"Very well then. Let's get going."

YESTER HILL

The Trail: The trail through the thick woods leads to a hill covered with dead grass and cairns of black rock. Dark, ominous clouds gather high above, and a single bolt of lightning strikes the hilltop. West of the hill, the land, the woods, and the sky vanish behind a towering wall of fog. The trail splits as it climbs the hillside, forming two concentric rings. The trail also leads to the hilltop. The wall of fog marks the edge of Strahd’s domain.

Cairns: Dirt trails run along two concentric rings of cairns that encircle the hillside. Each cairn is a ten-foot-high mound of slimy black rocks.

Druid's Circle: Atop the hill is a wide ring of black boulders and smaller rocks that collectively form a makeshift wall enclosing a field of dead grass. Lightning strikes the edge of the ring from time to time, illuminating a ghastly, fifty-foot-tall statue made of tightly woven twigs and packed with black earth. The statue resembles a towering, cloaked man with fangs. The ring of boulders that surrounds the field is 250 feet in diameter and ranges from 5 to 10 feet high.

The wall of fog makes Anborn think back to when he arrived in Barovia. "I felt like a dumbass when we first got here for thinking that this fog was some kind of magical force that pushed us in a certain direction and kept us from leaving. Now I don't, but I've surely made an ass of myself a few times since then to make up for it. Shall we go on?" Even if he wouldn't get the reward that he was promised, Anborn was feeling like this was all worth it. The gang was slowly but surely making Barovia a better place by getting rid of the monsters and hags that were attacking the Barovian people. Maybe they'd actually kill Strahd and Anborn would actually help the world the way he said he would when he left the monastery. And he got to massage Winter. That's certainly the high-water mark of this whole excursion, if I'm being honest.

Aid at 3rd level on Anborn, Corrin, and Winter. Each of them gets 10 extra HP for the next 8 hours. 

"Well, this isn't creepy at all," mutters Corrin, who then turns to the others. "Shall we take a closer peek?" And with that, the young halfling starts moving quietly up the hill, trying to stick to whatever shadows he can find.

Stealth: 14

After having avoided saying much of anything since the windmill, Orilo breaks the recent self-imposed silence first summoning a spirit to imbue Elya's weapon with magic. Then he asks, "What were you all before this?" He asks the group from atop Stone Cutter, and shooting those behind a sidelong look. "This is... late. But please." Though he turns back in his seat afterwards, the goliath keeps an ear open as Stone Cutter and Goliath loosely lead the procession up the hill's trail to the top. 

"I was a few things. I was the third and youngest son of a noble lord, until he got rid of me. I was a priest of Torm, until I had a disagreement with them. I was a soldier who defended his country, until it didn't need defending anymore. But it's been a few years since I've been any of those things and I don't know what I am now. Maybe just a wandering prick with a hammer and a fondness for daydrinking. "

For some reason, Anborn felt comfortable enough to talk about himself around these people. I guess that I must really like this lot. Or I'm just confident that they'll die or we'll part ways and I'll never see them again after this.

“This fog is everywhere, maybe it is magic.

Why do you want to know, Orilo? My past is... not worth mentioning.”

Without waiting for a response, she begins to push forward, searching for her prey in the fog.

Perception: 21

"I once fought against a follower of Torm. Greatest fight I had in years." Orilo admits a crooked grin at the reminder. But again his expression soon hardens and eyes narrows at some unspoken thought. To his credit, the anger is kept from his voice as he says, "There's no maybe. That fog is apart of Strahd, or so I can feel. Scents too foul to be otherwise." He snorts, then spits off the side of the path. 

"... And I would know, because I'm a tired and selfish old man... Tired of being afraid that I might again out live those I've sweat blood with." Orilo bows his head. "And though it is far, far late for this, I would know just who it is I've trusted my back to beyond just what I've seen in action so far." He pauses to let the words sink in. "And of what I should sing of --  be it in this world or the next with this blight's end -- should someone fall... without it being just a few lines of ******** and fools, over and over again."  He lets out a barking laugh. 

"So, what about you, big guy? You're asking us about our sensitive personal backstories, but I know next to nothing about you, except that you're old and have clearly seen some shit that you shouldn't have had to."

Winter silently listens to the two men converse, Corrin having gone off Gods know where and Elya simply avoiding opening up, her mind slowly taking her back into a memory not even a few months old.

The rogue blinked herself back into reality, her brain taking a second to remember what exactly they were doing. Right...

"I was a hunter," I hunted people. "But it bored me so I'm now seeking adventure," I failed my task to kill one ***** and am being punished for it. "Now I'm here." I should have died.

With that, she falls quiet again and keeps her eyes out.

Perception: 19
Stealth (if needed): 18

Regardless of the Paladin's response, Anborn begins to realize that this group is composed of ****-ups and/or rejects and thinks that perhaps the gods might have sent them to this cursed land so that they might save the day and redeem themselves. But if he actually believes that notion, he keeps it to himself. If I said shit like that, I might have to take up the cloth and become a priest again. Now snap out of it, you have an evil tree to kill.

Perception: 20

Anborn you can see movement way down below on all sides. From the top of the hill, at least 12 figures are popping up slowly from behind the cairns. Are they..coming out(?) of the graves..? It's hard to see, they're still very far away. There is a massive tree just further beyond south from the center of the map. For a split second you think you saw it..move?

Anborn will very quietly point out these figures and what might be a moving tree to his allies. "Don't do anything stupid. There's 12 figures coming and possibly a tree." He whispers.

Elya whispers back, “Are they trying to surround us? We should break out where they’re thinnest, right?”

"I'm definitely thinking that we shouldn't be on the top of this hill when they get to us."

Think of them making a "C" that's covering the west, south, and east sides. This hill is truly enormous (each square on the map is 50'). The figures begin to run towards you. They are completely covered in mud and brambles.

And where is the tree coming from?

The tree is not moving. You could have sword it was. It's about 300 feet southwest of your location from the center. 

“I think they’re trying to take that choice away from us, let’s beat them to it.”

With that, Elya begins running down the east side of the hill.

Initiative: 20

“Attack of the mud people,” Winter deadpans as she readies her rapier. “Fun times.”

Initiative: 26