Chapter 20

A Dark Date

As night approached the party traveled back to their rooms in the Inn to rest and prepare for the evenings events, healing their wounds and tending to their equipment. Erros took the time to create an outlandish disguise with cyan hair and elf ears, named Vladimir Deepsight, before positioning himself in the corner of the inn to hide in plain sight. As he flipped through his tarot cards with the rest of the party scattered throughout the inn, awaiting Rictavio and Ireena, a farmer approached him for a reading. Erros slid into his old grift, dazzling the man with prestidigitation magic and promising wealth beyond his dreams, if he only bought the poor humble fortune teller a drink. It was a rouse he'd performed countless times before, but as Fabian saw this happen from the bar she couldn't help but place a gold coin next to her for the sucker to find. While he did find it, and it did offset the cost of the drinks substantially, her action perhaps had the unintended effect of confirming Erros' reading, and the man happily bought the fortune teller a second round.

Before long Rictavio entered the tavern with the setting sun, lugging his chest of puppets and disarming requests for a show from the other patrons. He slid the chest to the corner of the room and walked up to Fabian at the bar. Speaking in whispered tones to her without looking her way, he asked that she and any of her friends join him in his quarters to discuss their business in private before giving a knowing nod to Danika and walking across the room and up the stairs. Dyson and Pieron agreed to accompany her and the three followed, with Athrin and Eliza still posted up around the room for when Ireena arrived. Pieron, Dyson, and Fabian walked up the stairs and into the small living quarters that Rictavio was apparently renting. Several bright colored outfits spilled out of a chest and a torn puppet in the process of being sewn back together sat atop the desk. Rictavio was inside, and the three of them awaited Danika, surprised to know she was involved as well. Once she arrived, Rictavio explained that he was not exactly who he seemed and that he and Danika had something they wanted to show them. Together they walked to Danika and Urwin's bedroom where Danika accessed a hidden door to a set of stairs leading up into the attic.

A thick musk and smell of feces hung in the air as the setting light from the two opened port windows illuminated dozens of roosting ravens amongst the rafters. Their black feathers glistened as they silently peered through pupilous eyes at the party. Danika stooped beneath a rafter and the birds looked knowingly to her. She explained that she and Urwin run a network of spies known as the Keepers of the Feather, using the Blue Water Inn as a headquarters for the valley. The organization had been run by the Martikov's for years, and served to protect the citizens of Barovia from the monsters, both wild and employed by Strahd, by tracking their whereabouts. They used the ravens to watch the valley and sent them flying to as many corners as they could to report on werewolves, vampires, and evil men, while Rictavio aided them in Vallaki itself, using his puppet shows to eavesdrop on whispers and recover secrets from the crowd. When asked how they could help the party defeat Strahd, Danika and Rictavio laughed, both adamant that Strahd can not be destroyed, only managed. Rictavio shared the rumor that despite his ancient vampiric abilities, something else seemed to protect him from harm of any kind: Strahd is invincible. Yet, Danika made it clear to the party that she and her husband would be an excellent source of information to keep them safe in their exploration of Barovia, and cautioned against venturing into the southern swamp of Old Berez. There their ravens do not fly, far too many had been killed by the dark denizens of the bog, scarecrows, undead, and alien creatures, commanded by Berez's sham ruler, an old witch named Baba Lysaga.

Danika made it clear to the three that the existence of the Keepers of the Feather must remain secret, from Strahd most of all, and asked that the party earn their share of the information partnership on two accounts. The first being the disappearances tied to the Dominionists. Rictavio believed that Lady Wachter's fall into hiding would require her shadow consorts to come more into the open, namely Sebastian Horvath or this man named Abbas. Now was the opportune time to uncover their identities, discover where they live, and put a stop to their evil acts. The second was less pressing but weighed heavy on Danika's thoughts. Far to the west lied an old vineyard, the Wizard of Wines, from which all of Barovia gets their supply of wine, save for the prohibitively expensive imports of the Vistani. The latest shipment was overdue by a week which seemed far out of character for the winery's owners, Urwin's father Davian Martikov. The two had a falling out years ago and an agreement to stay out of each other's affairs, an agreement Urwin was not yet ready to break by sending ravens to investigate. Danika asked that they check in on her father-in-law should they find themselves out that way.

As the three turned to leave, their questions mostly answered, Rictavio pulled Fabian aside and pleaded with her to give up the desire to defeat Strahd, warning her that it would end in her death, something he couldn't protect her from. It caught Fabian by surprise, but after a pause she told him she couldn't promise to stop, that she and her friends could and would defeat him. Anger and sadness filled his eyes but he said no more, and Fabian left to rejoin her group. Back downstairs Ireena had arrived and been directed to a corner table by Athrin, Eliza, and Erros who waited patiently for Vasilli around the room. In the final moments of twilight, Vasilli von Holtz entered the tavern in a red blouse and sharp-looking black frock. He strode across the room with confidence to kiss Ireena on the hand and take his seat. The party watched, as he and Ireena exchanged pleasantries and chit chat for several moments, each smiling quite warmly at one another. Finally Ireena made a nervous glance across the room at Fabian in a moment of pause, then began the questioning. She told Vasilli the events of the day before, leaving out the trespassing, and going as far as to use the word vampire. Vasilli turned serious, then fuming. He leaned in close and whispered a short phrase to Ireena, then stood and briskly left the inn. Erros ran after him, as Pieron and Fabian learned from Ireena what he'd whispered to her: I'll deal with this.

Vasilli was fast and making for the west gate, but Erros managed to catch up to him nearly there and called out his name. Vasilli was polite but short and made to ignore him completely. As Erros approached however, he pulled a dagger from its sheath and pressed the blade to his neck. He demanded to know if Vasilli was a vampire, commanding to show him his teeth, asked to know why he'd employed vampires at his estate. Vasilli froze but showed no fear and explained that he'd recently hired the three guards when his last guards had inexplicably turned up dead. He was set on riding out and slaying them immediately, and at Erros's fourth insistence he reluctantly peeled back his lips to reveal perfectly normal teeth. Erros sheathed the knife as the rest of the party managed to catch up and together they agreed that Vasilli was pretty cool. They mounted horses and agreed to follow Vasilli into battle, an offer he seemed somewhat indifferent about as he pulled himself atop the fastest and most regal looking white horse the party had ever seen and drew a long slender blade from it's jewled scabbard affixed to an exquisite golden leather saddle. The rapier reflected the torch light with an unmistakable silver brilliance and the party lead by Vasilli left at a gallop for the mansion.

They arrived at the familiar house, now drapped in darkness without a single light from the interior. The party decided they would stick together and slowly search the house as they lit torches and opened the front door. Inside was a vast marble foyer with lavish seating areas and a large fountain, long drapped silks hung in the still air. It was quiet. Erros used magic to start lighting the wall sconces as Fabian sensed an undead presence further into the house, past a large double spiral staircase. A chill went down Fabian's spine, as she realized the entire place was desecrated grounds. The party cautiously crept up the staircase, to a closed set of doors which Vasilli pushed open. Inside, one of the guards, who was reading a book in the dark, looked up and paled at the sight of his employer as Vasilli only raised his blade in an invitation for combat. The man dropped to a crouch and barred his fangs like a cornered wolf, scanning the room for a place to run, as heavy footfalls sounded down the hallway. A second guard came barreling towards the group, crawling up the wall and leaping with claws outstretched just as a crack of thunder broke the sky open into sheets of heavy rain.