Episode 4: Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-me-not)

This episode guest-stars Jason Carl @vampiresnvino as Strahd von Zarovich.

**Act I.**

As Uriah sits in Isolde’s tent with the others and hears her mention Falkovnia, time suddenly stops. Everyone freezes and a strange figure enters the tent, wearing a pink and purple masquerade mask and a purple velvet bodysuit. He demands that Uriah recognize him, and Uriah recalls an eccentric member of the powerful Eris family of Il Aluk, Oscanor, who is a notorious libertine and fop. This person fits that description. When Uriah says his party has been afflicted with magic, Oscanor admits to having cast it so that he and Uriah could speak uninterrupted; he was worried Isolde might have taken issue with him.

Oscanor proceeds to tease and flirt with Uriah, urging him to come to Il Aluk as he’d originally intended. He says Darkon has fallen on dark times; the Eris family will put it right, but they need brave, wise men to heal the sick and help restore order. Uriah suggests Oscanar should contact his superiors in the church. Oscanar says he’d rather be informal and sits in Uriah’s lap without permission.

Oscanar asks what Isolde wanted the party to do for her. Uriah says they’re bound for Falkovnia, and Oscanar says it’s a terrible place. Uriah asks why he came, and Oscanar says he wanted to check on one of the heroes of Darkon, and that Uriah represents the glory of Darkon. Uriah is flustered by this flattery. Oscanor offers him something secret, “the spirit of nobility”, a potion which makes one invisible until daybreak. Oscanor says with it, he can do anything he wants and no one will see him. Uriah says that hardly seems proper, and Oscanor encourages him to engage in his true passions. Uriah says his passions are prayer and giving to the poor.

Oscanor declares the whole group lovely, with excellent bone structure, and says he’d better take his leave before the ruler of the Carnival finds out he’s there. He gets up close and personal with Uriah, saying he’ll await his coming in Il Aluk. Uriah notes Oscanor is fond of double entendre. On his way out, Oscanor considers revealing what Stewart is to Uriah, but decides not to ruin the surprise.

**Act II.**

With Oscanor gone, time begins to move once more, and we return to the moment where Isolde asked the party what they know of Falkovnia. Uriah says he recalls hearing that they have harsh laws and a stern ruler. Isolde tells them it’s a land of war, chaos, and ruin. She’s brought the carnival to the extreme edge of Falkovnia in case they need to make a hasty exit. Tatyana is confused about how the Carnival moves from domain to domain, and Isolde explains that traveling with the Carnival is one of the few safe ways to travel within the Domains of Dread.

She admits this task is asking a lot of them. Isolde gives a map of Falkovnia to Desmond and directs them to the capital of Lekar, warning them to leave before the new moon. She tells them the new moon may be more or less days away in Falkovnia than it is in the Carnival. When Tatyana and Valentine are confused at this, Isolde explains that time moves differently in different domains. Desmond and Uriah ask why the new moon is her deadline, and Isolde says great battles are waged in Falkovnia every new moon. Tatyana suggests it would be a good training exercise, and Uriah says he would rather stick to books than field work. Tatyana offers to spar with Uriah, saying she will go easy on him.

Meanwhile Nahara notices Isolde staring at her. She asks permission to touch Nahara in order to see her past. But Isolde is unable to see Nahara’s life beyond the past two days. She says it’s as if it’s being hidden from both of them. But Isolde does learn that Nahara is a Mist Walker, someone who can safely traverse the Mists as long as they have a token that grounds them to a specific domain to take them to it. Isolde gives Nahara a lump of zombie flesh, saying it will guide them to Falkovnia, which is overrun by undead. When Uriah asks for a talisman that can return them to the Carnival, Isolde says Fen is it.

Tatyana tries to take the tablecloth and tie a baby carrier for Nahara to carry Stewart and the zombie flesh. She ends up spilling all of the food from the table onto the ground. Isolde bids them pack and take provisions from the Carnival for their journey to set out and get her scouts back. She is about to leave to make her rounds when she looks at Uriah oddly. Fen recognizes the look as one that precedes Isolde decapitating someone and places her hand on Isolde’s shoulder to distract her. Isolde leaves without incident.

**Act III.**

As the party discusses what they will need to pack, Tatyana says she wouldn’t mind going back to the Litwick Market to say goodbye to Carrador. Valentine lies and says she forgot something back there to give Tatyana an excuse to go back. When Tregrum speaks up, Valentine asks if it has a form for her to see. It says it can make one, and the image of a black cat appears close by. Valentine is concerned Tregrum is mind-controlling a cat, and Tregrum explains it’s just a conceptual cat. Valentine accepts this visual representation. In establishing ground rules with Tregrum, it says “all of us are here to help” her. When Valentine asks who “all of us” are, Tregrum answers obliquely, claims to be tired, and the cat disappears.

At the Litwick Market, Tatyana finds it’s tripled in size. Carrador says more people arrive the longer the Carnival stays in one place. Tatyana says she’s shopping for something shiny for Valentine, and he asks her what she’ll trade for it. They flirt some more, and retire to his tent. Back at the Carnival, Desmond is relaxing as the rest of the party prepares to leave. Hermos joins him, and they chat about Hermos’ family and his past. He warns Desmond to take care with forests in the Mist; they’re dangerous. Hermos says Desmond could easily join the Carnival and become an attraction if he wished. He says that Isolde takes good care of the people in the Carnival, but her mind is increasingly pulled in two different directions.

