Act II, Ill Fortunes (the third day)

The dwarf speaks up.

"I think what brother Roland meant is we were all pretty much lured in this valley in some fashion or another and our main goal is to get out, but we realized this is impossible for us to do as long as this Strahd fellow is alive. He seems to have complete control of this valley and of the mist... But still, most of us are Lightbringers and we exist to eradicate undead, so destroying Strahd in order to exit this valley suits us just fine."

He grabs his weapon and looks fondly at it for emphasis.

Then Weiryn shudders a bit again picks up.

"True. The bulk of the original group was brought here by a forged letter which claimed to be from the hand of the burgomaster, but when we showed it to Ireena and her brother both admitted that it was not their father's handwriting. We also found a dead messengers in the woods who seems to have been beset by wolves and who seems to be carrying the original letter penned by the actual burgomaster... hmm, wait, I think I must have both of them in here somewhere..."

Weiryn starts looking in his backpack for the letters.

Weiryn will eventually produce both letters. First the forgery, and then the one from the actual burgomaster.

"We also had secondary reasons to be here in Barovia. Roland and I to help a trio of lightbringers who called for help in dealing with teh undead infestation in the village, Kuroi who stayed in the village to establish diplomatic relations with the Ecaterines monastery and the Knights of the Raven, Ujayya the monk who left with Janis was sent to look for a man who fell prey to werewolves, Kaleigh who's a sword for hire and at the village with Kuroi was sent to investigate gypsies smuggler..."

This last comment makes Durgrim the dwarf grumble...

"...hmm, and brother Darren here was sent to look for the Sunsword to fight some other undead blight outside of Barovia. Hmm, I am sorry, but I am forgetting what brought brother Veroth here...

Durgrim picks up.

"As for me, I accompanied me cousin Orin here with some mercenaries looking to get back goods which were stolen from my cousin by those gypsies... We met this Strahd fellow on the road... I've never met an undead so powerful... me and me cousin were the only survivor, and only because me first instinct was to run... I am not proud of it, but there is nothing else I could have done back then. A lot of good men died covering for our retreat..."

Ryjo seems curious and scribbles on his board.

Weiryn will continue.

"Well, we do know that Strahd sends his agents to spy and gather information on us. We know we have two encounters per day. One during the day where his agents are not hostile and seem more interested in information gathering. And one during the night, where his agents are more hostile, and probably meant to test our strengths and potentially steal something belonging to us so that Strahd might use it against us with magical scrying... It would seem that this was the night attack... It was a bit careless of Roland and I to venture alone out there to investigate, but thanks to Ireena's quick thinking, we managed to avert the worst... Still, we should be more prudent in the future, but I believe we should be safe for the rest of the night. However, if you insist on still exploring the ruins for more enemies, here's what we know so far. On the top of the tower, we found spiderwebs which we did not investigate further. It is reasonable to assume some sort of spider(s) is (are) lairing there. On the other side of that door, the wise woman told us we should expect some sort of fiery creature(s). But they have not bothered to open the door since Veroth unlocked it, and we were camping here specifically for the purpose of confronting them at full power the next day in order to claim the Sunsword for ourselves. Then we sort of forgot about Strahd's agents... So, this pretty much sums up the current situation."

He then thinks for a while...

"Oh yeah, and there is that circle over there... It seems to hold some creature prisoner and linked to others yet undiscovered circles further into the underground complex. But that creature has not bothered us since brother Darren tried attacking it."

Adrith observes the circle. He can roll a Knowledge (arcana) or spellcraft check.

Meanwhile, Roland looks around, his keen eye picking up every minute detail of the room the party is in. After several long minutes of observation, Roland is confident that the party is safe where they are... as safe as one can be in Barovia, that is...

"Make that three sets of eyes and ears. With my ring of sustenance, I have already rested as much as I needed. Then comes morning, we will discuss strategy."

Weiryn adds.

The the dwarf chimes in again.

"Aye. If Ryjo wants to leave and search for Ujjaya and Janis, I'll probably go with him. Half dead as he is, it might not be a good idea for him to walk alone in a werewolf-infested forest. Besides, I need to drop by the village and see how me cousin is doing. Hopefully he's not doing anything crazy..."

You get some rest for what remains of the night. Nothing else bothers you during the night, and you wake up next day ready to continue on your quest.