Mordekai will go to the fire to warm his hands. Accepting a wine skin, he will make note of the facial features and dress of several of the Vistani to use as inspiration for later disguises.

It's at this point that Mordekai realised he's hungry, and he says to the Vistani who offers him the wine skin, "My thanks, friend. Your liquid welcome is always appreciated. I have noted your people's capacity for great hospitality, particularly with joy and frivolity, where others in these lands seem much the opposite. Having spent a little time in Barovia, my stomach is complaining to me of neglect. I wonder, might your welcome and hospitality extend to some much needed solid sustenance also?"

Meepo finds the boy he entrusted to watch out for lost things while he was gone.  "Any lost?"  He asks with a stern look.  "Meepo found much house..." He adds on, nodding to the disk he hauled with him.  "You find lost?"  He asks a bit more nicely, figuring it was the boy's first time caring for lost things.  As soon as possible he would find a wagon to deposit all of the lost things inside of.

Aga will keep watch of the surroundings.

Perception: 12

A bowl of steaming stew is scooped out of a pot hanging to one side of the fire. A wooden spoon and bowl full of seasoned root vegetables and small chunks of tangy venison. Meepo finds the boy who stares at him, Meepo and his words a complete mystery to him, and says, "I lost my truck. I think I forgot it at the last camp site."   Meepo's haul, deposited inside one of the wagons fills up a small corner.  Aga stands just outside the ring of the fire, peering into the darkness that has quickly fallen across the land. The forest glares sullenly back at her, a malevolence underlying it that is somehow kept at bay by the firelight.  At one point the firelight catches in the sparkling eyes of a creature, perhaps a coon or fox, but the creature is gone in the blackness moments later. 

Back at the fire, the wheezing accordion is brought down to a honking whisper as one of the Vistani steps up to the firelight, taking everyone's attention.  The man says, "I bring you all, the tale of the wizard from another land. Over one year ago the mighty wizard came to this land. I remember him like it was yesterday. He stood exactly where you're standing now. A very charismatic man, he was. He thought he could rally the people of Barovia against the devil.  Strahd. He stirred them with thoughts of revolt and bore them to the castle Ravenloft en masse. When the Strahd appeared, the wizard's peasant army fled in terror. A few stood their ground and were never seen again. The wizard and Strahd had a mighty magical battle, as they fought through the very air, from the courtyards of Ravenloft to a precipice overlooking the falls. I saw the battle with my own eyes. Thunder shook the mountainside, and great rocks tumbled down upon the wizard, yet by his magic he survived. Lightning from the heavens struck the wizard, and again he stood his ground. But when the devil Strahd fell upon him, the wizard's magic couldn't save him. I saw him thrown a thousand feet to his death. I climbed down to the river to search for the wizard's body, to see, if you know, he had anything of value, but the River Ivlis had already spirited him away."  

He stands back, his hands making the motion of a river flowing past, as he lets his voice drop dramatically away.  A man makes a "huff huff" sound and a woman clacks some chimes and the music starts up again. 

"So what you're saying is, Strahd is the devil, and he's incredibly powerful? So what are we doing here? Stanimir told us he needed adventurers to rescue a great soldier prince from a curse." 

Knowing glances work there way around the fire.  Stanimir speaks up, "Perhaps it is time we spoke to Madame Eva.  Please.  Follow me." 

Magic flames cast a reddish glow over the interior of this tent, revealing a low table covered in a black velvet cloth. Glints of light seem to flash from a crystal ball on the table as a hunched figure peers into its depths. As the crone speaks, her voice crackles like dry weeds.  "At last you have arrived!"  Cackling laughter bursts like mad lightning from her withered lips.  As the group gathers in the tent, she bids you to sit down on the thick carpet lain on the floor.  She speaks your names, without looking up from the ball. 

"Mordekai. Mischievous and troublesome has been your past. Your decisions have left you indebted to the mysterious Traveler. And that connection has led you here."

