She was inspiring. She was beautiful. And above all else, she was loyal and she was kind. And though I could not give you the love that you wanted from me, you will always have a part of my heart. I will keep Bows slightly before her as he moves on to the next. Sir Rivara. In life, he was the son of a wealthy landowner who was discovered to be in league with dark powers. They were corrupting the grain he was shipping to the people for some dark ritual. Rivara was just and new law. Though it pained him, he slew his own father to save the many. And from that moment on, his unwavering commitment to the morning Lord, to justice and to law, was everything he stood for. If there was anyone to fight in battle against evil, it was Rivara. I knew always that he would be at my side. He begins to walk slowly past the altar to the other side of the cathedral. Sarkoordin. This is getting really hard to use this place. My tongue starts to get weak. The oldest, smartest and stoutest of the horsemen. I think you all would have liked him. He was also the strongest in the craftsmen. He, in his youth, experienced a near-death experience, which caused him to turn to the morning Lord later in life. He was committed to me and to his God, but he was still a rowdy warrior, with a lover alcohol and was quick to throw insults at his opponents with a legendary temper. And though he may have seemed hard and in life long lived, to us he was soft. A father figure when mine had passed. Sarkoordin. You will be missed as he moves forward to the last. Sarsolenski. A gentle and reflective man, well beyond his years, who was a devout cleric and missionary of the morning Lord, who came to meet me and act as my spiritual guide and advisor. If it were not for him, I would not be the man I am today. If it were not for him, I would not be the man that the morning Lord needs me to be. He was the only man who I knew to have a stronger faith in the morning Lord than I. At first, but soon my faith grew. I did not need Zelenski to be my teacher any longer, but they did not stop him from riding proudly at my side, as my friend, not as my teacher, as my companion, and as my family. Sarsolenski. You will be missed. He looks around the room quickly at all of his friends, the horrible disgrace that Donia has done to them, refusing to give them peace in death. As he turns and silently walks towards the altar, he lets out a loud cry, a shriek of immeasurable emotional pain as he crumbles to the ground, his head in his hands, he screams and calls out and cries and begs to everyone and everything and nothing all at once. Before he finally regains his composure, he looks up towards the altar in front of him. It desecrated altar, but once, it's for the morning Lord himself. As he begins to glow with a gold and radiant light, he begins to chant and pray. For the sake of this, you imagine that this will take a while as he begins his ritual to the morning Lord. You all stand within the cathedral. The four warriors, the four fighters, Sergei's friends around you. Sergei in front of you. What do you do? I'll step forward and as he's up against it, I will place a hand on his shoulder and I will look down and say, there is nothing that isn't possible when the divine is on our side, Sergei. When this is all said and done, we will free them from this torment. Tradanja cannot stop us. I'll stop by. Is there anyone else in the cathedral doing decorations right now? It's completely empty. I'll walk up and place my hand on his other shoulder and I will simply quietly whisper to him to not interrupt his prayer. I say, there with you, body, soul and spirit. People, fetch your family and friends. Continuous prayer. Step up just kind of behind him, not getting in this field of view and just kind of kneel down and be in a quiet voice. What words do you think this is? What words do you think this is? Drink him, he's the master. And who did he think? And he used to pray. I'll walk up behind you and have him sprang. I know you probably don't want vengeance, but I do. It'll be avenged just like everyone else in this second. I'll step back. I'll just have removed my hat and I've gotten close to him and just put a hand on his shoulder and without saying anything, just kind of give him a little bit of a squeeze. And then remove myself from his presence and just find a place to kind of sit and post up and in silence, silent reverence, just kind of let him do his thing without offering words. Perfect. It takes about an hour for Sergei to continue to pray and commune with his God before with a sharp pulse of golden light which radiates out from him, almost as if he's the very center of the sun. And he's beaming with sunlight itself. He begins to rise, his skin shifting golden for just a moment before he finally returns to his normal countenance. As he walks towards all of you, he smiles at each of you. I heard and felt what you said and I'm glad that you were here. I'm thankful for both old friends as he looks around at his noble knights and noon as he looks between all of you. Let us make our way back to your case and we will talk there. I have worked from my God. That's excellent. It is. You're standing news. We have everything you need. We can make it. I can only hope. Let us make haste. He pauses for a moment as his eyes rest on each one of the knights one more time before you finally exit the hall. As you make your way into the grand entrance, you see that the blood in the bodies has already been cleaned. No sign that Rahideen had ever been and that those that had declined the invitation had succumbed to the fate that they did. Sarnak takes some time to say a prayer as he promised he would do. Hope for their souls to find peace though you all know what happens to souls in Barovia. As you make your way back up the winding staircases through room after room after room, once again utilizing Victoria and her ability to find secrets, to find the quickest path back up to your benching. And as you do, you find it's quiet. You want to do? And then Pittle would jump out of the cabinet and kill Shepard. Sessons over. Not that I'm flying, play with me. He just slinks back into the shadows. Yes. He's here. Alright. The passage. Thank you. Is Sergant, I mean not Sergant, you're right here Sergant. Is Escher anywhere around? Escher. Was Escher in the case? Yes, Escher's in the case. Oh. Oh, I thought he came with us to the keeping room. I thought he was, oh, he was in the, oh, he was in the, I thought he was in the room and not in the case, but you're right. You left Escher with Arabelle in the case. Out of character. And the ghost. There are going to be more undead in that case than living creatures if we're not careful. A divination child, a ghost and a vampire walking through a briefcase. Let us, Curio. Move away from prying ears and eyes, shall we? I will say Curio. In the case of both of us, in the underground, with the entrance. You step down into the case. You all make your way towards the entrance. You open the door. You have to expect to see Ser Clutz once again guarding the entrance, but Ser Clutz is nowhere to be found. And as you listen, you hear silence. No sound of Escher. No sound of Arabelle. No clanging sounds of Ser Clutz falling over on himself. Until you hear the soft chuckle of a laugh. Escher's laugh. Coming from just down the hallway and around the corner. The small library off to the side. I'll approach and just kind of slowly start walking forward and listen. Continue to listen. You hear another soft, gentle laugh. Clearly coming from Escher. As you make your way around the corner, you see that the door to the library is slightly open. Candlelight fills the room. You creep even further as you look in. You see that lying on the couch is Escher. His cravat open, exposing a bit of his chest, but tastefully done, tastefully so. As his boots have been kicked off on the floor. Sitting on a plush chair at the opposite side of the room. A large leather tome in her hands is Arabelle. As she reads out the story of the princess that couldn't sleep on the mattress because there was a pee at the very bottom of it. And every time she would tell a joke, Escher would laugh heartily. Though you could tell by looking at him that he didn't truly find it was funny, but Arabelle is enjoying herself. As she kicks her little feet, she's in her pajamas. She looks cozy and happy. A steaming mug of hot cocoa is off to the side. She stops and takes a sip before she picks up the book and continues to read. You look closer and realize the book is upside down, and that's not even what the story's about. She continues to tell the tale nonetheless. Oh my god. Before we interrupt, Lucas, please prepare the finest dinner that your staff can produce. Something with roast beast and roasted root vegetables and some popovers, maybe? Perhaps a toffee trifle for dessert. Some boiled eggs for silence. Oh, and boiled eggs for silence. And raw eggs for sure. And raw eggs. You know I love them raw, Connor. You never listen. For so long. Any other requests? I've never. You hear. Well, I believe, my little darling, that we have guests. And you hear the book slam shut. Do you think it's time for dinner now? Yes, a little one. I think it is time for dinner. Now, come here. You hear the pattering of feet. And I'm like, oh, I'm like, oh my god, you're going to do duck. And you watch as the door swings open and atop his shoulders is sitting Arbel as Esher ducks and makes his way out of the room. He looks up at her and he says, no, what did I tell you? Not to do anything stupid or. And he turns and looks at her and his eyes are light as his fangs come out. I bite you. And you bite the little bear. And they traipse down the hallway. He looks back at you. Are you coming? But in an accent, not my actual voice. Thank you. That accent was quite fine. Thank you. Yes, yes, let's go to the dining room. I think we need to replace her klutz as our resident undead caretaker. He's doing far more at keeping our bell in check. He's more than just a doorman. He's a doorman. Not a doorman. It's been a long time. I mean, perhaps I do not know what Stradania gets up to, but knowing Esher and Stradania, perhaps he does enjoy being a doorman. But that is it. Shall we? Yeah, yes, please. I will go to the dining room and I will take my usual seat. You take your usual seat and normally you would see that Arabelle is sitting at the opposite end of the table. But you find that she is sitting next to Esher. And as you enter, she nods at all of you. He stands and steps behind his chair and waits for you all to take a seat. Kana and Victoria, motioning to you, pushing the chair in behind each of you before he once again seats himself at the table. Arabelle looks at all of you. I can't believe that you would... And Esher puts up his hand. Now, Arabelle, a lady does not scream at her friends during dinner, does she? You want to be a lady, do you not? Oh, like, yes I do, but like I'm still a little girl. Yes, but little girls need to learn. And you are so very wise, I expect you to learn far faster than most. Would you prove me a fool in front of our friends? No, I wouldn't prove you a fool. Now, that's my girl. Now, Arabelle, I am sorry. I know that you were hungry earlier and that this is quite late, it certainly passed your bedtime. But you're doing very well. And your new