Ravenloft 02.0 - Welcome to Covasna

Walking down the dirt road that slowly turned to cobblestones, Bronke and Alefina made their way to the outskirts of the quiet village known as Covasna. The buildings, of which there could only be about a hundred, were made of grey stone and all appeared worn and in disrepair. A loose wall encircled the village though the arched entrance over the road had no gate or means of closing. The pair entered, following the main street into the open plaza at the village's center. The street was empty and the only sound was of a woman wailing piteously in the distance. Doors were all closed and windows were barricaded; they could feel eyes on them as they walked: pale-faced villagers peered out at them from behind boarded windows.
Once in the plaza, they could see several large buildings, one of which appeared to be a tavern and inn. A plain, carved sign marked it as the Muddy Toad. The pair entered only to be greeted by the silent, judging stares of the patrons. Walking up to the proprietor, they were dismissed as children before being charged a hefty surcharge for a room. As Bronke tried to make the owner see reason, they were interrupted by a local man who greeted them with a friendly demeanour. He introduced himself as Simon Iliescu, and unlike everyone else they had seen he wore a bright coloured vest: the first splash of vivid colour since arriving in this bleak place. Inviting them to his table and offering to buy them a drink, Simon was very interested in hearing their tales. In exchange, he offered up a bit about himself and the town, none of which was exactly heartening to the two gnomes. He saw nothing extraordinary or unsettling about the fact that the ruler of these lands, Lord Ardelian, was a monster who fed on the populace unopposed, that foul creatures stalked the streets routinely, or that everyone was eternally trapped in this province without hope of escape. When they asserted that they were definitely leaving, he tried to dissuade them as everyone who ever tried to pierce through the foggy border died with the exception of the 'traitorous cats'. They also mentioned that they were looking for a woman named Natalia; though he didn't recognize the name, he postulated that perhaps she was in the nearby village of Vaslui. Further, he did know that another newcomer had arrived recently who might perhaps have more information; she had introduced herself as Isabelle before barricading herself into an abandoned house at the edge of town. 
Throughout the conversation, Simon revealed that he was the town's de facto burgomaster on the grounds that his father had held the elected office until he suddenly passed away a few days earlier. In fact, Simon was deeply concerned that he had been unable to take his father to the graveyard to be buried. When asked why, he explained that recently his brother Aurel had become a target of Lord Ardelian's attention. Simon refused to let the lord take his brother away to the castle, and as such the town had come under even greater attack than normal as wolves and dark creatures attacked viciously night after night. The late burgomaster had been unable to handle the stress of the attacks on his home and had died of a heart attack. Unfortunately, since the streets were unsafe, no one would help Simon take the body to the graveyard and Aurel himself couldn't leave the house under Simon's orders, leaving him stuck. Taking pity on the man's plight, Bronke and Alefina insisted on helping him, much to his gratitude. 
The three left the Muddy Toad and set off down the road towards Simon's house. As they went, they passed by the house of the still-wailing woman. Simon answered Bronke's question of who that could be, saying it was likely a woman named Mary, but he hadn't any idea what it might be about. Unwilling to leave the obviously-distraught woman alone to her problems, Bronke tried knocking on the door. When it went unanswered, they scaled the side of the building and peered in through a second story window. Inside they could see a woman sobbing, crouched over on the floor of a bedroom and clutching something. Bronke tried to get her attention but failed, and so resorted to breaking through some of the boards that barricaded the window so they could crawl in. The woman, Mary, cried out and crawled back, but Bronke had done nothing but reassure her the whole time so she did not panic any further. Once inside, Bronke tried to calm her enough to learn why she was crying, but all she could manage to spit out was that 'she was gone' and further half-statements. It seemed that the thing she was holding was an old child's doll with a creepy sort of face; Mary explained that it was 'hers'.
Simon and Alefina waited outside for a few moments before trying to get in themselves, finding the doors and windows all barricaded from the inside. Eventually, Bronke came downstairs to let them in. The three tried their best to calm Mary and investigate the house: based on what Simon knew of Mary and what they could determine, it seemed that her daughter, Gertruda, had run away or was otherwise peacefully kidnapped. Though the girl's room and mother's bemoaned mutterings suggested that the girl was quite young, Simon assured them that she was actually a teenager, though her mother was notoriously overprotective and kept her extremely sheltered. Unsure of what else they could currently do for the woman, the three made sure she was as comfortable and protected as possible and mentioned that they would do their best to look for Gertruda before they resealed all of the barriers they had broken and left.
Leading them to the edge of town, Simon took the pair of gnomes to the burgomaster's residence: a once-grand building scarred by age and fierce battle. With a distinctive knock, the three were permitted in by Aurel. Simon took them through the house, letting them see the worn state of all of the furniture and decorations as well as the prominent number of symbols of the Mercy of the Void displayed on every wall. They eventually came to the room where his father's casket lay and agreed to set out quickly, hoping to take the body to burial before sunset loomed. Aurel tried to insist on coming but Simon vehemently opposed him; the two argued for a short while before Aurel gave up, folding his arms and sulking. Apologizing for making them watch that, Simon lifted the casket with the help of the other two. They set off once more, heading for the church.
Category:Ravenloft