" The Inn.", he closed the door and left.

Soren stands from his inspection of the strange rod, stows it in his pack, and moves to the door to follow Burr, glancing back at the other two.

He hopes the pack stays together.  He is ready to follow their lead, but hopes they do not go separate ways now.

Giles looks exasperated as Burr simply walks out and then Soren as they are trying to plan.  “Fine.  I guess we are going with the last option.  Which is “Get the hell out of here.”  Need to try to get Burr to use his words.  Maybe you can have more luck with him?”  Giles smiles weakly at Zefla, then walks into the kitchen where the ladies have been preparing his “To go” bag.  “Why thank you my dears.  It has been a pleasure dining with you this evening.  We really can’t stay, have multiple engagements this evening.  We shall be on our way, back to the Village of Barovia tonight, a rough night of travel ahead for us, thank you so much, I’ll enjoy this on the road!  G’night, taa taa!”  Giles gives them an unctuous smile then gathers Zefla if she will accompany him and heads out the door as quickly as he can, to catch up with Burr and Soren….

Zefla shrugs at Giles's suggestion but heads out the door herself. 

As they start walking towards the Inn, "So what's our story?  What happened in the basement to take the lives of the old woman her her manservant?  That creature?  Say it was attacking when we arrived, we ran downstairs to try and help and barely got out with our lives?  Or what are we doing here?  Ooh.. Giles, what's in that goody bag?"

Soren is just following along at this point.  Though he does say, looking back at Giles, "if there is more you think must be done back at the Wachter house not-Father, we know where Burr is going.  We can meet him there if need be."

Nettle does an aerial circle looking for any passers-by or onlookers nearby, not to mention the vampire creature they released.  (With Soren's guidance).

Nettle's Perception with advantage from Keen Hearing and Sight plus Guidance:  21 + 1 = 22

“Looks like some recently baked cookies and some nut bread!  And a little cup of those delightful candied yams!  You all really missed out there.  And I’m saving it…”. Giles mind and voice trails off, for a moment carried a world away… 

He snaps back as they start to discuss the story.  “Yes.  We will need to have somewhat of the same story.  And, like any good story, it needs to be partially true.  And have the ring of truth to it, aye.  So… what shall we, my Lady?”  Giles fingers his coin in his pocket, casting guidance on himself.  

“How about… we went over for a nice dinner, some words were said, the Lady Wachter disparaging our dear Baron and we wouldn’t put up with it, no we wouldn’t.  She ran towards the living room and cut herself trying to pick up a candlestick, came swinging at dear ole Burr with it, we raced into the kitchen then found a secret set of stairs.  Burr had quite enough and defended himself, things crawled around downstairs and ripped the throat out of her manservant and we fled out of there.  We tell them that they should really look downstairs to see what she was really up to, a servant of the Darklord.  My suggestion would be to burn the whole house to the ground.”  He stops and starts to rub his chin, then down to his goody bag.  “Well, that wouldn’t account for how I got this.  So…. anyone else have a nice tall tale?  One that sounds convincing?”   Giles walks along, almost a jaunt in his step.  Coming up with tall tales is one of his favorite pastimes..

Burr looked back over his shoulder as the other caught up,  " I killed her, the rest of you tried to calm the situation but were unsuccessful."

" It's mostly true and it gets me into the prison while the Baron tries to turn it all to his favour.."

At Giles mention of burning the house down he grimaced, " After evacuating everyone first, right?"

Soren, not being much a legal scholar or an expert on expected behavior in "cities," is still trying to wrap his head around the fact that they can't just tell the truth, especially to the Baron who is clearly Lady Wachter's rival.  He listens to the others, trying to understand.

"So we leave out the part where she serves Strahd and was trying to induce us to do the same?  And worships devils?  And keeps a vampire trapped in her bedroom?  The first was why I thought we should slay her if we could.  A woman of... I think you would say power and wealth... such a woman, with freedom and choice, not a servant, nevertheless choosing to serve the darklord.  The devil and captive vampire aspects, we discovered later."

He looks at Giles, slack-jawed and fearful.  "Burn down the house and endanger Stella and the servants?  They may be innocent..."  No... no setting homes on fire... a gibbering voice at the back of Soren's psyche tries to demand attention and he pushes it back down.

"Also... Burr, my summoned moonbeam damaged her before you finished it, though perhaps with that spear, you would have finished it anyway.  I was not trying to calm the situation...  I think you would have departed without attacking her had I not urged you..."

(Soren still has not quite realized that Burr may be trying to protect everyone other than himself, or that the big man expects to die.)

Giles says to them , “Yes, yes, yes - of course after evacuating them you ghouls!  I’m talking about burning down the little devil worshiping circle, any other sources of evil in the house.  I can’t believe that’s what you focus on…”

Zefla walks along with the rest of them, struggling internally with all that just happened.  Yes, the woman was definitely a bad person - in league with the vampire that tortured this place, but now they were in the middle of things and she didn't like it, didn't know how to handle it.  "Sure, we can tell them that before she started swinging at us, she was telling us her allegiance.  That might make others more sympathetic to our plight.  Look Soren, I know you don't get our worry, but we could be locked up for this or banned from the city.  The others in her book club?  They might be influential members of the city, they might make real trouble for us as well."