friend here, he means well. So you must listen to him. She looks over at Esher. Can I tell him that he's a meanie head and he did real wrong to me and I didn't like it? Esher looks back at Arabelle. Well, in a way, but to do it as a lady. Okay, so she looks at you. I accept your apology. Do you? Yes. Is that good? Because like I totally don't, but like I made it seem like I do and that's what ladies do all the time. A small smile. A light Esher's face. Yes, little one. That was perfect. Now, straighten your fork. If you can be a little more sincere, you might get some dessert. I will have a tummy ache if I don't have dessert though. Well, then you better be sincere. Is that how that works? Yes, okay. For children under the age of 10, yes. I accept your apology because you were not the one that did the bad things. Thank you. And folks, sincere enough. Can I have dessert now? Because otherwise my tummy will be in a lot of pain. So for dinner, you will have dessert. How much dinner do I have to eat though first? Your dinner, all of it. But there's like a lot of stuff on this plate. There's like a whole chicken leg. Well, then you better eat the whole chicken leg. Do I have to like swallow it though? Just do what you want. Okay. Thank you. So is there food in front of us? Oh yeah. Okay. And he was so next don't you usually like say something before we eat? I put my fork down. I'm like. What if I add back in the top? That's true. My adventure is down under. We're like Joana. Joana. Joana. Joana. Wow, that's a blast. What happened? What happened? Oh. Yes. Yeah, rescuers down under. Yeah, I'll hold on a little bit. I had spent so long praying in the cathedral while Sergei communed with the morning lord that I was just happy to be back. I will make this brief. I've said enough. Connery well. Oh, forgive me. Forgive me. I will make this brief. I have done many long sermons today and I am tired and hungry. Garex give us the power to destroy our enemies tomorrow and to get a well balanced meal tonight. Amen. Amen. How's that? Love it. So let us not delay any further. Yes. Well, the morning lord spoke to me in his voice. It seems that there is but one thing that can stop this. The veins must be punctured. They must be broken. You will need, you will need to betray Stradania. The choker around her neck is but a fraction of the heart. It is bound to her. He must pierce it at her most vulnerable, at her most weak. Can you do this? I don't know. How? When? You keep it on you. The Raven Queen hates undead. The power in the hairpin will pierce the gem. And with it, Stradania will crack. But know that when you do this, she will fight like a wounded animal. She will stop at nothing to destroy you. You have to do this at the right moment. For if, if she sees this coming, you will all perish. You will all die. I cannot tell you the time. I cannot tell you the place. This gift, the dark gift of the blood queen, was forced upon Stradania by a fake mother, Baba Lysaga. And only the love that courses through that hairpin, the love of a true mother, can begin to break the curse. And that is what I know. My mother put a piece of her in that pin. She will save us all. You, all of you, will save us all. Earlier, you said that someone had deceived you. Did you mean your mother? When my father died, Stradania begged for my mother to make the trip from her homeland to Barobia. She did not survive the trip. Even before, I had worked with her to turn from the Raven Queen to the Morning Lord. My God, our God. She told me that she had shed her ways. She had seen the light and she had turned to the Red Bull God. I see now that she never let go. The Raven Queen never released my mother. And for a moment I was sad to know that she would lie to her son. But now knowing that I know and seeing what they've seen, if she hadn't, we might not have the salvation that we have. Her faith was strong. Regardless of who her faith was in, I am glad that she had it. Even unto her dying breath. Yes. Thank the gods for that. So at a weakest moment, it has to be at the ceremony. Do you see me? I think it would be after this. No more privates and time. Yes. While Victoria is alone, no. Exactly right. We'll be ready. I think that we have to strike sooner than that. And how do you plan whether you are alone after or during? How do you plan to keep her at bay? If she sees even a moment of hesitation on Victoria's face, she will not hesitate to strike you down, regardless of how she says she feels of you. We cannot allow Miss Isaacs to actually become wed to by Sridanya. Such a thing is unthinkable. We do not even know if she intends to drink him feast. And how do you plan to stop a wedding whose wheels have already been put into motion? You know those innocents, those people that have accepted this invitation. If you cancel the wedding, she will slother them all. So we do not take a chance at what happened. Attack on the head and... No, I think it needs to be done. There. You two are together at the ceremony. You will not be far away. Any later when you're alone with her, there's way too much risk. She could kill you in an instant. Now I'm with the professor on this phone. We don't know what will happen when the hairpin strikes the gem and it's... We can lose everything. Look, I agree. The longer we wait, the worse things are going to be. And when you're up there with her, you're going to be closer than anybody else. Can we presume that she will get married without armor or sword? Hopefully, I'll ask Esher. Esher? He wipes his mouth and can tell he's actually been imbibing in the food before you. Well, knowing what I know of Shtonja, she would never show up to a wedding clad in steel. But in a gown to rival all gowns, save for one, the dress that hangs in your closet, her mother's wedding gown. It's good. Well, she won't be armed. Or armor. It's our best choice. Well, we hope, at least. She is someone to wear of our intentions and foolish to think that she wouldn't be awarded in some way. Maybe not physically but magically. Things that I do not understand, of course. She indeed, Kana, will be powerful even without armor or sword, but any boom we can take. Power... You said it was the power of your mother's love. Yes, there is love in the people. The love of us, her children. I can feel it when I open it. Is it you alone who remind me that the lullaby of Shtonja was written and sung by your mother, yes? It was not the lullaby, Sturidani. It was the lullaby, Ravanomiya, for her children. But yes, I know it. I do. I did many a night. I thought that path was lost, but we didn't find any trace of the second part in my saga starts. You know the whole thing. I could never forget it. The sound of my mother's voice singing me into slump. I'm sure as we sing it to her, so do her. She will be wicked. Yes. I'm sure as we sing it to her, so do her. I will sing it for you. Not here, not now. But when the time is right, she has asked me to facilitate the wedding. But you must promise me, if I do this for you, that you will not hesitate. For if those words leave my lips and you do not do as you are asked, she will slaughter me where we stand. And I could not do that too, Irina. So you will be there with them? Yes. A fit away? Standing beside you to guide you into watch. So, Gage, it's foolish at this stage to even presume that your sister can be saved. After all the horrible things she has done, and the witness today with your... I have never met my sister. If the vision that you have told me you saw is true, then the babe I grew up with was already tainted, was already marked. Though I loved her in our youth and she was kind and strong, blood runs deep. And hers is dark. She cannot be saved. She must be killed. What I would say is, perhaps we'll know her true intentions. If the pin strikes the gem in her choker and that freezer and whatever bomb she's in, perhaps she'll have an immediate change of heart. If she wishes not to fight, then perhaps we can reason with her. But not forget the evil that she has done for centuries. Well, that was cursed. She was cursed with from youth. Regardless, judgment comes for us all. That's right. Correct, Shepard. You will see how she reacts. If we can break the curse and she, even so much as thinks of her to anyone in the ceremony, can be killed by her. But if we free her, and she's as relieved as we are, maybe there is still some good left. I believe that people's past actions, even a true heart, perhaps they have the best intentions. Perhaps. But I suggest we don't gamble with hundreds of lives. So when the blow is dealt, we do not leap to strike her immediately. We prioritize evacuating all of the civilians. Sergei, you will keep singing the lullaby while we evacuate them from the cathedral. Yes. And you will not strike until everyone is safe. And the lullaby will, as long as you sing it. If what you told me is true, she will not be able to break from her stasis. She will be frozen. Only until the last note falls. How much time do we have? Minutes, at most. It will have to be quick. You will have to lunge forward. You will have to pierce the emulate immediately and then run. You will have to get everyone out as quickly as possible. Anyone left behind is all but shortly dead. It would be very dangerous, yes. All right, fine. As much as I hate complications, we need to evacuate. Do you think that that was her plan all along? To invite hundreds of innocents to protect herself? Hundreds of human shields. Perhaps you're right. It is possible. It might not be correct in the sense that she doesn't trust us, but by having the people there is unsure that we don't need them. Oh, she definitely does not trust him. The only one she trusts is Victoria. For the rest of you, she would slaughter you just as soon as she could. She will not risk turning Victoria away from her, so you live. For now. But yes, I have no doubt that she's invited the whole of Morovia here as a shield, knowing that she will be in a weakened state, but knowing for well that the honorable band of the Azran expedition would never dare to risk harm you. Risk harming hundreds upon hundreds of people of innocence. So you find yourself in quite the bind. But she has no idea that we know about the lullaby. She does not, right? Then she certainly cannot know about the nature of the hairpin. Right. Or what it can do, otherwise she would never have willingly given it to anyone, much less Victoria. We got a couple aces up our sleeves. We can do this. We have a chance. You will have to do it without my help. Unfortunately, both myself and the rest of the brides have been denied entry to the family. For you see, Anastasia Ludmilla and Volenta are quite irritated that another will be added to our ranks and they have become uncouth, quite un-ladylike. To make sure that all goes as planned and is as lovely a ceremony as possible, that none of the brides should ruin Victoria's special night. She has asked that we do not attend. When all is said and done, we should find you. We will see. Well, let's say you accomplish all this. I'll await you on the gate. I'll await you at the bridge, outside of the gates. Alright. And perhaps you could assist if we can give these innocence outside the castle. Perhaps you can help us. I will do as much as I can. I'm not as concerned, but then, as I am for my own skin, you see, should you