Martha will ask the children if they wish to stay with Zukeila, or return to Barovia and/or the gypsies with them.

The children do not speak a word. They are too frightened. They huddle around Zukeila like lost kittens.

Martha turns to Briella, “Do you have something that could calm them down? Like a spell or something? Just so we can get a clear reading here.”

"Leave the children with me" Zukeila says. "And go about your way. There is nothing you can do for them now." 

"Leave them and let's be on our way!" Grishkar snaps. Since raising his latest minions, the necromancer seemed to be unusually distracted. It seemed as though something held his interest, though unwelcome.

He storms across the clearing to Zuleika, "Take your urchin-pack and never be seen again near here. If I catch a whiff of werewolf again, I'll raise an entire knee-high army of mindless sacks of meat." Grishkar immediately spun about and rejoined his crowd of servants. Faint mumbles could be heard from within the small throng.

Martha purses her lips as she side-eyes Grishkar, and then turns to the wolf, “Mhmm, mhmm, once we’re sure that there’s nothing to be concerned about, then we’ll be out of your hair.”

"I fear there is something to be concerned about my friends. Strahd was here." Briella says from her place beside Odmun.

"He came to us in the cave while we were trying to gather the children and he tried to offer me a deal."

Bors asks the children: "are any of you named Gertruda?"

Martha’s eyes go wide, “Oh... that’s... that’s concerning. What happened?”

There are no children named Gertruda here, judging by the blank stares you're getting, Bors.

Zukeila starts to gather the scared children and prepare to leave the cave.

Imryll approaches the group, the human rogue/ranger you've heard of before.

"He is strong. If he truly wanted to kill us in that cave he would have." Briella sighs.

"I saw some of the power he held and it was terrible.This whole plane of existence is controlled by him. He can read peoples minds and manipulate what one perceives. Please be wary for what you all see may not always be the truth. I'm also worried he may come back and try to bargain with another of the group so be on your guard everyone. The only good thing that came from this though is the assurance that we are on the right track. He wanted to slow our group by trying to take me from you and making the quest harder. We have scared him or at least worried him with our finding of the tome."

“Well. If he’s hunting us down, then we have bigger things to worry about right now. We need to find you that Holy Symbol.” Martha looks to Zukeila, but turns back to Briella. “What do you think? The children seem drawn to her...”

" I can not say. The children would not speak to me in the cave and Strahd appearance might have just frightened them more. Children are delicate creatures and from the damage I've seen done to them. It might take a long time to get them to open up to anyone. It pains me to say this but this woman might be the only one who can honestly care for them. Our only other options are a church from the previous town where a priest is too busy working himself to the bone trying to protect it or a band of traveling gypsies that might not even be here anymore."

From what Madam Eva told you guys, the Holy Symbol is located in the village of Krezk. It is about a day's journey away. 

Grishkar took notice of the prolonged conversation by the cave and decided to interject, "If we don't get moving, our Hunter-Prey will send the very darkness of bight on our heads. Your choice: Gypsies, cave, or next town. Whatever you pick, these dead weights will do nothing but hinder us. I would say they serve as much combat use as my minions, but at least they have the mass to hold something down for a killing blow." As he turns back to his growing posse, something faint floats back, "...Master....forgive....guide..."

"Someone approaches." Bors draws his sword and turns to face the newcomer....

Quote from ShyVideoGamer >>

"He is strong. If he truly wanted to kill us in that cave he would have." Briella sighs.

"I saw some of the power he held and it was terrible.This whole plane of existence is controlled by him. He can read peoples minds and manipulate what one perceives. Please be wary for what you all see may not always be the truth. I'm also worried he may come back and try to bargain with another of the group so be on your guard everyone. The only good thing that came from this though is the assurance that we are on the right track. He wanted to slow our group by trying to take me from you and making the quest harder. We have scared him or at least worried him with our finding of the tome."

I will be presenting the next chapter of the game in about an hour, so you guys can talk this out before we move on at that time.

Zukeila and the children gather up, and seeing some of you lost in thought, or talking amongst yourselves, head off without looking back calmly to the bushes, and then the evening is still, and quiet, once more.

THE VILLAGE OF KREZK

With the Tome of Strahd in tow, you all begin searching for The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind. You continue along the Old Svalich Road until the road branches north and climbs a rocky escarpment, ending at a gatehouse built into a 20 foot high wall of stone reinforced with buttresses every 50 feet or so. You have reached the Village of Krezk.

The wall encloses a settlement on the side of a snowdusted mountain spur. Beyond the wall you see the tops of snow-covered pines and thin, white wisps of smoke. The somber toll of a bell comes from a stone abbey that clings to the mountainside high above the settlement.

The steady chime is inviting - a welcome change from the deathly silence and oppressive fog which you have grown accustomed. It's hard to tell at this distance, but there seems to be a switchback road clinging to the cliffs that lead up from the walled settlement to the abbey.

You remember Madam Eva's words as to where the Holy Symbol might be: "Look to a place where sickness and madness are bred. Where children once cried, the treasure lies still."

The group is startled when you hear a voice call out from what you originally thought was a moss covered tree at the edge of the clearing, "Hail and well met, fellow travelers!"

Silently striding into the clearing, you see an extremely well camouflaged female human (at least you think it's a female -- she had shockingly red hare and pale skin, but is extremely dirty, caked in mud and smelling of moss).  That red hair, though, makes her oddly standout amongst her otherwise unassuming persona.

"I am Imryll, and my little friend here is Willow" <Imryll gestures to a small brown mouse who suddenly appears on her shoulder>

"We've been watching you, and I think we can be of mutual assistance in your quest."