Three

I started to forget everything that happened last session, so this might not be true to the session...sorry x..x

I glanced around the little house with a frown; this rich couple expected us to believe that they lived in a shoddy one room house? Were they dressed so gaudily to lure people there? There was almost nothing there, simply a lumpy looking bed in one corner, several deer heads mounted on the wall, a large table with a little over half a dozen chairs, and various cooking necessities.

In other words, the crowd I walked in with took up half of the house as we clustered around somewhat awkwardly. A few of them began moving toward the chairs, so I dashed to a middle seat facing the door into the house and with my back to the fire. It was no surprise of mine to find that my archer friend sat himself next to me.

As everyone seated themselves, I watched as the wife scurried around the room, finishing up her stew and setting up the table. Before long, she began to fill up everyone's bowls. I watched a few people take some of the soup and drink it, but something set my fur bristling. Despite my brave front in the bar, I decided not to drink the soup. The wife began encouraging us to, so I beamed at her and finally began to sip at the bowl.

None of the soup actually reached my mouth. I cleverly wiped it away when the woman was not looking. Perhaps some of the others noticed my rudeness, but they were neither friends nor companions, so I had no reason to worry about them. The conversation around the table turned to the couple and what they were doing in the town.

“Is it just the two of you living here? You don't look like you belong in a house like this, what are the two of you doing here?” someone asked.

The wife and husband's good nature suddenly dropped turning gloomy and dismal.

“We've been trying to conceive a child for years but...” The wife trailed off sadly, one of her hands on her stomach as she returned to her seat.

“We're not originally from this town. We got stranded here some time ago and have been trapped since...” The man trailed off grimly.

“Can't you just walk back? I know nobles like you might find that dismal but-”

“We can't leave. No one can leave here! This town is surrounded by a fog that won't let anyone leave! If you try it will choke you and eventually you will return to that inn...We've tried everything to escape!” The husband crowed.

“How long have you been here?”

“Ten years!” The wife sobbed.

Several suggests were thrown out as to what they could do, a few more questions about where they were from. I watched with a smile, making small talk with the archer and those around me. The people who had eaten the soup were starting to look a little pale. I glanced down for a moment, lost in my own thoughts as I contemplated where I would go next. Deep down, I felt that Selakiir was likely still tracking me. I knew his secret, I knew his face. Perhaps he even truly loved me. Conflicted I dropped my guard slightly only to glance up in shock when someone suddenly began to vomit violently. And then another. I lunged across the table to them as chaos suddenly erupted around me.

Before I could do much, some of the others had began to fight with the couple, though it seemed they had started the fight themselves. The husband was stabbed crudely in the gut and there was no further hope for him. He collapsed to the ground and swiftly died.

Seeing that, I rushed to the woman and with another, restrained her with rope. She began to scream and spit at us and it took awhile for me to realize what exactly she was spouting.

“Your souls! Your souls, I need your souls! Let me kill you! If I have your souls you can be reborn as my baby!!”

“Can I kill her?” I called out to my companions who were still trying to piece together what exactly had happened.

“I second that,” The teifling called out, obviously disgusted with the woman.

“You can't kill her! We have to get the guards!” the woman who'd had the playing cards in the inn protested.

“Well, I'm not dealing with no guards! This couple said they were here for ten years right? The iron buckets will be on their side!” I shot back.

“I'm not exactly on the right side of the law either, if you get what I mean,” The teifling said proudly.

“Come on, these people tried to kill us. I think the cat's right. Nukka, was it? We might be framed for this!” The archer argued in my defense.

One of the others had wandered over to the bed on the opposite side of the room and suddenly let out a gasp, distracting us all. Glancing over, I noticed was that the high elf had pulled away the covers of the bed to reveal dozens of skeletons laying haphazardly on the bed. One of the people who had been sick from eating the soup vomited again.

“See what I mean? I say we just ditch town!” I growled, throwing my arm out in the direction of the bed.

“No, we can't! We have to report this!”

“Plus, didn't they say there was fog surrounding this place? We can't leave can we?”