fail at any step of the way? Should she find out I've helped you at all? It is my neck on the line. Sure. Escher, the road to redemption and penance begins with a single step. Oh, blah, blah, blah, all that. A vampire can't be redeemed. I suppose that's true. The Abyss waits for you. There's nothing but darkness before you. Yes, and don't I know it? Good. Can you have a plan? And you're trusting all this on her shoulders? The one that teeters between the wicked and the good? What if in that moment she chooses to be wicked? What if she chokes? Then, just plan the... Well, which is all die. Wow. That sounds like a good plan. This mutton is delicious and it takes a huge bite off of one of the haunches. I don't think any of us even really expected to make it out of here alive after a certain amount of time that we've spent here anyway, so... The fact that we even have a shot is more than I could have hoped for. And no matter what happens, I trust Victoria. And at the end of the day, something were to happen where she weren't able to execute, so be it. I'm going down swinging. That's all I can ask for. Speak for yourself, Shepard. I don't intend to die. I intend to get out to Barovia. If Victoria fails us, none of you will raise a weapon. Do you understand? But Professor, I... I don't understand, Professor. If Victoria fails and she submits to darkness, then we watch her get married, enjoy the festivities, we let her succumb to her inner desires, and we find a way out. Meanwhile... We can be damned. Meanwhile, Sergei has stunned the bride, drawing her ire, slaughtering him and surely drawing suspicion to all of us. Not necessarily. She knows. I truly believe she knows that she will succumb to my blade. A life for a life. It would not shock her that I would turn on her in her moment. As I do not believe she asked me to facilitate the wedding because I am her kin. Because you keep your enemies closer. I think Clayton may be right. If you fail, the wedding commences. We do what we can to survive, we find a way out. That is not acceptable to me, Professor. You can have a plan B, but your plan B will be running from Dragon's Fire. Victoria, if you fail us, I may perish myself and I may fail, but there will be a horrible inferno. And it all ends in fire, at least my end. But you won't fail us, will you? I won't. Do you swear, look at all of us and swear it? I swear that I will not fail. I think in certain times, can the kindness bring death to us? My thoughts exactly. I do not view us as cruel for bringing an end to Stradonia. I think it will be a kindness, despite her lack of ultimate agency and her terrible life. As I was told earlier today, there is no wickedness in death. Exactly right. Who told you that? It sounds a bit... Alright. Alright. We have a plan. And if... I'm so sorry, I've got the hiccups. I've been trying to swallow them because you're like, they're really serious. But they're really okay. Thank you so much. She starts chugging water. After that, it's every man for themselves. I'm going to help you. Arabelle, you have helped us so much. I know, I'm so good at helping. It's really awesome. We must keep you safe too. Yes, I know. And so I will help you tomorrow. I made a sword out of some paper and I have a little armor set that I will wear, that they also made out of paper. And I will charge forward and say, you died now! You made armor? And you made armor and a sword out of paper? Yeah, I folded it really cool. I found a book in the library that talked about how to do armor out of paper and stuff. It was really awesome. Did you make a helmet out of paper? Duh. I would like to see it later. Okay, I will show you. I put little blossoms on it too because your armor has blossoms. It is quiet. But mine are pink, you know, because it's way prettier than ugly yellow, but that's fine. I don't mean to interrupt. Professor. Yes. Something just occurred to me and maybe you can answer the question, but the case and everything in it, what happens to that if you croak? That's like a really good question because I'm probably not going to be inside. But you know that like, there are, sir Klutz will be inside and he's like kind of dead already, but... I think sir Klutz will be fine. There's no way to otherwise. But Lucas is going to be inside too. There's a family heirloom that passes down from Asra to Asra. There's always successfully been passed down. Presumably, I would die and it would be granted over to... To me? To my daughter. So I do get the case. That's so cool. But I don't know. I've never not tested it, obviously. Well, maybe then... Maybe at the end of the day then, your fate's already sealed and you aren't going to die here. Maybe that case has to make it to your daughter's hands. Who's to say that if I die, it doesn't? How did you get it? I got it from my father. How did you come up with that? Did he give it to you? Yes, he did. He retired. He passed it on to me. And if I die, it wouldn't be able to be opened until my daughter was able to learn how. So, everyone inside would be trapped until that time comes. And perhaps someone with Illum 10 could learn how to destroy it. At that point, everyone inside would be viscerated into nothingness, even if I'm understanding how things work correctly. But that will not happen. I have faith, as I've been saying today. So, am I going to have to stay in the case tomorrow then? Because that's really spooking me out a little bit. How you can help is you and Sir Clutz need to guard. This helps. It's very important to make sure that there are no vampires besides us. Oh, yes. So, speaking of Sir Clutz, you may have tripped a couple of times and ruined some really valuable artifacts and family heirlooms and stuff. And you also had that really cool portrait of yourself that looked super old, because you were really young in it and you're really old now. And so, he was walking by it and he kind of slashed it with his sword. So, I mean, that's fine, right? He seems to have a character for him now. Thank you for telling me. Oh, yeah, you're welcome. I was going to tell you because I didn't want him to get in trouble, but... oh no. They're all just things. That's fine, make a new repair. But I need you to stay in the case. Your safety... Yeah, of course, like, I will do that. Is my number one priority. And that's why if things don't go well, I will be doing what it takes to survive. I understand. If things go poorly, and you need someone to hold them back, do whatever damage we can, that will be me. Shepard, I would pray that you would stand shoulder to shoulder with me in battle, but as soon as the battle is lost, you will guide everyone home, ensure they survive. I will hold off anyone who attempts to pursue. I will bring great fire and furious anger upon them. That is my behind-the-scenes professor. Do as you will. And maybe it's a trick. And none of this will work, and we'll all die. At least this will all be over. Sir Geyan, what is the... What is the main host, the crystal heart that's up in the tower? Destroying this amulet may freeze Trudania, but the blood queen will continue to terrorize these lands. Borovia will forever be cursed. She will simply find a new host. That is a very good question, Kanna, and in the way that I do not have the answer, I have simply the path that the morning Lord has guided me on. I know all that I have told you, but it's not a thing more. I fear that though there are things you will have as an advantage against my sister, that the lack of knowledge will also be a disadvantage. I don't know if we will have those answers. You're right. I think that our first step is the one that we have. But I hope that if we are lucky that when the tie is broken, that that thing that calls itself the blood queen will find itself trapped yet again at the Ember Temple. That is simply a theory. No longer a host, but waiting for another. Yes, yes, if that's what happens, then we could just put every possible guard on the Ember Temple and lock it away for eternity. None of this will have to come to pass. It is a nice thought at the very least, but all we can do is the next best thing every step of the way, and we know that we must shatter the amulet, the gem, and we must kill the Stradonia. And that is our quest, that is our charge at this point. We have our plan. Does everyone know their part? Yes, totally. Yep, what is your part? To help you is the best I can for sure. By doing what? Staying inside the case and making sure Sir Clutch doesn't break more stuff. Exactly right, and guarding the front door with Lucas. Yes, okay. And also kind of this too, okay? And she jumps off her chair and she scampers over and climbs up onto your lap. She straightens your spectacles and she leans in and she gives you a gentle kiss on the cheek. Thank you. I just want you to know that I love you and I believe in you. She jumps down off of your lap and to each of you, she scampers up, embraces you, gives you a soft kiss on the cheek and tells you that she loves you and she believes in you. And as she finally says this to Sarnax, she scampers up onto her seat again and you all feel graced by the hope of the innocent. I love you too, Aureba. Oh, I totally know that. When all is well, I love you. I love you too, Aureba. I totally know that. When all is well, I love you. I love you too, Aureba. I love you too, Aureba. I love you too, Aureba. I love you too, Aureba. I love you too, Aureba. I love you too, Aureba. I love you too, Aureba. I totally know that. When all is well, I think you and my daughter, Emmy, would be wonderful friends. Do you think she would like me? I think she would love you. Do you think she'd want to play games? Absolutely. Do you think she would like the stories that I tell? I think she would love to tell you stories as well. Do you think she would pick on me because I can see into the future and the magic and stuff? If she's a true as, then of course not. I like her already. I want you to have a friend. Like a real true friend. Sorry, sir, class. And you will. You will very soon. I promise. We love you very much, Aureba. And you will accept our friendship and consider you a great friend. Ew! I can't be friends with adults. It's so gross! Jack, no! Yes! Whatever! Is it time for dessert or no? Yes, yes. My stomach rarer! The trifle! Aurebel is the same goes, and I said this last night, feels like a lifetime ago, that I love you, you love me, we're a happy family and so on and so forth. We agree. I already did the whole thing last night, Conn. And a kiss from me too. I did it very well last time. Won't you say you love me too? Yes, yes, we all love each other very much. I really like this. Eat some cake. I offered it to the egg. It's called a trifle, okay? Like Clayton literally, I'm sorry, Professor Azar, and literally said it. And literally said it. He said Lucas, a trifle, and then a trifle up here. Well, there's cake with custard and toffee and some fresh berries. Look, these berries are fresh, right? Well, it's all like magic. It's all whizzies, and it tastes delicious. It really does. And as you look over, the trifle smothered, like all over her face, all over the front of her pajamas. She's eating it with her hands. This is like, really good, I like it so much. Me too. Could not have a second one, you know, because we're all probably going to die tomorrow. Yeah. Yes. It seems