"Olin. Warden of the misty woods. Caretaker of elven lands. Spy. Your deceptions will be needed in full force here, as will your knowledge of nature, no matter how twisted Strahd has made it here."

"Kane. Your soul no longer belongs to you. Your master pulls each link of the chain that binds it. But, he owes you his power in return. Make use of it."

"Meepo. You are the wild card. Clumsily managing the arcane powers, leaving dark shadows in your past, you must find a way to be greater than your destiny."

"And Aga. Fierce and wild. You seek your great beast. He awaits you. But to face him before you're ready is your death...or worse. He will toy with you. Let him. Hide your strength until you reveal your true self.  It is the only path to anything but misery." 

Her rasping voice continues, "You are not the first to come to this land. But, if each of you play your part, you could be the last. Strahd was the soldier prince that we Vistani saved. His curse, is that Strahd is of the undead, a vampire. But no mere vampire. He is ancient, perhaps the first, and king. To end his curse, you must end him. This you must know. His history and how he came to be may help you find the way to his end. Now I will reveal the fates." 

The room is stuffy with strong wax smoke, the heat in the tent uncomfortable, droplets of sweat forming on brows. Though, for some reason, no one moves or speaks up.  Even Meepo seems drawn into the womans words and eyes and listens intently as she continues. 

She pulls out a worn deck of tarokka cards, shuffling them smoothly in her hands before cutting the deck and laying it flat.  "The first card is the tome of Strahd. This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy."  She turns over the first card.  A man with a wooden staff, his face shrouded in the darkness of his hood stands next to a dead tree.  "The 5 of glyphs. The Druid. An evil tree grows atop a hill of graves where the ancient dead sleep. The ravens can help you find it. Look for the treasure there." 

"The next card, Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope."  She turns the card over. A man stands on a hill, sheep behind him being ravaged by wolves, their dead bodies screw about the grass. "The 4 of glyphs. The Shepherd. Find the mother--she who gave birth to evil." 

"The next card is the Sunsword, a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight."  She turns the card. It shows a thief clutching a bag of coins in his hands.  "The Master of coins, the Rogue. I see a nest of ravens. There you will find the prize." 

"The fourth card I pull is that of Strahd's enemy. This card sheds light on the one who will help you greatly in your battle against darkness."  She flips a card. It shows a hooded executioner standing, blood dripping from his axe, a basket full of heads behind him.  "Executioner. Seek out the brother of the devil's bride. They call him 'the lesser', but he has a powerful soul." 

She has laid the four cards out leaving a space in the middle.  "The final card is Strahd. Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. He often chooses his time and place of the meetings. This will let you find him at the right time." She flips the card. A dark man stands, a silhouette in the darkness, his eyes red.  "The darklord. He lurks in the depths of darkness, in the one place to which he must return." 

Places both hands empty and turned facing up she breathes deeply as if exhausted.   "Your path has been laid before you. Take it, or die. There is no way back for you any longer, only forward."  All of you feel as if a great pressure has been let out of the room and you're finally free to breath.  The words of Madame Eva seem burned into your mind and continue to echo through your skulls.  

Kane scratches his stubbled chin. “There’s always more to these adventures that what you expect.” He mutters. “That’s why I’m an investigator. At least then I know I’m getting paid for my efforts. But as lovely Madame Eva observed, there’s no going back now.”

He picks up the first tarokka card, the Tome of Strahd. “Where is this book located?”

"An evil tree grows atop a hill of graves where the ancient dead sleep. The ravens can help you find it. Look for the treasure there."  Her dry voice rasps, word for word, inflection per inflection. 

Meepo picks up the Sword of Light card and looks at it.

In Dracconic...

The casts a steely eye at Meepo.  "Oh, so you think the tomb, the holy symbol, the sword...that they are not lost? Without them, your deaths are assured."

Meepo drops his head a bit, chastened.

In Dracconic...