Valentine returns to the place where she found the body last night. A ring toss stall is set up near the site, and she asks the duergar running it if there was a body when he opened. After more questioning, he admits that there was, and it’s not unusual at the Carnival. As they get more friendly, he gives her a better set of rings to toss, and Valentine wins a prize. The stuffed prizes she can choose from are a large plant in the process of eating a person, a headless horseman, a person with no bones, or a cat-type creature with long fangs. She chooses the boneless. He tells her she’ll be safe at the Carnival but doesn’t recommend walks outside it alone.

**Act IV.**

Uriah decides to tell Isolde about the strange visit from Oscanar Eris. When he says Oscanar wanted to avoid Isolde, her eyes narrow and Nepenthe begins to glow brightly. She grabs Uriah and asks if he brought Oscanar here. He says no, and she asks what else Oscanar said. Fen arrives and can tell Isolde is about to kill Uriah. Fen tries to distract Isolde, but she says Uriah has been collaborating with the Caller. Fen and Uriah both tell Isolde he wasn’t collaborating, but she is listening to a voice only Isolde can hear. She says this was a trick designed to torment her and draws Nepenthe.

Fen pleads on her knees for Isolde to calm down. Isolde makes Uriah swear to Ezra that he’s telling the truth, but it’s not enough. She knocks him down, preparing to decapitate Uriah. Fen grabs Isolde’s arm and tells Uriah to run. Fen speaks to Isolde in Elvish and Undercommon, trying to reassure her and calm her down. Isolde admits she doesn’t want to take Uriah from Fen, but Nepenthe wants him dead. She tells Fen to take the party and go now so Isolde can regain her composure. Desmond and Tatyana get Uriah safely away from Isolde. The Mist begins to roll in, and the party hurries to leave. Behind them, Isolde yells in fury, and people in the Carnival and Litwick Market scatter.

**Act V.**

Their trip through the Mists takes some time, and they have a vision of a red meteor streaking overhead and exploding in a forest. Finally all six of them arrive in a sunlit forest, surrounded by tall red trees. There is no sound of anything else living. Tatyana says that she saw Soth in the Mists and now she doesn’t hate him. Uriah tells everyone what happened with Oscanar, and that he thinks it was the Caller in disguise. He apologizes for upsetting Isolde. Tatyana makes him promise to tell her if he sees the Caller again; she wants to fight it. He also tells them about the potion he was given, saying they shouldn’t have secrets from one another. Uriah recalls one night a year that the citizens of Il Aluk don’t go outside because evil things happen. He says a debauched aristocracy with invisibility potions might explain what happens on that night. The party resolves not to drink the potion now, just in case. Valentine gives Uriah the stuffed boneless toy.

They discover a happy nudist watching them. He introduces himself as Albrecht and says his town of Delmunster is nearby. He offers to take them to the town before the undead come. They ask if everyone in his town is a nudist, and Albrecht says no. In town, the party introduces themselves to Albrecht. When Albrecht says he’s never heard of Ezra, Uriah offers him a hand-written pamphlet. Tatyana says he’s never tried to convert her, and Uriah starts to tell her about Ezra also.

Looking around the town, the party sees the locals acting strangely, paying special attention to their plants, and speaking to no one they can see. Fen hears some of them speaking Deep Speech and asks Uriah if he speaks it. He doesn’t. Overhearing this, Valentine takes a stroll, trying to eavesdrop on what the townsfolk are saying. Those speaking Deep Speech seem to be talking about farming. Valentine approaches a woman talking to the air and speaks to her in Deep Speech. The woman, Adi, says she’s speaking to the wondrous plant and tells Valentine it protects them from the zombies. When Valentine tries to read Adi, she has no tells, and Valentine suspects she’s being mind-controlled. Valentine asks if she can meet the plant, and Adi offers to take her and her friends to meet it.

Seeing that 15% of the town are also nudists, Nahara and Tatyana decide to join them and encourage Uriah to do so as well. He declines. Fen and Desmond share a flask and watch the tomfoolery. Desmond shows Albrecht the map and tells him they’re headed to Lekar. Apparently it’s all the way across Falkovnia from Delmunster. Desmond asks if they can purchase horses in the town, and Albrecht says they don’t have any, but he could arrange a guide.

When Valentine returns, Nahara invites her to take her clothes off as well. She does, but keeps her pearls on. Valentine draws the party away for privacy and tells them what she learned about the town and the wondrous plant. They decide to go into the forest with Adi and meet the plant. Valentine and Nahara put their clothes back on in anticipation of a fight ahead.

They all follow Adi through the forest and chat amicably. Adi recommends they don’t go into the forests of Falkovnia alone because of the undead. Suddenly a mysterious voice tells all of them they need not fear, because they are under its protection. And before its identity is revealed, B. Dave tells us it’s a good place for us to stop.

**Epilogue:**

Back in Borovia, Strahd asks what Azalin’s price is for sharing this knowledge he claims to possess. Azalin says it’s not about what he wants but what Strahd wants. Azalin tempts Strahd with the one thing he wants, asking him what price he would pay to have it. Strahd says no price is too high. But he questions why Azalin has chosen to come here when he’s finally won his freedom. Azalin claims he’s doing it as a gift for Strahd, because Strahd is the fulcrum on which the Domains of Dread are balanced. He tells Strahd “she” has returned, and this time it can be different. Azalin gives Strahd the name Voronika as a hint. Strahd says she’s already lost and Azalin has miscalculated with both his offer and his information. He says it will be amusing for him to wait until Azalin realizes his mistake…

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