12/05/2016 - Into the Mists (2)

August 1790

Journey to Romania

As the party travels further east in the high summer of August 1790, they find the roads little more than dirty tracks that kick up lots of dust and are probably impassable in the rain.

They stop at some villages and find the people unwelcoming of strangers and dislike their guide, who appears to be a gypsy type referred to as the Vistani.

They hear wolves howling and a pack of them appear to watch the travellers as they camp in the woods one night. They travel further eastward towards the Carpathian Mountains, where Dorua is located.

As they reach the Carpathian Mountains, the see two distinctive peaks shrouded in mist, which they must cross over to reach Dorua. They encounter a gypsy / Vistani wagon coming the other way on the narrow pass and have to stop.

16th August 1790

Vistani Caravan

The Vistani males from the caravan speak to Bogar the guide and he tell the party that Madame Esmeralda has been expecting a Lord from England and wants to speak to him. She is a well-known Fortune Teller with “the Sight”. Antonio reluctantly and sceptically steps forward and enters the Vistani caravan alone.

He meets with a woman who speaks broken English and she carries out a Tarot card reading for Antonio, telling him there is evil ahead and he will need to settle with his past. She mentions “Barovia” and mist.

Antonio, being quite a pious Christian, is appalled at this “heresy” and soon leaves, ignoring the woman. He returns to the coaches and they resume their journey, precariously passing the Vistani wagon.

Broken Coach

Further along the mountain pathway, there is a sudden lurch and the lead coach stops – one of the wheels has come off, on the side of the coach that passed closest to the Vistani wagon.

Hans and Herman set about using their carpenter skills to repair the damage.

Wolves begin to muster behind them on the path and above them on a mountain ledge. One of the wolf pack comes close and Rene shoots it. The wolf runs away quickly and the pack scatters at the loud sound of the musket.

Horatio sees what he thinks is a human figure amongst the wolves, but it is hard to tell because there is some mist gathering.

Wolf Attack

The wolves become braver and attack again. This time a wolf jumps down from the ledge above onto Rene, while Horatio sees what he thought was the human figure coming closer, but when it emerges from the mist it is a large wolf apparently on two legs for a moment before it bounds forward and attacks. Another wolf leaps forward to attack Pierre.

Horatio initially struggles to hit the fast wolf, while it struggles to do more than scratch him due to his armour. Eventually he lands a big blow on the wolf and it backs off.

Rene is badly wounded by the wolf attacking him, but Pierre is able to fight off the one attacking him and helps his fellow musketeer to fight the other wolf off. They fire into the pack of wolves and they disburse.

Dr Johan steps forward and helps Rene.

Antonio, who is terrified of dogs and wolves, urges Hans and Herman to hurry their repairs. They botch up a quick repair as the wolves again begin to assemble. Antonio orders a quick departure. Their guide Bogar appears to have vanished.

Ascent into the Mist

As they travel to the heights of this mountain, they find the road splits left and right. The right path looks more used and appears to be heading back down the mountain, but there is another pack of wolves on that road. Determined to get away from the wolves, Antonio orders the left road to be used.

The left road appears to have some sort of old battered sign by it is written in Romanian and no one understands it, so they drive past. The wolves are soon left behind them, howling as the mist closes in around the coach.

Gates of Ravenloft

They pass through a large bank of thick grey mist that absorbs sound and limits their vision. The coaches slow down and it becomes rather cold.

The coaches proceed forward slowly, a sense of dread growing amongst the travellers. Then the lead coach spots some large gates ahead, cut into an ancient wall. The gates block the road, but as they approach they silently swing open of their own accord. No one is around.

The coaches move slowly through the gates and on the other side the mists are thinning and they begin to see that they are on a road with trees either side.

Once they pass through, the large iron gates swing shut noisily behind them, apparently of their own accord.

End of Episode Two