"Strahd?" Kal asks, confused.  "Who's that?"

"I was traveling on the road from Waterdeep to Daggerford and got lost in some fog.  I don't even know where we are right now."

"Sounds good." Vice puts his hands in his pockets and draws in a breath. He looks back at Daggerford, where it had all started. The lights and noises from the fair under the starry night sky. He then looks back towards the gathering vistani, readying the wagons, and he feels anticipation under his skin. He knows he probably won't be able to go back to the circus after he just basically ditched his job, but there will always be another one. There may not be another opportunity like this. 

Stanimir's words only manage to scare Emma of going to the land she won't return from, but also of getting there and being alone in this unknown land with cursed princes. If her fate is getting there anyhow, shouldn't she go with people who can guide her at least? She looks back to the safety behind the walls of Daggerford, then back at the people in front of her. "Will I... be able to return once the curse is broken?" 

Speaking of a possibility that might never happen so early might be foolish, but she wants to know if there's at least a chance. She may have left everyone she knew behind, for now, but she didn't intend to part for good. Just to take some distance for the time being.

@Kal(VanderLegion)

The man frowns in response to Kal's words, "I don't know of any Waterdeep or Daggerford."

He moves his sword as if getting ready to attack, "I think this is one of Strahd's tricks. Sent to confuse and disorientate me."

@Juniper(DandDSince1973), @Vice(WhiteByakko), @Emma(FireCat5), and @Star(EMIW)

"That is the belief," Stanimir responds. "End the curse, and all of the people of Barovia should be free."

Emma nods silently. It seems all that can be said has been said, and now it's time for actions. Still full of doubts, Emma needlessly adjusts her backpack. Perhaps she's lucky she never got to find a place to leave it before trying the festival, or perhaps it was truly fate.

Looking southwards for a moment, in the direction she believes Bowshot is, she prays in silence that she'll get to meet her family once more before turning back to face everyone, nodding once more to show she's as ready as she can be. 

"Don't know of Waterdeep or Daggerford?!" Kal says.  "I was just on the road last night!  I wouldn't think I could have moved that far.  Unless magic were involved perhaps....If you've never heard of either of them....then where are we?"

Seeing the man moving his sword, Kal continues to do his best to keep well out of weapon range, raising both hands out to his sides to show they're empty.  "I still don't know who this Strahd is, but I promise, I have nothing to do with them."

Star smiles as Emma rejoins the group, now whole. "This is truly the bones of legend," he says, his voice soft yet intense. "A group of souls brought together by fate to combat evil and save lives. I will sing such songs about this time." His tail holds high and swishes back and forth excitedly.

@Val(VanderLeigion)

(Roll for Charisma(Persuasion))

Persuasion: 18

Hearing Stanimir’s words, Juniper begins to look at the curse in a different light. She thinks of her childhood, which was filled with travel with her parents to various lands, endowing her youth with friends in faraway places, and lending her, as an adult, the courage to strike out on her own. What if that had been impossible. What if some curse had kept them all in place, facing each other and their neighbors and no one else for eternity? The thought sickened her. Her neighbors were lovely, but the lack of freedom was galling.

Nodding thoughtfully to Star’s enthusiasm, she turns to Stanimir once more, and her tone has an edge which was not there before. 

“Who is this cursed lord who holds your people in bondage? What is his name?”

 @Kal(VanderLegion)

The man lowers his sword but still holds it out in front of him, "Hmm, perhaps you don't know who Strahd is. Be wary, though; Strahd has minions everywhere. If you are ever in the need of help, then search for Vladmir Horngaard at Argynvostholt."

Then he begins to walk off into the woods, leaving Kal alone.

@Emma(FireCat5), @Star(EMIW, @Juniper(DandDSince1973), and @Vice(WhiteByakko)

When Stanimir realises Emma's intent, he nods and points at the second wagon. "Okay, you ride with my daughter and grandchild."

In response to Juniper's questions, Stanimir says, "You should speak with Madame Eva. She has the answers you seek."

He then directs Nicolai, Apep and Vice to the last wagon. Whilst he and Star climb onto the first wagon.

Kal sits back down, rather confused about what just happened, but glad to have avoided what had looked like it was about to turn into a fight.  He almost tries to stop the man to ask where they are, but he's not sure continued interactions would be in his best interest.

Vice climbs onto the last wagon with Nicolai and Apep. He checks his twin swords on his sides. He'd been using those to cut ropes and hay, even when the nobleman drew a rapier at him earlier, that wasn't a true fight either. Now, saving people from a cursed lord? He laughs softly to himself, when he looks up, he sees Nicolai sitting across from him. Vice lifts an eyebrow, "Did you know it was going to happen?"