fair. It does, it does seem fair, yes. Are we forgetting anything? That we are very deeply exhausted. Yes, we're horrifically exhausted. We need sleep. You look over an arabella space burst in our trifle snoring. Oh, God. Well, we've exhausted the wee little one. You watch as Escher scoops her up. He takes his kerchief and he wipes the chocolate away from her face. I will take her to bed. I should leave. Stay. His eyes linger on Kana. Oh, you have a meeting with Kana and Shepard this evening. The self-improvement meeting. Yes. I can provide a suitable room for such a meeting. A conference room, if you will. Well, I was not invited to that. I'm sorry. I need to pray. You agreed? Yeah, yeah, I agreed. We'll learn a lot, Shepard. We'll be okay. Oh, yeah. All right, all right, yeah, whatever you say, Kana. If I might interject, I just not forget that we... cancelled that vote. No, please, please do continue. Never mind. Well, I very eagerly like to learn about all the battle tactics there are to... I will come for you when I've laid the little one to rest. And we must provide Escher a path home out of the case for, I presume, Shredan will be expecting him somewhere. So he needs to keep up here and say... Well, if Kana's as eager a pupil as she seems, I'm not sure he'll be leaving until morning. Lucas will see you out whenever that happens. He nods and he exits the room. Sergei, without a word, looks at all of you and nods and leaves as well. I'll grab my lantern stand up. I'm like, I look like it was fucking terrible. My eyes are even more deeply set than they normally are. And I'll say, if we all know our role and our path tomorrow, there's nothing left for me to do besides pray and sleep. I will pray for us. And if we fail, I will pray for our souls. All of you. Thanks, Arnax. Good night. Good night. Good night. I'm gonna go to my room. I'm just gonna pray to make sure like, I already got in the sense that Garex is there from the Cathedral, I think, but like, I'm just still like, shit. Well, he's getting late. I believe I will retire. You, I'll turn to an alternation. He's gone. He left with our bell. Okay. Well, I will turn to my... study. Just be alone for a bit. Good night. Good night, Professor. And I'll get up and I'll go to my study attached to my room. And I'll pour myself another drink and I will open my case and then pay the way. Paul, do the same old... Not do that, but I'll exit the case and I'll kind of like, feel some of the fabric from the wedding dress in the closet and then I'll go over to the bed, take off my prayer beads and put them on the nightstand and go to bed without prayer. Okay. Noted. Well, I'm very eager to hear about all of Asher's tales of war's past, aren't you, Shepherd? Alright, hold up. I don't know what you think is going to happen here, but the only reason I even said for a second that I was going to come to this meeting is because when he was talking to you, he was saying some creepy shit, alright? And I know that we saw him acting all innocent and fine with airbell, but at the end of the day, he's still the fucking enemy. And he might have a heart somewhere deep down in that undead soul of his, but I'm keeping my fucking eye on him, alright? I think that's a fair assessment. I appreciate that you're joining me for all the knowledge we'll be getting tonight. Although I feel like if he had any evil intention, he would have slayed airbell, a child that we left unattended in the professor's case. Oh, goodness gracious. Okay. Look, I'm not mad. I know I sound a little rough and upset, but I'm not. I'm not mad. I just need you to not let your guard down, alright? That's all I'm asking. Okay. And at the end of the day, you are an adult and you can do as you see fit, but I'm just making sure that motherfucker doesn't try anything weird. Oh, okay. Very well. I will assure you, I will not let my guard down. I don't wish to be pushed off of any bridges anytime soon. Yeah, yeah. We're going to get that motherfucker too, by the way. Oh, yes, yes. He is on my shit list. Anyway, just keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you. Just don't, you know, look, I know he looks... He looks like Asher. Yeah, yeah, alright, yeah. Looks like I'm... And I'm going to sit down like for myself another glass of bourbon and just like sit on it and wait. I'm very keen to hear more about his past. He seems like he's quite ancient. Yeah, well... You hear a soft... Thud as Asher leans up against the wall. His shirt completely unbuttoned to his waist. His abs rippling with muscle. His chest taut as can be. A late sprinkling of blonde chest hair between his pecs. His hair is completely down and flowing over his chest. You can see the rise and fall of it as he breathes. Conor, come, it's time for a lesson. As soon as I say I'm, I'm just gonna... Oh, Garex, help me. Asher, what are you doing? I'm going to teach Conor a lesson. Isn't that what you wanted? Little samurai. I do. Then come. And he motions to you. He moves one finger. I'm going to coach Conor. The blocky's just going to teach me this. I've done this before in training. We normally change down into our, just our giz. I mean, it's quite a lot of it. Would you like to change down into your giz? Would that make this easier for you to practice? Oh, well, I am bleeding out quite a bit here. I know. I can smell it. I mean, right now this is weighing quite heavily on me. Shepherd, I hope this means no offense. I just start taking my armor off and put my helmet down on the cushion. And I just like start strapping up my wrists as if we're about to wrestle. Yep. Come. You walk closer and quick as lightning. He spins around behind you and pins you to the wall, flipping you around, pressing his body up against you. You can feel the cold chill of his skin as his hard chest presses into your body. He leans his lips down next to your neck. Never let your gun down for a second, Conor. Or it will be the last time you do. I sure am. Speechless. Yes. Now I'm a doctor. What do you feel, Conor? Hot. Hot. I'm like I've felt before. I'm unsure of this sensation, but I don't see that there's any immediate danger, Shepherd. And I'm looking over Ash's shoulder at Shepherd. He spins you around and pushes you forward. Do not be daft, girl. You are far too strong, far too powerful to let a vampire in the night seduce you in such a way. And he walks up to you and he tilts your chin up. You have failed the first test. Never let the devil so close. As he swiftly moves around you, you feel his stomach, or you feel his hand on your stomach. What do you do? Is it by my wound? Yeah, I would say it's near your wound. Careful. But you just told me not to let my guard down, and I'm getting in his face now. I'm just shoving him away from me. You can see the smile on his face. He's enjoying this. He continues to do this with you, pulling you back and forth, yelling at you, and fighting with you until finally your stance becomes that of the warrior. He is trying to fight with you, and you have let him far too close. What are you going to do? He looks at you like prey as he slinks towards you. His eye is vibrant and bright as he licks his lips, his fangs exposed. For a second, you see the corner of his eye as the eye is shepherd up and down, seeing how he's perceiving this entire situation. Once again, you feel him pressing up against your back. Solid. I'm going to attempt to make a sweeping motion with my right leg and try to attempt to trip him from behind. Side step, and I'm going to try and push him down on the ground. Roll for it. Dex? Dex, you say? 21. As he presses into you, his finger, his hands move towards the wound. As you feel the tip of his long fingernail graze the wound, you do not hesitate as you quickly, like the wind, move behind him, kick, and he falls flat on his ass. He lets out a loud laugh as he looks up at you and says, Finally, the warrior spirit has learned. And this is why I have faith in you above all else. Do not ever, and he looks you directly in the eye, let lust take control of a heart as pure as yours. And if you're lucky, someday, when it is the first, it will all have been worth it. And just as quickly as he says it, you watch as he turns into bats and floats out of the door. I look at Shepherd. I start gathering up my armor. You all right? You know, I'm just, I'm really glad you were here, Shepherd. Yeah? I would normally be embarrassed by this. My master would have shamed me. Yeah. It's a lot. It's just not really what I was, well, you know, did he really need to have a shirt off? You know, I thought the same thing. I thought, well, maybe we'll get into some wrestling, but then he seduced me, just as all vampires do. I was suddenly, well, you know, as I said, very hot and feeling unlike anything I've ever felt, but have you felt a sensation before? I'm going to bed. Good night, Sam. Good night, Shady. Well done, the two of you. That was great. Very good. Thank you, Sandy. Kelsey is so disappointed. Kelsey is so fucking disappointed. Oh, he's so close. Thank you, Nicky. I was like, yeah, yes, it is, it is. Fucking salivated. I'm making policy over on it. And he did. Throw him to the lions. Yeah, I know. God. And with that, you all make your way to your respective rooms, or to the room that you share outside of the outside of the case. Is there anything you want to do before bed? I would, if anyone... I'm just going to... I feel very cold, too. I'm like, tired. I'm going to browse the internet and falsely. So I'm going to just curl around my fire as quickly as possible and just pray until I physically can't stay awake anymore and then just pass out. I'm like a lizard around a heat lamp. There isn't so much what I would do the night before. Oh, we know what you're going to do. I don't mean to browse the internet for what I will be doing, or what we'll be doing in her quarters tonight. I'm going to put a single samurai in my area. Swipe right. Swipe right. There's another single samurai. Oh my god. I would like to do something before the wedding, but I'm good otherwise for the next one. Okay. So about an hour or maybe two after I went to my study, I would get up and I would go to Arabelle's door. Okay, so you go back into the case and you go to Arabelle's door? You hear the loud snoring of Arabelle. She is out like a light. One more three times. Arabelle? What do you want? I was sleeping. I was having this really weird dream. Do you mind if I come in? Yes, but okay. I'll gently open the door. She is laying in better hair as tousled all around her. You can see a spot on her pillow where she's been drooling for at least the past hour or so. But she wipes her face and she tries to make something right with her hair. She sits up and pulls the blankets tight around her. You can sit down on the bed if you want to, right there. It's warm because my feet were there. Thank you. The whole bed was warm because I was sleeping in it up until like three minutes ago. Like toasty warm with like the body of a small child sleeping in here. You know, because tomorrow her favorite people are going to die and like she might be stuck in a case forever. So she was like sleeping peacefully like right here in this bed. You know, like three minutes ago. I'll sit down. Thank you. Okay. And I'll sit down. Arabelle, I know. That is my thing. You want to help tomorrow. Oh, yeah, I know. And