DRAFT VERSION
Cassandra played a dirge as the procession made its way through town.

A woman, Mary, she was called, ran from the tavern to grab Ismark by the hand. She was nearly hysterical as she informed our colleague that her daughter had run away from home after the two of them had had a fight. She'd left a note saying that she was going to Vallaki for help. Described her as nineteen, green eyes, blonde, last seen the morning before. Ismark promised to help.

Parriwimple in front of the church, moving undead corpses into a pile. Father Donavich had not been answering calls for some time. I knocked, but no one answered, so I let us all in to investigate. The priest could be seen kneeling in front of the altar, whispering an endless stream of prayers, barely able to make out what sounded like, "my son did not deserve any of this".

We introduced ourselves, asking for his help in putting our charges to rest, but he said that it was a problem because he had lost his faith in the Morninglord over the last two years. Or perhaps more accurately, over the last month or so since his supposedly dead son was returned to him, not quite as alive as he had been and yet not fully dead, either. Doru had been the one to organize the attack on Castle Ravenloft two years ago, on the home of a vampire lord, and not all that surprisingly, he was returned to his father as a vampire spawn with orders to lead a group of undead to attack his father and the church. Somehow, Doru was able to overcome the compulsion to do this, he killed the other undead with him, and spared his father. Father Donavich gave him an amulet of the Morninglord for protection, and Doru locked himself away in the church's undercroft, suffering alone ever since.

This struck a memory of a story that Avery and I could recall about an elf by the name of Jander Sunstar. He was supposedly one of the first vampires ever to have existed in Faerun but was still a good man. He loved art and music, fought against his baser cravings, and even led a group (unsuccessfully) to fight against the Nine Hells. No one knows where he is now, but he was able to stay true to himself and not lose himself in death.

Decided to try to give Doru the same opportunity. (Some of the group is a little more happy killing people out the gate. There's a difference between slaughtering mindless zombie flesh bags and going full murder hobo on sentient beings just because they don't have blood pumping through their veins any longer, or because their moral compass isn't in alignment with yours. If that were the case, we'd be executing half the politicians in Waterdeep!) While Ismark, Ireena, and Father Donavich prepared the graves outside, we went down into the undercroft of the church.

Somehow, Doru was still holding things together, despite over a month of isolation. I was very happy to hear from him that he wasn't actually being starved to death down there, that vampires don't actually have to drink blood to live. They just crave it, which is a relief about a whole moral dilemma that doesn't need to be worried about. Doru and Avery communed with each other a bit over hardships, cravings, emptiness needing to be filled, and their mutual solace in the Morninglord. I'm glad they were able to talk to each other about that stuff, 'cause it's right there sort of on the level with "Magic" for me. Glad someone else gets that shit and can make it work; not it. Trying desperately to be sensitive over here. Short of it? Doru was able, with a little coaching, to resist the temptation and just be himself. Or at least, be his new slightly undead self, but still himself and not letting the hunger be in control instead.

Once satisfied that he wasn't an immediate danger to us, Doru told us the tale of what happened two years ago...

He says that some two years ago, a mysterious stranger came to town and befriended the burgomaster. This man purported to be a traveling scholar but was really a great, big fibber! While training with Ismark, Doru came across letters and papers and things, and he managed to discover that the man was actually Rudolf van Richten, famed monster hunter. Naturally, this got the young, impressionable Doru very excited about the prospect of hunting his own monster, trying to convince van Richten to help him fight Lord von Zarovich. The aged, accomplished, famous monster slayer said "no, no, far too perilous", and the young lad said "nah, we got this".

Spoiler alert: the famous monster hunter was right.

Doru says now that we need to be extremely careful in Barovia, that Lord von Zarovich is far more powerful than anyone realizes. He was tortured for nearly two years for information on the famed monster hunter before finally being killed and turned into a vampire spawn. He says that as a vampire spawn, he can feel Lord von Zarovich's bedroom eyes presence all the time, and he's unsure if he would be able to refuse if directly ordered to do something by the man.

Wait. Shit.

I wish I knew more about vampires. If he can "feel" Lord von Zarovich's presence now, does that mean that his lordship simply has a constant presence due to his status as a creator, or does he have a more active ability to use Doru as a magical conduit? Can he make Doru do things against his will from a distance, or would he need to be in the room with him? Can he see what Doru sees, like some wizards can with divination magic? I think maybe it's just safest to assume that magic can do ANYTHING, so Lord von Zarovich knows EVERYTHING. Except that way lies madness. Hmm.