 Aga will pick up the fourth card. "Brother of the devil's bride..." she whispers to herself. After absorbing everything Madam Eva had to say, Aga will let out a sigh. "Well, we might as well get used to this place, everything must be done right." Aga will lay her lance beside her, sit on her knees and bow to Madam Eva. "Thank you for this." She will then stand up with her lance and say, "Rest assured, the beast's head will be mine." Aga leaves the tent without another word.

Mordekai outwardly nods, a look of wise understanding on his face. Inwardly he curses, "Damn you, Traveler. I thought we'd made a pact. You lend me some of your power, and I use it to cause confusion, chaos and trickery for your entertainment. How fickle you prove yourself to be. Your trickery plunges me into confusion, chaos, and likely my death! I don't know why I'm surprised, I should've expected no less. Well, I hope you're entertained."

The night air is pleasant cool temperature as Aga emerges from the crones overheated space.  Aga's breath plumes from her mouth, her mind still aswirl with all the words from within. Here, the camp is quiet between the inner ring of wagons and the outer ring of tents. The Vistani only thirty feet away could be a few hundred, the life and energy of their evening festivities seem to only exist within ten feet of the warm fire they dance around.  Aga glances to the lake, a fog hanging still over its dark surface.  Something catches her attention and she turns around. Just inside the line of trees a wolf stands. It stares at her in the darkness, their eyes meeting. Its eyes are blood red, but it regards her calmly. They stand, both still and unmoving as they regard each other. Stanimir emerges from the tent behind her coughing, and slaps her on the shoulder. She turns to regard him with cold hostility for the unwelcome contact, and then quickly glances back to the wolf.  The night is empty, the creature vanished, the moment gone. 

Coming out of his frustration at his Patron, Mordekai says to Madam Eva, "We are to search and find these items before finally confronting Strahd, and these cards give us clues, guidance, as to their locations. That much I understand. But we are all new to these lands and all we know is the small village of Barovia where we camped for one night on the way and were almost killed in a house filled with horrors. Could you at least let us know of any other settlements. Is Barovia the only one? Where does Strahd himself live? Presumably not in the village of Barovia itself?"

Meepo, taking the sword of light card with him, moves out of the tent after Aga.  He has wanted to discuss matters with her ever since returning to the camp.

In Dracconic...

 He bows his head in shame as he waits for her response.

Aga smiles at Meepo as she gets down to one knee, in an attempt to be eye level with him. 

In draconic

 She puts a reassuring hand on Meepo's shoulder. Then brings that hand up to pinch his ear with her nails. Hard enough to sting, but not draw blood. "That's for having me worried."

Kane is in a grim mood. “It seems I am not my own.” He whispers to himself as he strides into the night. “My soul is chained to my patron, and my body to this cursed quest.” He regains his composure with a deep breath and, on a whim, returns to the tent.

”I have no doubt that your time is valuable, Madame Eva.” He begins respectfully. “But I ask for only a few seconds.”

If he is not stopped he will continue.

”Earlier today I found a mother, weeping disconsolately for her lost daughter. Me and my companions were the only people in the town willing to help. I know not who you are or what has happened in your life, but if you have ever felt love you know how it feels to have it ripped away from you. If you know where this girl might be found, I beg of you to tell me.”

Meepo gives Agaa fierce smile and a pat on her shoulder, since she is knelt down.

In dracconic...

When Meepo attempts to walk out with the card the crone clears her throat loudly, holding out her hand at Meepo.  She takes that card back with a waspish grab. 

To Mordekais frustration Madam Ava cackles.  “Poor poor you. If this is how you respond I’m sure you’ll make quick work of the devil.”  She laughs, a not entirely sane cackle.  Stanimir places a hand on his shoulder, whispering in his ear, “We can offer some mild assistance in this area.”  He leaves the tent.  

Madam Eva has already cast a new card on the table before Kane has returned. She sits in silence and waits for him. He asks his question. “Careful with your empathy devils hand. Too much makes you weak.”  She taps the card, “The dictator. But, he’s landed sideways. You will find her in the kings chambers of Ravenloft. I can not answer what state you will find her in.”  She dismisses Kane with the wave of her hand, looking both sad and disappointed at once.