so I will do that. I need you to stay alive. Well, yeah, like I'm not going to die. I'm only six. So that'd be really stupid. I'm just begging you. And however you, I know you're very powerful. Really powerful. More powerful than you for sure. To help us tomorrow. Under no circumstance are you to endanger yourself in any way. Do you understand? She reaches out and she grabs your hand. I'm not going to endanger myself. But I know what comes and I know what is coming. I can feel it. And even in here, I hear the beating of the heart. And I can help you and I will help you, but I don't even have to leave the case. I've been practicing and I know I can do it. You just have to trust me. She squeezes your hand. Trust me the way I trust you and know that I would never do anything that would endanger me or you. Okay? I do trust you. And that's why I trust you with this. And I will reach into my pocket and I will pull out several long fingers. Several long fingers. I was worried to moth. What am I going to do? This one is for my friend. Okay. For my daughter Amelia. You're not to open it. Are you sure? Unless I die. Okay. You understand? Yeah. I miss one. This is for you. For me? Yes. Can I read this right now? No. Oh. You will also not to open it unless I die. But if it belongs to me, then how come you get to tell me what to do with it? This is very important. I know. I understand. That's why I'm asking really important questions. My number one goal tomorrow is making sure that you survive. Oh. I won't open it then unless you die. But you won't okay because like, you won't. I won't die. But if I do, I'm going to make sure that you survive. But you don't die in this case and that you can get home where I am from. I'll tell you there are tears streaming down her face, but she's trying not to show it. She's trying to stay strong. It's very important that no matter what, you will survive. I'll survive too, but I'm just making sure that you will survive. And that no matter what you do, you find where I'm from. You take this other letter to my daughter and there will be further instructions in the letter. Okay, I will do that, but let's don't die, okay? I won't. That was like, really not cool way to wake me up. And finally. Oh, there's more, okay? I will pull out a small pouch. You are not to touch this unless I die. Do you understand? What is it? Doesn't matter what it is. You can't do it, do you need to feed it? No, you don't need to do anything unless I die. Okay. To build from the instructions from my daughter, or in the letter to my daughter. I'm going to place it here and I'll open the drawer of the desk that's in her, the red one, I guess it's in her room. It said to be safe here. Sure, okay. You are not under any circumstances to open it, do you understand? Yep, totally got it. Unless I die, and you will know when I die, this case will not stay exactly like this, I have a feeling, I'm not a parry. I know, I've seen what it would look like. I know what it would feel like. So just trust me and I'll trust you, okay? We can trust each other. And no matter what, I need you to get home so that my daughter, Andy, has a friend. Yeah, and that can totally only happen if you let me sleep though. One more thing, and I'll pull out a little package in my last pack at the top. Only if you die right? No, you can have this now. Are you kidding? Is it candy? It is. You are a liar, you would let me have candy in the middle of the night? It's a special circumstance. Oh no, you are going to die tomorrow, aren't you? And I will place a bag of toffee in the bag this next one. Eat that whenever you care to, now and later. If you know, we trust each other right, and we would tell each other everything and no secrets. Yes. I'm going to eat that whole bag of candy the moment you leave. Every single little bit of it, I'm going to eat it right now. All right, well, enjoy. Okay. I love you. I'll kiss around the forehead. I love you too. And so like, don't die, and I promise that I will help you and you just have to trust me too, okay? All right. Okay. Are you like my dad now? Because you know I don't have one anymore. I know you don't. I will replace you, father, but I'll take you under my wing. I don't know if I can teach you anything, you know, smarter than I am. Yeah, I know. Don't see what I can do. But I can't read, so. Maybe that's where we'll start once this is all over. I like that a lot. Okay. Thanks, dad. Good night. Good night. Good night. Good night. Love you. I'll tuck her in. I'll turn and I will. Candy please. Oh. You tucked me in. I can't reach it. So put up on my feet. Thank you. Good night. Good night. And I will close the door. I love candy. She starts eating. No heart. No, fucker. Are you okay? Ow. You all find yourselves in a deep, deep slumber. So deep. It's innocence and the Raven Queen on your side that as you awake, all semblance of exhaustion has been wiped from you. Oh my god. Thank you. You feel better than you felt since stepping into Barovia. You feel fresh. You feel new. You feel emboldened and empowered. You awake? Sorry. Thank you, but I'm with you. All right. I saw most of you girding your lion for some like a ripping dream. No, not again. Do we still have, so we have the Raven Queen's Blessing. You have Heroes Feast, which, or the Raven Queen Blessing extends your Heroes Feast. And Arabell, the Hope of the Innocent, helps to wipe away your exhaustion. Thank you, Arabell. Thank you. Long peace, my friend. You wake up feeling refreshed and renewed, better than you have in a long, long time. Today is the day. And it is already almost noon as you arise. Good morning, everyone. Morning. Good morning, everyone. You should be ready in the room in case we're summoned. Agreed. We all look like you fit for a wedding. I'm not going to be a bride. I'm not going to be a bride. I'm not going to be a bride. We all look like you fit for a wedding. Yeah, I guess as much as we can be. I'll have put on like one of my nicer, more cleaner geese that I had in my pack. I tried to scrub and get some of the dirt off on and try to look more presentable for today. Just in case Plan A fails. All right, well, I need to finish my tea. But I believe we should make haste. Ready when you are. I look down and at the bottom of my cup. That's my favorite part of the day. I read the tea leaves. He's richly writing down how he's going to fuck me there. Which I should I do? A little one. Always a little one. A little one. And then my old trusty. Yeah, I start with first bigger little. Let him already. He's already. I'm already. I'm already. Oh, you get three. I get three. At 19. I've had three. I know that. Interesting. All right. I guess that makes sense. All right, I'm down. Keep me honest here. While the professor is finishing off his tea, I'm going to take out a small texture that I've had since the beginning of the campaign. Pop off the cork and I'm going to lay out my Naginata, my Katana, my blood spear. And yeah, I'll do that for now. And I'll pop open the tincture and I will apply for one minute to each. I'd like to apply my oil of sharpness. Okay. By pieces of slashing or piercing ammunition. I'm sorry. I can only do it to one weapon. So it'll be, it'll just be my Naginata then, which is my, it is a slashing weapon. Yep. And then, yeah, I'll just be coating it with oil of sharpness, which is going to give me a plus three bonus to attack and damage rules. Damn. Damn. All right. For one hour. So keep me honest on if we've been longer than an hour and I'll take it off. I'm sharpening my blades and getting my trusty. Presumably the wedding will be more than now. Yes. You know that the wedding doesn't start until the evening. So you imagine you have a couple of hours before someone's probably going to come to take you, someone to take Victoria to get ready and then someone to take the rest of you wherever you're headed. And then it'll be a few hours from that point before the wedding actually happened. Well, I have like some time to find somewhere to do that. With that being suspicious, I suppose, like back at the case, I don't know if we'll find a time to... Well, presumably, I think they would mention that we'll participate in some way. So we need to be told what to do. And maybe after that point before the ceremony starts, you'll pick a quick note. That's a good idea. Is there anything else you need to do then? Once we part ways, I would like to be a part of you until the ceremony. Is there any chance you have some jade in your candy briefcase? How much? Just a few beads. Oh, that's it? Just a few? Easily. Curio. You can't do those noises around Calvary. In my hand, there's a nice handful, probably like 10 or 12 jade beads. Okay, I will take them from you and I'll find some string in my bag and I'll thread them through and tie them. And I'll approach this pictorial and I will ask for your wrist. There we are. And I will put the jade bracelet on your wrist and I will say beads of jade for beauty. That's lovely. Thank you, Miss Calvary. You will bring honor to all of us. I trust you. I know that you do good. It's so grateful for you, Miss Calvary. It's all spilling ages. I'm just speaking to you. Keep that in mind. It's for spells. What a waste. I can't promise no. It's just for the rest of it. It's for beauty. It looks as if you have much more than that. It's with this that you hear the door thud open as Escher saunter's in. He looks immediately to Kana where a blush rises to your cheeks for a second before you regain your composure. He smiles. His eyes trail over to Shepard as he looks you up and down. Well, I hope you all slept well. Surprisingly so. Well enough. That is great to hear. Now, as you know, I will not be able to join you at the wedding. And I did hear that there will be sending up separate parties to retrieve Victoria and the rest of you. So this is when we will say our goodbyes. Goodbye. We'll meet you at the gates. Yes. And now, as one does, I dabble in a bit of alchemy. So, Sarnak's catch and he reaches into his pocket and he throws you. Oh, fuck. Yeah, a vial. You are able to catch it. He then throws a vial to each of you. Oh, what is this? They're health potions. The superior or whatever the highest health potions are. They're like really good shit. Hell, yes. You can use these for a while and dust them off, check the potency. So hopefully you don't need them, but if you do. You preem? Yes. Oh, you sure? You can thank your good pal, Esha. His abilities. Holy shit. Thank you, Esha. Of course, come. He's perfect. I think we all learned a lesson last night. We did. We did. Thank you for your wise teachings. Anytime, darling. Do you do? I don't really blush. Esha. Yes, Sonex. I want to thank you for this and for all of your assistance. I admit I am surprised that a creature of the night has done such good for the light. But I just want to say, in the end, you have a long life ahead of you, an eternal life, and a long path of atonement and redemption and penance remains. Think of the first step, and then the next, and then the next. And perhaps centuries from now, you won't recognize yourself as you are. The first step is why I helped you in the first place. Freedom. And with mine, I hope you find yours. Good luck to Tim Ollivier. You will need it. But you have surprised me, and I hate to say I am rooting for you. But I hope you surprise me