Act II: Ill Fortunes

Ujjaya nods to Ashlyn and Roland. "Let us be off." and leads the way to the Burgomaster's mansion.

Ujjaya knocks at the door.

"Yes?"

"Lady, we have come to inform you that the zombie plague has been ended. We are holding funerals for all those fallen during the outbreak. We have come to help you lay your father to rest, if you would allow us."

"It has?"

She opens the door and steps outside, looking around and waiting for a moment. At first, you are not too sure of what she is doing, but soon you realize that the constant moaning which was heard in the village since your arrival has stopped. You had gotten used to it so much, that only now do you realize that it is gone.

"Yes, you are right, the plague has stopped... Thank you. Yes, let us pick up my father's body and go lay him to rest."

Ujjaya nods, and helps prepare the late burgomaster's body for transport.

Roland prepares the cart to carry the burgomasters body and the Lady Ireena. Then he helps transport the body back to town and prepare the days funeral processions.

En route to the town square Ujjaya inquires about Ireena's brother. "How fares your brother, the new burgomaster? We trust he will welcome the news that the zombie plague us ended."

"Ismark? I don't know. When our father died, he took it pretty hard. I hope finally laying our father to rest will help him cope with everything which has been happening lately. Having put an end to the zombie plague will probably help too. Life here is difficult, we take our victories where we can..."

As Ujjaya and Roland go to fetch the lady Ireena and her late father, Weiryn spends time preparing for the service, softly singing hymns from The Bone Lands in a Spiral as he works...perhaps not a stirring performance, but still full of faith.

As the pyres are built and bodies laid on them, he cuts a shroud from the fabric purchased and covers each one, muttering a short prayer to Pharasma as he goes.

"The people of Barovia can now begin to rebuild. We Lightbringers would be glad to lend any assistance we can. It is tragic about Danovich. The loss of a loved one is surely one of the greatest sorrows. But it is a greater tragedy still to be so consumed by grief that we fail to honor the departed by forgetting to treasure our own lives. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Wait, What happened to Danovich?"

"I regret to be the bearer of ill tidings. The loss if his son so consumed him that he resorted to necromancy and turned the poor boy into a vile abomination. When we found him, Danovich himself was so crazed he was hardly human." Unsure how Ireena will react, Ujjaya chooses his next words carefully. "Slaying them both was unavoidable. Thus was ended the zombie plague."

"Oh my, this is horrible news! The villagers must be devastated now. If Danovich succumbed to the darkness, is any of us truly safe? This is a very unsettling though indeed..."

Ireena shivers at the though...

"It was terrible indeed lady. But madness can strike at us all. The important part is to remember him for who he was and not the mistakes made in his final days. Let us lay the rest to fallen and continue to investigate the source of this outbreak, for I fear this is far from over."

"I thought the source was the church..."

"The priest got the idea and the book of directions on how to perform the ritual from somewhere..."