"By the gods werewolves and vampires. Its lucky there are still some of the villagers still alive. I don't mean to be rude, but you seem to be out of sorts. Are you ill or just grief stricken?" asks Aoufie. He knows a bit of healing examines the man for some signs of disease. 

Medicine 

14

Sitting there listening to the others and pretending to doze, he began to regret not investigating the crying. He'd misjudged the level of compassion in the group. Looked like he might have to speak up next time. For now though he wasn't going to separate from the group. For one, he was too curious what that blond guy found so interesting about the group. For two, sounded like Barovia had found them. That meant that Strahd guy was here right? Vampires and werewolves. Good times.

Noting the blond man's welcoming demeanor, Akyan gives the man a returned nod before finding his seat. He too pays attention to the conversation at the bar, but after hearing about the werewolves and vampires, he addresses the man. "You seem rather chipper compared to the general population, and you've seemed to take an interest in my companions and I. Are you a native here?" As usual his voice isn't particularly friendly, but it's not outright hostile either.

Jared eyes the blond-haired man warily but says nothing. His siblings have more experience in these sorts of things so he remains silent. 
"Werewolves and vampires." he thinks to himself. "Not sure what to think about all that." 

The blonde man smiles wryly as Akyan addresses him. He motions for you to come sit at his table as he responds, "You could say I'm more native than most." He too shares the distinct accent that Tom and the barkeeper had. 

 The barkeeper dully stares at Kora and Aoufie, his face a still blank. He opens his mouth to speak, but the blonde man cuts him off. "Don't bother trying to talk to him." Taps a finger to the side of his head. "He's not quite all the way there, if you get what I mean.'' He gestures to his table. "Come, sit with me. Drinks are on me." His last phrase was directed to the barkeeper, who slowly nods and begins gathering wine glasses and a pitcher of dark, aromatic liquid. "Grab them some of your nasty broth as well,'' he adds. The barkeeper just grunts and continues to gather wineglasses. 

If anyone moves to sit with him at the table, he introduces himself with a twinkle in his eye, "My name is Ismark. What brings you the lovely metropolis of Barovia?" His inquiry has a hint of sarcasm laced throughout it, and he grins slightly as he asks it.

Aoufie and Kora

This place has put Zathon on edge. The bartender only adds to that. He is well aware of what happens to people when they stay in... sapping environments for too long. He moves, sitting down with the talkative man in the corner.

"I'm Zathon. You could say we got lost on the way home, I'm sure that happens every so often around here."

Anthony doesn't wait for a second invitation and hobbles over, but declines a drink. "Thanks for the hospitality, with the town being the way it is, kind of figured no one would talk to us." He glances at the three women. "The road brought us I guess. More local than most? You hail from elsewhere?" He smiles his easy dimpled smile and lets the conversation stay there.

At Zathon's question, Ismark snorts into his glass of wine as he takes a sip. Lowering the glass, he says with a vague air, "You'd be surprised how often that happens around here. We get, um, visitors, every so often that stumble through the mist and end up here." With a shrug, he says frankly, "They all disappear or die before too long."

To Anthony, he remarks, "No I was born here. I'm the son of the burgomaster, so my responsibilities are forever tied to this town." He takes another sip, sighs, and then adds, "Lucky me."

Hesitantly, Akyan moves to take a seat at Ismark's table, though he leaves more than an arms-length of space between himself and the other man. He nods when Zathon explains how they got here, approving of the vague tail. No need to give this man any more information on them than necessary.

He accepts the drink, but doesn't move to taste it. Instead he listens to the conversation. "So by more local than most you really mean most of the people here aren't locals?" He asks, seemingly unconcerned with the notion that he an his siblings have a high chance of dying in this place. He also doesn't seem concerned with the fact that this man is of higher standing. "Do you keep track of everyone in this town?"

He sits back to listen to the others question Ismark while he tries to read the guy. There's not much reason for him to lie to them, but there's something disingenuous about the friendliness.

((Insight 11))

Aoufie takes a seat at the table to hear what Ismark has to says. That barkeep is not ill, but empty somehow. Was he born that way or was something done to him. Best asked these questions later. 

"From the look of outside I'm not entirely surprised by that. It seems this place if constantly being assaulted by creatures," Zathon responds.