again. Now, I do. You boughs before you win a flourish. Cona, you see his shirt pops slightly open. You can see the faint, tough hair on his chest. See rice himself and saunters from the room. Sneak in the quick biting of the lip. You're sure that I did away from the skin? The door shuts softly behind him. You all begin to look around, and you notice Sergei is nowhere to be found. But sitting on the side table, one of the beds, you see a note quickly scrawled. In Sergei's, what appears to be Sergei's hand, and signed with Sergei von Zarovich. My business began in the morning. I regret I could not wake you. You all slept so peacefully. I will see you at the wedding. Do not forget the plan. Victoria, I believe in you. Your friend, your family, Sergei von Zarovich. All right. This is it. Let us go. And I will lead the party up the stairs out of the case. We were just on the case, right? You slept outside of the case, I thought. I slept inside. Fine, you're outside of the case. Sorry. It's irrelevant. Where you slept doesn't matter. I will lead everyone out of the case into the room that was provided for us. And I'll get to the top of the stairs and I'll say, Well, Manu, this is for you. I'll grab the dress out of the closet. Hopefully, whoever they send, they can carry this with some kind of respect. And now we wait. You wait for near an hour. Silence drags on. Your energy waning. The anticipation nagging at all of you before finally the door itself opens. And you see two race like women, their skin, a pearlescent white as they walk in their tattered dresses around them. Their nails long and dark as they look towards you, Victoria. One of them rushes over, grabs the dress from the closet and ushers to you to follow. See? See you soon. Victoria, darkness and death are not wicked. Only the mortal actions we make. Please. See. As you exit the room, they lead you from room to room along passage after passage until you finally find yourself in a beautiful hallway, lined with large gilded paintings of the von Zarovich line. And lastly, into one of the largest rooms you've seen since entering, only slightly smaller than that of Stradonia herself. The bed hangings in here are clean and beautiful. Flush, blue velvet. It's gorgeous. The wraiths begin to fuss with your hair, apply makeup to you. They begin to slowly help you undress. You spend time with them. And a couple of points attempt to talk to them. And one of them opens her mouth to show you where her tongue had been cut. They cannot speak. They can only assist. Is in silence and fear, hope and uncertainty. You begin to get ready for the wedding. Is there anything you'd like to do while you get ready for the wedding? No, other than, I don't know if they would be doing this, but when the veil goes on, then again, the hair. As the veil goes on, they recoil from the hairpin. They're on death, not allowing them anywhere near it. You slowly slip the pin into your veil, securing it in place. The rest of you wait for another hour or so before finally you hear a rap on the door. Try to get up immediately and look at the professor. Not open the door. You open the door and Rahideen's hunched figure is there staring at you. Your service has been requested. You shall usher the guests into the wedding. Yes? Yes. You are dirty. Do you have anything else I can wear? Kiskejiro. He nods at you in thanks. That was my dirt. What the heck's up to? Let us away then. He leads you through the castle, through passageways and secret rooms until you find yourselves in the grand entrance hall. And it is beautiful. The doors flung wide open, draped in red velvet draperies, large black garlands placed all over. Beautiful, pristine red and purple roses dot everything. Ornate golden vases line the entranceway, filled to the brim with flowers. The scent of lavender, the scent of roses, the scent of love. It is loud as you walk in. The cathedral, the other end of this level of the castle is already teeming with life. As Rahideen ushers you towards the doors that lead to the cathedral, he places Kana and Clayton on one side, Sarnax and Shepard on the other. He hands you small parchment to pass out to each guest as they come through. He explains to you to greet them and to show them where to sit. You choose. Make sure that no side is more heavy than the other. As you glance around the cathedral you see that it is so vastly different from what it had been before. What it had been the night before. It is now full of color, ready for true wedding. And if you didn't know any better this would be the grandest wedding fit for a queen. Not a countess, not Shraddhania. It is beautiful and your heart lightens just a bit as you see the Barovian cometers milling about. Some of them looking truly joyous to actually be at an occasion sitting down with their family members. There are undead servants milling about offering or derves but they look to be piping hot and fresh. No rot to be found. The Barovians hesitantly take them and eat them and it's delicious. And joy for the first time in a long time has come to Barovia. You both take your positions, or all four of you take your positions to the side of the cathedral. And you begin to hand out pamphlets. Oh, right this way. Welcome to the wedding. Isabella, Vunkarshtan. Mrs. and Mrs. Isabella. Anyway, please come in. Shraddhania von Wanzarovich. Oh, I said Vunkarshtan. I have started to call it a man. And Isabella. God damn it. I'm not there. It's so unfair. It's been three ranks. It's entirely the wrong name, Kamma. You're feeling all right. That's not even good. I'll have one. I'll say, there's no bride side or bride side. We're all family here. Sit where you like. Huh? What? Yeah, take this. Go sit down. Yeah, you know, kid that way. Sit down. There. This is nice. Perhaps Shraddhania intends well. Kamma, don't forget her name. I'm sorry. It's just part of the dream. God, very well rested. Anyway, I apologize. This way. This way, please. Shepherd, are you well? You look like you've been up late drinking your whiskey. No, no. I mean, I had a drink before I went to sleep, but no. I also saw a drink before. But the drink before you went to sleep. I had a couple drinks. It's not good for you. Really, I'm just saying, Shepherd, I wasn't... It's not unusual for me. Could you hold out your hand for me very quickly? Okay, you're fine. Sarnax. Okay, come on. I'm trying to make light of the situation in the whole honesty. We need to focus. All right? I am very nervous. Yeah, I can tell. Sit down over there. We don't believe in anything. As you reach out another pamphlet, the person grabs the pamphlet from you, but also grabs your hand. It is good to see you again. And as you look up, you stare into the eyes of Davian Markov. My goodness. I'm sorry. I didn't even recognize. Freshly cleaned, his staff in one hand. It is good to see all of you. I regret to be here, unfortunately, but an invitation was sent to the family and one of us had to accept. And it was a chance to see your beautiful shining faces. So I have taken it. Whatever happens, just let... No, we're not going to land in bad avidy, all right? I have no doubt in my mind that with you present, that all are safe. I'm with... Yeah, you can all hear. You're just one on either side for the sake of visuals. He's the family well. How is Vasha? Is she doing well? She is a skimp, but she is doing well. She misses you, all of you. Still alive? Yes, very much alive. All right. She does not take a single day for granted. We leave to see a friendly face and know what you can do. So if this... If this is poorly... He smiles at you and he tilts his staff a little bit towards you. I may be old, but I am not stupid, and I always come prepared. All right, well, be safe. Hopefully they're serving some of your wine at the ceremony. We delivered a new batch of champagne de l'estom. Thanks to the efforts of all of you. It is the first we have made in many, many a year. I hope you will take a chance to have a glass for us. I'm looking forward to it. There are no seats right there. He grabs each one of your hands and shakes it, pats you on the back as he almost waddles in his old age towards his seat. Welcome. That's not new. She would invite one member of the family. Seems like a... I'm obviously a threat involved. I don't like this. He can handle himself. He's always power, he's capable of it. I'm glad he's here, frankly. I am, but I get a bad feeling. It's at this moment that you hear a loud clanging as you see a form tumble from a door off to the side. The clanging, the sound of piddling the second being thrown across the entry hall. As Blinsky stumbles out of a room, apologizing profusely. As he rushes over and picks up Pittlewick, they both laugh. As he holds him on his leg, you will tell me many stories, great stories, and I will learn how you were created. Pittlewick looks up at him, his sinister smile, but he seems happy, contented. As you watch, is in the room from whence they came. Gertrude steps out in a beautiful dress, a pale, pale pink, and followed directly behind her, her mother. In a matching gown, but to fit her age, is the four of them walk towards you. Mademare immediately looks to you, Clayton. Thank you for... for checking on my daughter. We spoke last night, the very wee wee hours of the morning when I arrived, and she told me that you brought her all back to her. Yes, yes. When you have a chance, when things settle down after the wedding, I would hope that you would come to Barovia and I would love, I would love to offer you a fine dinner in my home. Yes, we have been... Thanks. We've not been back to Barovia Village since we left the first time, right? Apologize, it took us so long to find your daughter, but I must say, it was divine providence for you to meet her the very next day. Hopefully, you can get some time with her, maybe take her home for a little bit. She squeezes your hand and smiles up at you, it's Blinsky rushes over to Sarnak's and embraces you. You have spent a lot of money in my... Blinsky, it is good to see you. In my business. I just put my head in my hands. She holds. She holds the second by the scruff of his color. Have you seen these really cool clockwork, man? Yes. Look at them, and he taps on his stomach, the sound ringing out throughout the cathedral. The Barovian commoners look at all the emotions coming from Blinsky, but he does not seem to have the social graces that everyone else has. I'm glad that you were able to come here. Do you have any additional toys on you? I don't have any coin on me, but I can give you an IOU. No, just this clockwork, man, but I tell you, he took a large bite out of my shin and it is going to bruise. I lost a nail and cracked my skull, thanks to him. There will be a scar. Yes, no, I don't doubt that. That is a whole... I mean, be careful. He very dearly murdered our friend, Kanaya. He almost pushed me off a bridge. Ah, clever little creature. Yes, he has such a trickster. I cannot wait to find the ways that he works. Scamp, really, yes. Yes, really. Good luck. He's mine now. I'm truly excited now for a wedding. Yes, enjoy. I will guide you to sleep. May I have a second for Peter Wick, please? Of course. Thank you. I will guide you, so Shepherd, keep away, this is mine. You watch as they all make their way in. For another 45 minutes or so, you continue to usher new guest, actor