Anyway, it seemed logical to assume that Lord von Zarovich wouldn't have been asking so much about van Richten if the man were dead, so he must have gotten away and gone into hiding again. He'd been using a false name with the burgomaster, but Doru described him as a middle-aged man with short black hair, a trimmed goatee, and green eyes with the air of a dignified nobleman. Might be worth speaking to him if we run into him in our travels.

Some other pieces of advice Doru gave about vampires were that they can transform into bats, wolves, and smoke. Which is just. So very cool. So was the walking on the ceiling thing. Fantastic! They can also regenerate from grievous wounds, with no need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. But the trade off is that there are terrible cravings for the blood of others, and apparently, everyone hates you and wants to kill you. Because they are jealous of you being able to be a wolf whenever you want.

Father Donavich was so relieved to hear that his son's mind and soul were still intact that he was able to help us perform the rites for our charges. Rose, Thorn, Walter, and Matilda were laid to rest alongside Kolyan. Cassandra played music to send them on their way, while we all said a few words in their memory. The children's ghosts waved to us, holding onto Matilda's arms, who smiled at us, surrounded by the children as they went to their final rest.

After that, dozens of bats flew away from the cemetery, despite being the middle of the day. Now, I love bats. Bats are amazing, both on their own and because bugs are of the devil and anything that eats bugs should be revered, but it is damned strange to see that many of them out in the day. Unless we were being spied on by dozens of vampire spawn?

Father Donavich seemed less concerned with the bats and more concerned with Ireena, mentioning that there is some sort of "curse" in Barovia regarding women with red hair. Cassandra and I agreed that it means they are sexy and sophisticated; the priest said it means they're cursed to die young. Phooey on him. Sexy. Sophisticated. Father Donavich suggested that there has been some civil unrest in Vallaki, so it might not be the safest place. There is a holy man at an abbey to St Martikov near Kresk. Ireena doesn't know what she wants to do with herself yet, so she's content to go with us for now and see where the winds take her.

It was decided that we would set out for the Tser Pool in the morning. Ismark agreed to make arrangements for us to get a wagon and a pair of mares while we made a brief stop by Mary's home. There wasn't much to learn there. She had left a letter for her mother saying that she felt fairly hopeless in the village as things were, and that she was going to try to leave to go to Vallaki to bring back help. She had clearly taken some of her things with her. There were no signs of a struggle or that she hadn't left willingly, so we again told her mother that we would go to Vallaki to look for the girl (even if she did have a sizeable head start).

Heading across the street, we returned to the Mercantile, where we got some supplies from Bildrath's: rations, feed, paper, ink, paints, canvas, bedding, and the like. Despite being a grumpy, old bastard, he did wish us luck and left us with the parting advice "Don't mingle with the Devil."

And at long, long, long last, Avery gave me permission to tuck into the fresh fruit and desserts from the welcome basket left to us by Lord von Zarovich. It was divine. The food exquisite, the wine even better. I have no idea why an ancient vampire lord with powers untold and no reason to even take notice of us would extend such a greeting, but I'm happy that he did. At least, I think I am...

I really don't understand Lord Naughty Bedroom Eyes. If three seasons of makeup and props in grammar school theater has taught me anything, it's that one must always ask "What is my motivation?" That and "Where can I get more olivine pancake when putting on The Half-Orc and the Handmaiden??" So what is Lord von Zarovich's motivation?

Villagers attack his castle, so he rains fire and brimstone upon their village, turns the ringleader into a vampire spawn, and sends him back to kill his own father. That tracks. "I want this guy dead; I want his family dead; I want his house burned to the ground."

He's interested in a particular girl in town that he seems to have a thing for, so he coyly pays her visits but she doesn't remember anything about it; he attacks and kills her friends instead of sending flowers; murder, no puff pastries.

Newcomers enter his domain, he sends a welcome basket with exquisite delights.

I don't understand his motivations, but I'm very curious.

I also think that I have a very different moral compass from the rest of the group, based on conversations over the last couple of days. Maybe it comes from being raised by a bureaucrat? A lot more of that philosophical "gray area" normalized, I think. One of those things is saying these people are good and those are wicked, but by what standard?

Circumstances forces good men into making wicked choices every day. By the same token, circumstances can lead those with the darkest hearts to redemption. Maybe Stanimir was onto something about lifting a curse from a once noble prince, although I'm pretty sure the group is leaning towards finding a way to kill the ancient vampire lord to lift the curse.

We'll arrive at Madame Eva's tomorrow, and we'll know more then.