We need to linger places a little longer over breakfast! I feel like there's a lot more gossip that I'm missing out on because we rush through bacon and eggs to get an early start. Coffee is meant to be sipped, tea savored, friends elaborating more on "hey, I used to be a Harper and am secretly one of the Vistani, and we ought to go visit the camp outside of Vallaki to see if they know more about my missing father".

More time talking over coffee!

Most of the day passed in travel until we came to a river crossing. It was a bit of a challenge to get up to the bank from our path, but fortunately, the Vistani had pointed out a safe path along the river bank, then under and around the bridge to get up what could have been unpassable terrain. The stone bridge the Ivlis River. There was a beautiful waterfall in the distance, and I can see why people have nice things to say about the valley. It's truly an amazing place to behold. Right up until the headless specter on a horse got shitty with us about stealing his head. Attempts to de-escalate his mounting (hehe) agitation with us failed. He tried very hard to kill Moss and Allynia, but DAMN, they were on point. After we managed to dispatch the thing, Cassandra picked up some sort of knightly emblem it left behind, but none of us recognized it. Unfortunately, being some kind of ghostly...thing... without being put to proper rest, it will likely be back to haunt the bridge again. Poor soul.

We chatted a little bit while travelling before setting up camp. There was some interesting conversation on what people think about Lord von Zarovich. It was agreed by all that his power is significant and impressive. Ideas were tossed about as to whether he needed to be destroyed or imprisoned or cajoled into changing things to make life better for the people of Barovia. Really, I think he's fairly low-hanging fruit. It's easy to point a finger at the undead lord, but having a pulse by no means guarantees that you have kindness in your heart or the best interests of others in mind. Humanity commits plenty of evil acts against itself all on its own, just fine.

Is Lord von Zarovich a morally good person? Probably not. Is he a good ruler? That is yet to be decided. He's managed to hold his kingdom for hundreds of years without significant change, not a feat many can claim, so he's at least a very effective ruler. So then the question becomes, to be considered a "good ruler", would one's country need to thrive or would the populace need to prosper? Curious question again, as one then fine-tunes the question further to ask which portions of the populace actually count? If the aristocracy is doing well but not slaves, is that good enough, or do all men count equally, or do we include the women in there too?

But is Barovia thriving? Even from the perspective of an undead lord, is a decimated village and shit infrastructure really the best you've got? We'll see what Vallaki is like, I suppose. A town that hasn't been under attack for the last two years. Maybe we just haven't seen this place at its best.

I kind of feel a little bad for Avery. He clearly didn't have siblings growing up, or he would know that you don't stay in bed well past everyone else getting up. BUT! He seems to be a light sleeper, so he only got a monocle painted on his face and not the full walrus mustache and evil goatee. I'll have to chat with Allynia about what to get him when we get to town to make up for how much he's been sputtering while on the road.

Once he was up and face washed (mostly) clean, he told us about having had a strange dream about a knight of the outer rim that unsettled him before being startled awake by his besties. No one really knew what the meaning of his dream might be, but at least we talked about it before setting off again for a new day of travel! Ireena seemed a little unsettled in the morning-- maybe she had bad dreams as well?

A few hours from the river, we came upon a fork in the road. Our rough map from Ismark shows the eastern road leading to Castle Ravenloft. Shockingly, no one wanted to divert that way and investigate the vampire lair. To the west, there was another massive gate like the one we passed through to enter Barovia. The gates entered just as silently and with no apparent means of operation. Just like our entry-point, nothing here gave off a magic aura or the slightest indication of how they work!

I don't think we made it ten feet beyond the gate when our klepto brilliant dragon who is correct in all things spotted certain doom a friggin' clue. Balls of light danced around the forest floor, and without a second thought, our sage dragon knew this was an important message we needed to follow. I said "whoa, whoa, fey are little shits, and will'o'whisps aren't your friends"... but what do I know? Apparently, with this particular group, the light shall guide us.

The little balls of luminescence brought us to a crumbling tower off the path hundreds of feet into the forest. Our best guess is that at some point, there were actual walls that went with the giant gates across the road, and this was once a watchtower of some kind positioned along it. The balls of light disappeared inside the tower. Now, I'm not an overly suspicious woman by nature. I believe in giving people a chance, hell, even second chances that aren't deserves -- but a chest sitting in the middle of a deserted tower in the middle of nowhere lit up by glow-lights? Screams trap.

And yet, it was filled with candy. And by candy, I mean thousands of silver coins with dreamy, bedroom eyes looking up at us from them. Also three leather-bound tomes that were positively ruined from damp and age. Avery thinks he can restore them enough to transcribe some of the information onto fresh paper. Thankfully, several of us stocked up on ink and paper at Bildrath's.

I'm keeping watch with Cassandra tonight while Avery works on restoring the books. Actually, I think Cassandra is doing more of the guarding, I'm more watching Avery... Now that I'm sure that isn't something creepy, like human skin, and the writing inside is just writing, and not some demonic summoning incantation (I think??), it's really quite fascinating to watch.

Maybe Allynia needs to keep first watch with Avery's book restoration and I'll go last so she can feed the ravens that watch us at dusk and I can wave at the bats that stalk us before dawn.

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