“Has anyone here actually tried to leave?” The archer asked.

The room fell silent for a moment.

“All I'm saying,” I sighed, “is that if we try to report this, we'll probably take the fall. I think, if we just burn the evidence and leave, then all our problems will be solved. Fog or not.”

“The inn keeper knows we came here! He'll be able to tell them the truth! Let's just go to the guards!” The cleric insisted.

Frustrated, I left the side of the still struggling woman and made my way to the door.

“Fine! You do that, but I'm out! I'm not dealing with the authorities. I was never here.” I snapped.

“I'm with her.” The teifling nodded, walking to my side.

“I want to go check out the fog anyway,” The archer nodded and also strode forward.

We walked toward the door, however as soon as I opened it, I noticed a patrol of the iron buckets striding noisily past the house anyway. Someone inside called them over, much to my dismay.

Luckily for the teifling and I, however, after we explained the situation to the stunned guards, they were actually rather thankful. Saying we had solved a ten year mystery. The archer asked about the fog, but the guards were confused. A quick search of the house listed a recipe for the wife's soup that called for venom for a viper and...human...flesh...Once all was said and done, as a group, we returned to the inn we had started in.

It was late by the time we got there. Most of the patrons had retired aside from a few and the bard and dancer were long gone. I shot a glare at the bartender as I passed and strode lazily toward the dance floor with the archer.

“Wanna dance?” I asked him.

“There's no music, though,” he laughed, earning a roll of my eyes.

“Love, who needs music to dance?” I replied with a grin, pulling his hands into mine and immediately throwing him into a twirl.

Our dancing did not get far, however, as I spotted a strange cloaked man approach the group. I had not noticed him come in, but seeing him pause at the table with the others, I decided we had best investigate. I only managed to catch the tail end of the conversation, that he had a letter for us from his master and needed our help. He paid for a few rounds of drinks and left as suddenly as he came.

Someone from the group read the letter and it claimed it was from the burgomaster of some place called Barovia. I had never heard of such a place, as as a traveling mercenary, that's saying something. Of course, I had not been everywhere in the world, so I had to assume it was some sort of new town or city. Which would not be bad.

Due to the eventful night, I did not think once as to how we had been found or heard of. I figured it would not hurt to travel for awhile longer with the group and agreed to go as well. After traveling so long with only Selakiir, being with a large group again sounded nice. Even if one of the betrayed me, at least I might have the friendship of one or two of the others...With that, we all retired for the night, promising to meet up in the morning.

Once everyone had awoken and gathered that next morning, we manage to find a caravan headed into the same direction as we were. Actually, it planned to pass the very town we were being called to. We geared up and off we went, into the unknown. As we traveled, a few of us made small talk and I put a bit of effort into learning the names of my companions. I figured it would not hurt, seeing what we had been forced through together the night before and the fact that we might be staying together at least for a little while.

The cleric woman, the one who had so strongly opposed my killing of the woman the night before, was Vidette. The archer a ranger known as Gorwin and I knew the teifling was Salshire. The others were in other wagons of the caravan, so I was not able to learn their names at that time. I made sure to drill it into my mind to try to remember them later. It might not hurt to have allies, especially if my sinking suspicion about Selakiir was correct...

Of course, he could have given up on me, which would have been for the best. I prayed to whatever god would listen that he would have simply gone on his way. I would not be able to face him. Not yet. Gods only knew when I would be able to. If.

As we traveled, the sky above us became gloomy and clouded. It was dark enough that I confused midday for late evening and began to get nervous.

 In the distance, I noticed we were swiftly approaching a massive gate. As we got closer, I saw that it was guarded by two massive stone knights, their heads missing aside a massive blade had cut them off. A little time passed as I observed the ominous sight and I noticed the heads lay at the feet of the statues. I began to have second thoughts about the place we were approaching, but by the time I made up my mind to leave, our wagon was passing through the gates. As soon as our wagon-the last in the small caravan- cleared it, the iron gate slammed shut and I had a feeling that nothing would open them.

Author's Note

Once again-first draft and unedited.