As all these thoughts weigh on the halfling, she looks pretty down about the whole situation.  "Giles you want to take the lead on this?"

Soren:

 Your conversation during your walk back to the inn progresses without interruption.  It is not long before you find yourselves again outside the Bluewater, the din of laughter and raised voices wafting out through the barred windows.

Giles nods to Zefla, “Sure.  Let’s just assess the situation first.  Perhaps less is best.  But, we do have a bit of an issue.”  Giles turns to Burr and asks as they continue to walk.  “Okay, I’ve got to know.  When you are doing a thing together, you have to know and feel solid about all of your team, (turning to Soren), or your “pack mates”.  Burr, it seems that you have a death wish, or you wish to be put in jail for some unknown reason.  I need to know before we go one step further, are you intent on self destruction?  I am not.  I think if we have fundamental differences such as that, then we are likely a malfunctioning team.”  Giles stops and crosses his arms, before they arrive at the inn.  “Do you have a death wish, are you wishing to purposefully seek your own death or incarceration, for some reason that you should share with us?  Because if so, I don’t want to be arround for the collateral damage.  You have impressive fighting skills and all of us have counted on you thus far, I have felt reassured having you with me thus far, please don’t misunderstand me.  I just feel that something has.. changed.  That you don’t want to be alive any longer, for some reason.  I want to figure all of this (waving his hands around him, at Barovia) out and get out of here.   Alive.  Am I alone in that?”  Giles looks to Zefla and Soren, wanting to confirm the status of his companions before he continues further.

Burr chuckled, " Death wish? No, but we are nonetheless dead, this whole wretched hole of a place is a death trap we've just not been important enough yet for the one in charge of it to take the effort to squash us."

" As for jail, one of our former companions is in there....being put in there is the easiest way to liase with her and see her freed.  Us running and hiding elsewhere simply temporarily extends our existence at the expense of her and the child and Ireena."

" What we did on the hill was a good thing,  I would like to do more good things before we are destroyed by the god-thing that rules here....but the longer I am here the longer I am tempted to compromise and do terrible things simply to extend my life....like all of those we see around us in this pit.  I would rather die than become like these hollow Barovians....we have friends in need, we swore oaths and made promises....to break them for an extra span of time in this grey morass is unbecoming of any of us."

Burr let out a long sigh, tired from speaking so many words and dredging so much syntax up from the forgotten recesses of his memory.

" Please tell me the plan.  But know I will not sacrifice the three of you in pursuit of escape or existence."

Soren still does not truly understand the premise conversation going on around him.

Of course, when the cold mists blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack may survive.  Of course Soren's companions can count on him.  He will follow them.

As the silence stretches after Burr speaks his soul, the druid pauses, breathing once.

"A solitary watcher, Nettle observed.  A human female in a long coat.  Tall and light complexioned, gazing at Lady Wachter's lair.  Seeing the broken window and us.  She departed quickly once we came into view.  Is this what city-folk call... a spy?"

Burr smiles crookedly after Soren speaks, " One of the book club?"

Zefla nods to Burr as he speaks more than she has ever heard him say, "I get it Burr, I do.  This is an awful place and I want nothing more than to find a way out.  I'm glad Giles asked though as I was kinda wondering the same thing."

She then heads into the Inn, making a beeline for the bar but keeping an eye open for the brothers.  

Giles nods to Zefla, then says quickly to all of them as they are about to enter the Inn.  “Well, since we are “in” well and good with the Innkeeper, I wonder if he has any special rooms upstairs, if we need to lay low, keep out of sight for a couple of days.  See what comes about.  What do you think?  Would he agree to that?  Let’s do watch out for the brothers and minimize any contact there.  Here we go…”. Giles steps through the door, waiting to see what awaits them.  

Pushing open the door to the Bluewater Inn, the party finds a lightly more subdued atmosphere than the one they left a few hours before.  Most of the tables are still filled with wine-sotted patrons, but it is no longer standing room only.  Urwin and Danika are still tending to the bar and kitchens, though their breakneck pace of earlier is now much more relaxed.  Likewise, Adrian and Elvir, the brothers from the winery, lounge at a table near the stairs, surrounded by a handful of relaxed locals.

Many of the other locals spread across the bar are less relaxed.  There is a sour mood, and eyes turn to the door anxiously when you enter, before returning slowly to their winemugs.  

At the bar, you spot the two hunters, Szoldar and Yevgeni.  Perhaps they were here earlier but were missed in the crowd, or they may have been late arrivals.  

At a table by the door sit the two heirs of Wachterhaus, Karl and Nikolai.  They look to be deep in their cups, as seems to be their usual state, but they don't fail to notice you.  Nikolai raises a hand in salute to Zefla, their respected drinking opponent, while Nikolai's eyes go wide in happy recognition of Soren.  "Man-horse!" he exclaims, raising a toast.

Zefla finds herself glad to see the familiar faces of Urwin and Danika, and some of the others as well.  As she heads to the bar she salutes back to Nikolai, guilt forming a ball in her stomach at killing his mother, but nothing can be done now.

When she gets to the bar she smiles at Szoldar and Yevgeni as she climbs up on a barstool, but then turns to Urwin, "Glad to see things have settled down to a more manageable pace!  But um... why the sour mood?  Did we miss something?"

Burr did not acknowledge the brothers or anyone else and headed immediately upstairs.