new guest, some that you had seen in Barovia and Balaki in Krez. Many familiar faces, many you had never seen before. Hundreds of people have arrived at Castle Ravenloft. As you're distracted, communicating to... or talking to each other, you feel a warm hand on your shoulder, Shepherd. The children are safe. Young Tommy inquires about you. Oh, goodness. Father Lucian stands before all of you. Father, have you been? Well, I was asked to come to facilitate the wedding. And when I arrived this morning, I was told that it was going to be handled by someone else. But I have been asked to stay and to watch. And so I will. Because it has been a long time since your joy found its place in Barovia. You're glad the kids are all right. They are. You will have to come see them. They worry for you. Yeah, yeah, we'll be sure to do that. Did Sridani include any kind of threats in your invitation? The same threat she included in everyone's invitation. That declining was not an option. At least one from every family invited must appear. I could not bring the children, though they wanted to come. Thank goodness, they're back in Velaki. They will not forgive me that they've missed out on such an event. But I cannot trust them to not ruin it and incur her ire. Father Lucian, how is Velaki doing after everything that happened? It is weakened, but the people have hope. They work tirelessly. Things are being rebuilt. No paint is finding its way on old buildings. It looks better than it did before. But only time will tell. That warms my soul to hear. Thank you. And mine, son, next. And mine. You all look well. I will not lie and say I was not worried for what this would entail. But this is love. I am glad to have come. Me too. Now, where should I sit? I'll take your seat. Come on. You lead Father Lucian to a seat and help him to sit down. As the guests begin to come in more slowly. One after another. Time between them longer and longer and longer. Until finally it's been a significant amount of time until you've had a new arrival at all. As the doors of Castle Ravenloft open and a hunched figure walks in. Covered in a shawl, figure begins to hobble and move towards you slowly. Bones old. Hunched beneath her cloak. And as she gets to you, she pulls the hood back in her bright sparkling eyes. Madam Ava smiles at you all. You will not see me on the guest list. But I hope for a friend you will allow me to see you. I hope for a friend you will allow me entrance to my sister's wedding. Of course, we will never deny you. You weren't invited. Of course not. We thought you left. Divalaki are safe. My kin, that's what I said. I am old. Do not correct an old woman. Divistani are safe. My kin are safe. But I could not miss a wedding. I could not miss this. Well, I've been taking very good care of Ava. I know. She tells me so. Oh, you still talk of course. That's impressive. I will do what I can to raise her. She will be a very powerful wizard one day. More powerful than I could ever hope to be. She will put all others to shame. But she is of my blood. Now my knees weaken my back tires. Clayton, escort me to my seat. Please. Keep on here. So well. It is wonderful to see you, Madame Ava. It is wonderful to see you. I feel well, Madame Ava. Do you feel it? Fate culminating? Yes, enjoy. I feel it as well. Thank you. As we kind of walk down the hall, I'll say to her, I'll lead him. Once we're done, I'll say, I'm going to be honest, Madame Ava. I can't wait to see you again. I know. I saw it in the crystal ball. Do you see anything else? Many things. Alright, well, like Sonic said, I have a good feeling about all this. She pats you on the back. As do I, my dear, as do I. The currents have fallen, and I have not strayed from their path. I think, regardless of what happens, I think we might do this. Is with this, the loud bell begins to ring. As Rahadin rushes up, you must all take your seats. Shepard, first quadrant, second pew, third seat in, and he starts to give you seats. First, second, third, fourth piece of the cathedral. Take your seats. Sure, you will. Thank you. We're not seated together. Stradagna does not wish for you to be, so you will not be. Alright. Very well, we find that amenable. We'll just have one final conversation before the ceremony begins. Make it quick. You will. The daughters will be closing in minutes. Of course. You best start applying your oil now. Is it, this is a funny kind of course. Yes, you're fine. I'll just like take out, just dump it into some, like a cloth and just start. Oh, how do we do that? This makes it even more critical that we do not focus on lighting up Stradagna when Victoria makes her strike. We must ensure that all of the civilians in our respective quadrants are taken care of. We will escort them before the first gunshot, the first flame is flung. I believe that if Victoria can strike, then if we have a few more minutes, we should be able to get everyone out of here, okay? Yeah. We'll all be in a different portion of the cathedral as each of us focus on those around us. Yes. And one more thing, all of you, my comrades and companions. I have stared into the fire every single night since we've been here. And I do not know what will happen today, but I have seen a victory in the flames, a victory in the fire. I've had doubts, especially after yesterday in that heart. But I have faith in Garex. I know you have faith in Garex. I hope both of you is as faithful as you are. I hope you have faith in Garex, and if not Garex, have faith in me. I do have faith in you, Sonex. I have faith in all of you. I have faith in all of you as well. And I have faith in Victoria. As do I. I think we need to be ready. I do too, as well. Clan B's be damned. This is going to work. I have faith in loyalty in each of you. I wonder why I'm not a devout follower of Garex. I believe in all of us. I trust you all with my life. And I hope you trust me as well. Yes, of course. Of course. I hope this isn't the last time we see each other. I'm sure you'll make it out alive. But if it is, then it has been a honor. Truly. It has been an honor. And I'll be heading towards my seat, Shepherd. Yeah. Remember when, why Garex chose you, be the Shepherd. All right, Sonex. Good luck. You too. Good luck. You all find your seats as the doors close with a loud, reverberating thud. Everyone begins. The noise of the hum in the room begins to get louder. Everyone's looking around. You too begin to look around seated next to people you've never met before. But they introduce themselves. You introduce yourselves. You make pleasantries as you wait. As you wait, as you wait, you look behind yourselves. And you see that this cathedral is two stories high. And at the very back of the room, one on the left and one on the right, two wooden spiral staircases leading up to the second floor. And for a second, you see a glimpse of white. And you know that on one side is Victoria. As everyone is finding their seats and getting ready for the wedding to start, Victoria, you find yourself looking down over the cathedral, staring at the room before you. It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. And so are you. Your hair has been done to the utmost, most perfection. Your makeup is pristine in every way. And the dress fits you perfectly as if it was made for you. The two raids that move about you getting you ready, silent. But they do anything that you wish. Is there anything that you'd like to do before the wedding for dooms? No. It is with that that once again a bell tolls. As music begins to play, the race usher you towards the stairs. And you know what you need to do. You pull the veil over your face. You begin to descend the steps. Everyone in the room rises to their feet as they all turn and look towards the stairwell on the right. Victoria, a vision in white. She begins to descend the stairs, turn after turn. Her dress trailing behind her. The beating, catching the glimpses of the candlelight. It flickers over her as if she's almost shimmering with beauty. She makes her way to the back of the room and out of the shadows steps someone you remember. Your father takes his arm. Grabs you, places your arms together. He leans down and he says, I've always loved you and I loved your mother too. I'm proud of you my daughter, of your strength. Who you have become. Into one day, you will become. I love you. Congratulations. As he squeezes your hand, he begins to lead you down the aisle. Sergei stands in a beautiful radiant gold suit of armor. His helmet off as his dark hair flows around his shoulders. He book held out in his hand. She slowly make your way to the end of the, as the end of the row, you take your spot up next to him. He looks down at you and smiles. A tear rolls down your father's face as he lets your hand go and takes a seat. The very front of the pews looking up at you in awe and wonder and in love. Sergei looks to you. I have faith in you, Victoria. You look beautiful. May the morning water shine his light on you this day. As everybody lets out a loud gasp, as standing at the very top of the left staircase, is Stradagna, clad in a beautiful black wedding dress. It hugs every curve of her body. The veil touching the very floor that she walks on and as she moves step after step as she descends from the alcove that she had been in. It looks almost as if she's not walking but floating on air. She gets to the very end of the pews. No one comes to collect her, for she needs no one. Her head held high as she moves down the aisle, heading towards you. Her eyes locked on you. You can see it through the veil, her face filled with joy, love, passion. Her eyes never leave yours as she walks gracefully towards her brother. And as she stands in front of you, towering over you, you see it for the first time. Trust. It looks down on you, the eyes of someone who's deeply irrecrobably in love with you. She reaches out and you feel her hands cold on yours. As she turns to Sergei, a hush falls over the entirety of the chapel. As Sergei raises his voice, begins to deliver the sermon. We are all gathered here today to witness the marriage of Miss Victoria Isaacs and contest the Dania von Zorovich. If there is anyone in this audience hall that protest to this wedding, may they now do so or forever hold their peace. He looks out over the cathedral and not a single person stands. It's almost as if not even a single person is willing to breathe. Victoria, you are the only person that notices a sigh of relief ripple across your Dania. She sees that no one will stand to oppose. She squeezes your hand just a little bit tighter and there is worry. She's nervous. If a creature like this can be nervous, and she is in this moment, Sergei continues. He preaches on about the sanctity of marriage, the importance of love. It lasts for a near hour as he pleads out to all gods, all beings of higher power to honour the wedding between the two of you before he finally looks between his sister and you, Victoria. It is now that I would ask my beloved sister, Stradania von Zorovich, to recite her vows. Stradania, let your hands fall for a second. You can see she's partially shaking. I'll give her a quick smile. She smiles back at you and you can see her relax in front of you. I vow that for the rest of our lives, for eternity always, that I will watch you, that I will protect you, that I will love