Kora also moves over to the table, takes a seat as well as the drink offered.  Taking a sip of the wine, she lets the words that most visitors either disappear or die as they arrive here.  Finally she asks, "We actually have an engagement we must get to today, do you know the best way we can leave this beautiful little village you have got here and get back?  It would be most appreciated."

She sets her glass down and runs her finger around the rim of the glass, "Do people in your village typically sob so loudly that you can hear it halfway across the town?"  the womans cries, though no real concern of Kora's were still on her mind.

Jared sits at a table off where everyone is gathered. He listens but his thoughts are preoccupied. 
He winces slightly at Zathon's "creatures" statement.
 

The barkeeper brings over several delicate wine glasses and sets them down gently on the table along with a pitcher of red wine. He also brings over a bowl of steaming, yellowish broth for each of you. You see a few meager vegetables swimming around in the soup. It looks like it won’t be the most filling of meals, but something is better than nothing. Oddly, he also sets down a platter on the center of the table, on top of which rest a small, steaming turkey. The flesh is a crispy golden-brown, and the aromatic steam curling off from it smells quite delicious. Ismark raises an eyebrow as the barkeeper sets down the turkey. As the chubby man heads back to the bar, Ismark remarks to the group, “He must like you guys if he’s giving you one of his turkeys.”

He continues, “Anyways, I try to keep tabs on everyone here. Part of my duty is to make sure everyone is alright.”

He looks a bit confused at Kora’s statement. “I wasn’t aware of someone sobbing so loudly. I’ll have to go check on them after this.”

At Zathon’s statement, he nods wearily. He says, “These attacks are part of the reason I called you all over. You see, the Devil himself has taken a liking to my sister, Ireena. He’s been visiting her nightly for the past few weeks, and I fear she won’t last much longer.” A tinge of worry comes across his face as he continues. “Since outsiders seem more capable than most here, I was hoping you would be able help me take her to Vallaki on the other side of the valley. It’s pretty far from Castle Ravenloft, and I’ve heard that it’s much more well-fortified that Barovia is.” He looks at each of you with pleading in his eyes. “Can you help me? My sister is all I have left.”

"What do you mean by 'devil', 'visiting', and 'last longer'" He doubted their group was capable of dealing with fiends. "And Castle Ravenloft?"

"We're looking for a guy named Van Richten, you heard of him?" Jared blurts out. 
"What?" he says when the others look at him. "It's who we are looking for. If he's here then good, if not then we got to get back home to find him." 
Jared sits back.
Mum's dead and this place has something to do with it. If these guys want to go adventuring, instead of finding her killer then he'll keep reminding them why they are here. 

He doesn't look at Jared, but his eyes dart over to the three women at the mention of who the group was looking for to see if the name gets a reaction. To Jared he says, "She wanted us to travel the mists, she's been here. Maybe this tavern even..." The last he adds a little more quietly to himself.

"Can you explain what kind of devil is visiting your sister. Did it come from the 9 hells or is it something else. Do you know why this devil is haunting your sister? Also, can you tell us more about this town of Barovia and Vallaki?" asks Aoufie as he is imagining Ireena was misled to sign a contract with devil. 

Akyan closes his eyes and grits his teeth silently when Jared blurts out Van Richten's name. He'd been trying to ease into that question, as to not sound desperate. Hence his asking if the man keeps track of people in the town. Oh well, no use in trying to put the cat back in the bag.

Sighing through his teeth, he opens his eyes to look over Ismark and his siblings. So the man's sister's gotten herself a stalker and this stalker isn't the kind to just watch his target. He grits his teeth in disgust. He's definitely not against helping this man's sister, but he's not about to jump into anything blindly. While he suspects that "Devil" is more a figurative than literal, he waits for Ismark to answer Aoufie's question. It's good to know one's enemy, plus the rabbitfolk asked a good question about the area.

Akyan's pretty much given up hope of returning home to attend the funeral. They've probably missed the ceremony already. Now all he can do is heed his adoptive mother's last message. Especially since it seems they will be forced to face whatever darkness took her anyways.

"We need a bit more information before we help you. You must understand that we have our own agenda. If you can help us, we can see what we can do to help you." Akyan says bluntly, "So if you know anything about Van Richten, or Strahd, or someone called Azalin, then tell us."