(Nathanial) You start back towards the gates, but you have only gone a few yards when a thick fog surrounds you and obscures your view. (You gain the Blinded condition.) Do you keep going or turn back?

(Group question) How do you feel about introducing "Madness "into the Campaign? This is a horror setting after all.

Nathaniel stops and turns back once he becomes blinded.

(I’m ok with madness in the campaign)

”Something is preventing us from returning to the gate… as soon as I got near, I wasn’t able to see or find my way! I think the only path back is to go forward.”

[im alright with madness, though i feel like some of the party is already quite mad! Lol]

Ellie watches Nathaniel get swallowed up by the fog, eyes widening as he's enveloped, and starts to go back for him before he reappears from the mysterious acting fog.

"It's almost as if... something... doesn't want us to leave. Curious."

[I'm already mad! lol! But yeah, I'm fine with Madness if you want to bring it in.]

As you set off again for the village of Barovia the fog returns, dense but not as dense as before. Still there's something slightly unnerving about the fog. As you travel, your hand is never far from your weapon.

Tall shapes loom out of the dense fog that surrounds everything. The muddy ground underfoot gives way to slick, wet cobblestones. The tall shapes become recognizable as village dwellings. The windows of each house stare out from pools of blackness. No sound cuts the silence except for mournful sobbing that echoes through the streets from a distance.

"I KNEW  it!" Victoria says. 

(I'm OK with madness.  But I've also played Call of Cthulhu for years.  Seems like ANYTHING drives you nuts in there ("You got a papercut.  Roll for sanity!")

Remember Victoria has been chopped up, sewn back together and reanimated.  A big reason I play her as kinda "numb" to things.  So use your judgement about what would make her insane.)

(Woah - so much info there lol)

Morwenna nods, concurring with Nathaniel and Ellie's assessments of their predicament. "We have two letters, supposedly from Indirovich. One that would tempt us with gold and flattery to Barovia, and one that cautions us to keep clear. Yet the emissary bearing the letter of warning lies dead, and the locking of the gates behind us by something unseen betrays a connivance to force us further in. If I had to put money on it, the letter we received from the colourful stranger in the tavern is the one not to be trusted."

She stews in her thoughts as they trudge through the muddy paths until they meet stone, her sense of paranoia growing with each step. "No lights in the houses, and only wailing laments to greet us." She says, her voice barely above a whisper. Her dark eyes continually scan the shapes in the sparser fog, expecting some monstrosity to emerge at any given moment as she slowly approaches the village.

((Temporary madness, sure. Morwenna already:
a) has a lust for blood to deal with,
b) has the Haunted One background for reasons mentioned in her application backstory,
c) is supposed to be sticking to the strict Oath of Devotion despite these challenges.
It might be a bit much to stack permanent madness on top of all that... ))

Calder nods in agreement to Morweena’s assessment. “Indubitably. I believe we have fallen into some kind of elaborate trap.” He looks around for the source of the wailing sound. “Nonetheless, a mystery is afoot, and I for one cannot resist.”

[can Calder detect the direction of the sobbing?]