you, that no harm shall come to you as long as you are mine. In that with this ceremony, I pledge to be yours always. Sergei nods his head and he looks towards you. Victoria Isaacs, your vows. Bye, Victoria Isaacs. Take you, Stradania, to be my eternal partner, to have and to hold in shadow and in light, from this day until the end of our days. My joys shall be your joys, your sorrows shall be my sorrows. And as of today, we shall bind ourselves together for better or for worse. I have come to accept that my path to you has been no accident, and it is in fact what I've been searching for my entire life. My suffering for Elmita has led me to this dark land, so that I may finally bring an end to our lonely anguish. It has guided me to you, Stradania, and I vow to bring you to peace at any cost. My soul is yours. She squeezes your hand in hers and you see all semblance of reservation fall from her face, and she smiles down at you, a true, genuine smile, and she mouths the words, I love you. Sergei turns to you both. And as with the power of this to me, that I and Sergei begins to sing. The song is soft at first and Stradania shakes her head, unsure as to what is happening, and she slowly begins to turn his head, her head towards Sergei. She realizes all too late as her body locks up and she freezes. She looks directly at you. Her eyes wounded as she begins to mouth the words, why, as she is frozen in place. Sergei looks at you and with desperation, do it now, as he slowly finishes the song. So with that, I will reach up to her face and I don't know if she's like paralyzed. Yeah, she can't move, she's in a hurry. I'll move around to the front of her and close her eyes and kiss her deeply, and then I will pull the hairpin and thrust it into her choker. As soon as the tip of the hairpin meets the ruby within Stradania's choker, there's a flash of shadow magic as the pin shatters and a loud crack echoes through the cathedral that drowns out the gasps of the wedding guests. Stradania's paralyzed green eyes are filled with shock, rage, hatred, betrayal, and sadness, as she is knocked back by the eruption of magic. As the initial cacophony dies down, the cathedral is deathly quiet for just a moment, and all that can be heard is the faint beating of wings. Her victorious father had been is now a cloud of falling ravens' feathers. Then you hear a sickening, slimy sounding pop as your attention is drawn to the cracked gem, and in a single moment it bursts into bloody red energy that lashes out across the entire cathedral in tendrils of power. They almost look like tentacles as they strike every living creature in the room. I need you all to roll a charisma saving throw at disadvantage. Yes. We still have to add the one before a saving throw. Yup. Oh wow. 16, 17. So 19. That's not bad. Oh boy. I got a two. I got a ten. You said charisma? Yes, at disadvantage. 13. Who needs to twist? I should twist. I should twist. I got a 16. I'll roll my 16 roll. Okay, that was even worse. Sorry, I got a dirty 20. One more twist. Thank you, chat. We're panicking. I fail. I accept my fate. 16. 24. Dirty 20. 16. You all feel your body is locked up as if the blood in your veins is working against you, puppeting you into a helpless observer as arcing streaks of eldritch power course over everyone in the cathedral, including Sergei. His eyes are wide with realization as the lullaby loses its hold over Sherdania and she begins to move. The wriggling bloody tendrils from her gem shrink back from the crowd to completely consume her in red energy. They seem to affect her worse than anyone else in the room. She lets out a pain scream as her body is covered from head to toe in pulsing, bulging veins of corrupting energy. Stray bits of flying power escape from the gem. In an instant, her proud, beautiful, youthful exterior ages centuries until she looks like a withered crone. Her fangs sink back to normal teeth, human once more. But only for a second as her vampire body rejuvenates a moment later. Her beauty returning, the rapid shifting and changing back and forth happens again and again and again and again. Human to vampire, vampire to human, young to old. Until the Countess lets out a brutal roar of anguish and with a flash of crimson light, relative calm returns to her. Standing before you with maddened eyes full of betrayal is the mighty undead warlord you all know too well. Her previously unblemished pale skin is marked with coursing, writhing veins of eldritch magics that seem to be empowering and torturing her all at the same time. Her face is sunken and otherworldly, her fangs longer than they'd ever been before. Her eyes, once a soft green, have turned to pure red and streaming down her cheeks are two endless streams of crimson tears, blood streaking her porcelain face. As she looks at all of you, you can see the malevolence of a lifetime of evil carved across her face. Her face, her countenance is cracking as you see genuine sadness as the devil cries. She turns to you, Victoria, in a single swift motion she grabs you by the throat, her long, sharp nails digging into your flesh, piercing into you. Her red eyes are filled with equal parts hurt and hate. You were supposed to be different. You were supposed to be my one light in the darkness. You were supposed to feel devoid inside me. Shredania suppresses a bitter sob as she attempts to wipe away the streams of blood from her cheeks as the bloody tears remain. They continue to flow. This is everything I did for you. I let you and your friends traipse around my land on your little expedition. After I promised you everything, everything you could want, after all I thought we had, you were there, betray me. You steal the reincarnation of my first love. You lock her in a church. You bring my brother back from the dead to turn against me. You use my mother's hairpin. The only token of remembrance I have of her to do this, to me. Shredania gestures to her entire presence with a melodramatic flourish of her arm as her grip around your throat gets tighter and you feel your windpipe closing. Her nails dig deeper as blood trickles down your neck. She hesitates a moment before releasing her grasp and throwing you to the cold stone of the cathedral floor. She turns to all of you, to everyone in audience. No, good deed goes unpunished. I was a fool for thinking things could be different and you are all fools for coming to this land. You've doomed me. You've doomed yourselves. And you've doomed Barovia. You've doomed even more than you could possibly know. You cannot comprehend the dark powers you are evoking. Shredania raises her arm in the air. The crackling pulsing energy that's held the entire cathedral at bay shoots back to her arms freeing everyone from their blood-puppeting stasis. Except for the Five of You and Sergei. Immediately all of the wedding guests scream in terror and attempt to flee but with the pulled magic in each of her hands the Countess sends a coursing blast of elched power to the doors of the cathedral which hit and spread across every inch of the walls and windows. A magical barrier shimmers into existence, pulsing and throbbing, preventing all escape. The horror in the room erupts as the Barovians almost trample each other to find exits. Did you all forget? Barovia is a prison. Not just for me. We are all prisoners here and we all serve. And now you will die. The Countess turns around to survey the panic and terror of the scene and she inhales as if to savor the fear. And for the first time since your betrayal the sadness seems to be soothed as a horrible grin of acceptance comes to Shredania's face. The bloody tears still streaming down her face she looks at each of you. Her irises as red as the cracked gem around her neck. However, she cannot bring herself to match eyes with Sergei. Her voice drops to a more measured volume. If it's blood you want, it's blood you shall have. Horsemen! She raises her right arm in the air and calls to the death knights in the corners of the cathedral. They immediately snap to attention and face her. You are my will, my horsemen. You are my blade. You wield the power of death. Now kill them. Kill them all! With a furious spin Shredania drops through the floor of the cathedral leaving all of you completely helpless as hundreds of panic Barovians scream, cry, plead and beg around you. You see each of the four horsemen, formerly knights of the morning lord, raise their weapons into the air as four beams of sickly, necrotic magic streak through the air and collide in a single point near the ceiling at the dead center of the room. From sword, scythe, flail and lance, the arcs of blue, purple, green and white converge into a vile black energy that rains down upon the crowd below. The wailing of fear turns to the agonized death throes of the countless souls around you as the necromanic magic shrivels and withers the flesh of the trapped wedding guests bringing them to a brutal, torturous demise. Grtruda and her mother, mad mary, clutch each other in one final embrace as their lives are ripped from them. Glynski gyrates wildly while feebly attempting to shield himself with pittle with the second who is immediately splintered into scraps and cogs as soon as the blast hits him. Davion Mardakog raises his staff against the nearest death knight but he is too slow as the staff splinters and he stumbles forward. Father Lucian kneels in quiet prayer, seemingly accepting his death as it comes surely but not swiftly and not without pain. Isaac is smashing commoners out of the way with his fiendish arm as he attempts to flee, dying in absolute terror. Rahadin turns his blade around and falls on it to spare himself. The familiar magic he knows so well, granting himself a swift death his victims did not always receive. And poor Cyrus covers his eyes with his hands, perhaps hoping that if he could not see the descending death, he could not see him, but he was wrong. As the wholesale slaughter seemingly comes to the entire cathedral, you all feel no pain as the crackling black magic seems to miss each and every one of you and Sergei as if fate itself was protecting you. You then will notice at the back of the cathedral the small form of Madame Eva extending a gentle hand outstretched toward you all while holding a crystal ball in the other. Although she has clearly been horribly withered by the power of the horseman, her face shows no pain or fear. A soft smile comes to her face as the apocalyptic ritual comes to an end and the still quiet of death washes over the cathedral. She looks towards all of you with her milky white eyes and struggles to open her mouth. Fate has chosen you. Go. Win. With a final sigh, Madame Eva's eyes close for the last time and her crystal ball shatters as she collapses. And as the orb shatters, so does the bloody eldritch power that holds you. You all regain control of your bodies and while every single other person around you is perished, the six of you still live. And that is where we'll end the session. Oh my god. How could Victoria do that to me? After everything I did for her. How could it all come to this? It's all true. It really is different this time. It really is now that we must all face our destinies. Where do those destinies lie? Find out in chapter 20 of Curse of Sturdania, Lament of the Damned. 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