Juniper hangs back with Foxglove for a few minutes when the caravan pulls away. “I’ll catch up in a moment,” she says. Hot embers in the huge firepit are still burning, and, with a hooded expression, she uses her druid magic to cause flames to erupt from the cooling coals. At her call they turn green. She causes shapes to form in the flames. The same shapes she’d seen Stanimir create earlier, in miniature. She tries to remember details of the appearance of the prince, but can’t make out his face in her memory and gives up. She wills the flames to return to their normal color, a warm orange-yellow, and brings forth the faces of her parents, which she studies, hoping that she’s doing the right thing joining the Vistani, wondering what they would think of her decision. Then Juniper extinguishes the flames completely. ‘Humans leaving lit embers behind. That’s a danger to everyone,’ shaking her head. The lithe elf mounts Foxglove, kissing his brow and urging him into a canter to catch up with the wagons.

Emma climbs onto the wagon Stanimir directed her to, then finds a place to sit. She doesn't say anything at first, but if the travel takes a long time, she'll start feeling hungry and tired. For now, she doesn't feel right asking for food, nor to eat her preserved food in their wagon, so Emma will wait with that for later. Meanwhile, she leans her head against the side of the wagon and hopes to get some sleep despite the unpleasantness.

@Kal(VanderLegion)

The woods are quiet again. The fog has withdrawn further, allowing Kal to see further than before. Yet, with the little available light, it is still tricky for Kal to see that far. However, it looks like he is in the middle of the woods.

However, there is no a sense that someone or something is watching him in the depths of the dark woods.

@Vice(WhiteByakko), @Juniper(DandDSince1973), @Emma(FireCat5) and @Star(EMIW)

Nicolai looks away from his son and over at Vice. "I knew what was going to happen. I didn't know who. Madam Eva has the answers you seek." He then turns his attention back to his son, who is leaning into his father for warmth. After a moment, Apep falls asleep in the comfort of his father's arm.

The night is late, and tiredness is taking hold. However, the road is too bumpy for anyone to sleep for long. 

"Yeah." Vice chuckles softly, "Of course." 

He flicks the short blade out of its sheath and deftly holds it between his long, slender fingers, the thumb of his other hand against the point of an arrow, carefully sharpening it. After Apep has fallen asleep, he makes his movement quieter. In the shadowy light of the wagon, the half-elf's sharp kohl-lined eyes appears more gentle as his grey eyes look tenderly at the sleeping boy, unable to remember when he had relied so heavily on his father as a child. He has a terrible feeling that he is walking towards where the fate has directed, each step taken as a marionette, himself powerless to change the outcome. Sighing softly, he leans his head back and tries to sleep, though the road was too rocky and he could only catch sleep in snatches. 

Juniper brings Foxglove forward a few lengths to ride parallel to the last wagon’s driver’s bucket. She takes in the picture of Nicolai, Apep, and Vice, her thoughts not dissimilar from the half-elf’s. She spent many nights as a child curled up beside one parent or another on wagons or huddled in a lap on horseback, or when she was older, arms gripped around her father’s waist. Was that sense of security a dream?

As Vice sleeps, she studies his features and decides his kohl eyeliner is attractive, and slightly — how to put it — distancing. If the cart jolts him awake and he discovers her looking at him, she averts her eyes but then finds his gaze again. 

“I’m Juniper,” she says softly. Pointing with a look to Nicolai and Apep, she smiles warmly, continuing in elvish. “Friends of yours?”

The wagon's wheel grinds over the edge of an rock on the bumpy road that jolts Vice out of his doze. He opens his lids, the stars on the night sky casting gentle light, his grey eyes glowing faintly in his night vision, meeting a pair of kind eyes.

"Vice." He replies, his raspy voice still tinged with sleep. He tilts up the corner of his lips at the mention of Nicolai and Apep. "No, I just met them today." He speaks Elvish easily, then catches himself, switching back to the common tongue. Keeping his voice light so not to disturb the others’ sleep, if they were able to get any. “I ran into them when I was grooming the horses.”

He glances towards the pony Juniper’s riding, already missing the two horses back in the circus. He wonders after he’s gone, who’s going to take care of them, calm them when they are agitated. “What’s her name?”

If she were to think about it, Juniper would assume Vice switches back to common tongue so as not to be rude, on behalf of his human benchmates. But given that they're asleep, she’s not so sure. It’s just something she thinks about a little later. In response to his name, the slight-shouldered elf quirks an eyebrow and asks casually, though her eyes study his response carefully, "Is that... short for something?"

“This is Foxglove. He’s actually a colt,” she says, switching back to common and scratching between the pony’s ears. “Don’t worry though, even experienced riders have made the same mistake before. He is handsome,” she admits modestly, “aren’t you,” she coos, patting the pony’s cheek. Turning with a smile back to Vice, Juniper asks, “You work with horses. Or… worked. In Daggerford, or did you come for the festival?”