Episode 1: The Hunt for the Raven Crown

The second session of The Black Dice Society guest stars Vee Mu'se (@vee\_muse) as Voronika, the woman Desmond loves, and Jason Carl (@vampiresnvino) as Strahd von Zarovich.

**Act I.**

The story opens with just the Ravenloft contingent of the party: Fen, Nahara, and Uriah. Nahara awakens from a recurring nightmare of being chased and falling to find herself alone in an unfamiliar wood. She has vague memories of being in a house with brave strangers and wonders if it was a dream.

Elsewhere, Uriah stumbles alone through the Mists, also with only hazy memories from the house in Borca. He wonders if that was a dream or if he’s dreaming now. Because he follows Ezra, Lady of the Mists, he doesn’t find the Mists as frightening as he otherwise might. Up ahead, he hears a woman’s voice calling out for aid, and he rushes forward to meet Nahara. Uriah remembers her from his dream. Although she’s not sure if they’ve met before, he seems familiar to her.

Out on patrol to secure the area around the Carnival, Fen sees the two of them and draws her sword, asking where they came from. Uriah says they’re lost, and Nahara asks if Fen knows where they are. Fen answers that they’re near the Carnival. Seeing her, Uriah thinks he recognizes her, not just from the house, but from when he was a boy and she saved him. Fen looks more closely at him and seems to recognize him as well, remarking that humans age, but she’s glad he’s still alive. Fen and Nahara introduce themselves to one another, and Uriah asks if they can accompany Fen back to the Carnival. She invites them to come with her and leads the way.

As they go, Uriah feels Ezra cautioning vigilance, and casts Protection from Evil on himself. He also raises his Eyes of the Grave and sees that both of his companions radiate undeath, and that they are surrounded by undead.

**Act II.**

It is a beautiful day in Faerûn, and Desmond is in the bath, getting ready for his brother’s wedding. Outside the bathroom door, his brother Armand is begging him to hurry and to please respect him so that others will on this important day. After some gentle ribbing from Desmond, Armand hears the bride approaching and leaves so as not to incur good luck, begging Desmond not to change her mind.

The bride to be, Voronika, a woman of smaller stature with bright blue eyes and her hair in vivid red ringlets adorned with leaves and ribbons, knocks at Desmond’s door. Once she’s ensured he’s decent, Voronika enters to speak with Desmond. They speak as people intimately familiar with one another, who’ve known one another for a long time. Voronika reminds Desmond that he still has time to speak up if he wishes, and claim his rightful seat as head of the family instead of his younger brother Armand. Desmond says he’s never wanted the responsibility and supports his brother doing what their father wanted. She looks unhappy but speaks of duty, finally saying she would never ask him to go against his nature. But it becomes clear that she would rather marry Desmond than his brother. He is giving up the woman he loves so that he doesn’t have to rule. They try to stay friendly to one another, keep it light, but the subtext is heavy.

They part ways to get ready, and we see the quaint countryside of Koshmar alive with flowers and greenery as the small estate prepares for the wedding. In Valentine’s and Tatyana’s room, the barbarian wakes early and does her morning exercises, eventually waking Valentine by accident. They are both looking forward to the wedding, Valentine noting that it’s been a long time since they’ve had something to celebrate. She vaguely remembers having had a dream about bugs and Tatyana looking angry and an axe. But this is unusual, as Valentine has not dreamed since “the incident.”

Valentine glances around the room for the axe from her dream and spies it strapped to Tatyana’s bed. She’s just convinced Tatyana to leave it behind when a mysterious voice in Valentine’s head warns her to be vigilant, that someone is looking for her and approaches now. Valentine asks Tatyana to hold onto the axe after all. When Tatyana picks it up, she gets several feelings from the axe, as if it’s trying to enchant her. She tells Valentine she feels afraid, and that’s not a feeling she has often. Valentine suggests celebration might make her feel better.

Voronika knocks at their door and enters to greet her dear friends. Seeing her looking sad, Tatyana coaxes from Voronika that she went to see Desmond, against her better judgment, and now she’s thinking of what could have been. Valentine says a woman should never feel trapped, and she and Tatyana offer to get Voronika away if she’s having second thoughts about the wedding. Voronika says that Armand is the reliable choice of the two brothers and that he will do good things for Koshmar. Valentine just reminds her that she has options, and in the end, she hopes Voronika will choose herself.

Voronika asks how they are doing, and Valentine gives a political answer that could be seen as a dodge. Tatyana says they still have not found a place, and Voronika says they will always have a place with her. They talk about dancing together at the wedding and Tatyana and Valentine remind Voronika of their offer, before or after the wedding, to take her away and give her a break from her duties. Voronika’s head maid arrives to whisk her off to get ready.

As Valentine and Tatyana talk about weddings, Desmond arrives. Seeing Tatyana with the axe makes Desmond recall thinking he was going to have to kill her but he wouldn’t enjoy it. When he asks where she got the axe, the three of them experience a feeling that they went through something together recently. Valentine and Desmond begin to explain it away as too much drink, but Tatyana asks if she tried to kill them. Desmond admits he thought that was a dream, and they all acknowledge out loud having shared the same dream.

They move on to talk of the wedding, and Valentine asks Desmond, telepathically, how he really feels. He says some things you don’t say out loud out of respect for family. Armand rushes over to get their honest feedback about how he looks. Tatyana hugs him and lifts him off his feet, much to Armand’s chagrin. He says Desmond taught him to command rather than demand respect. Valentine says she expects him to do everything in his power to deserve the respect of his bride, and Armand promises to do his best for her and for Koshmar.

When Armand half-jokingly tries to recruit Tatyana to join the guard, she refuses and joins Desmond in gently mocking the softness of Armand’s guard and his own lack of military training. Desmond and Armand have a touching exchange about familial duty and Armand stepping up to fill their father’s shoes. He is anxious to make Desmond as proud of him as he is of Desmond. Desmond says Armand’s existence makes him proud. Armand begins to say he has so much to share with Desmond, but church bells call him away to prepare for the ceremony.

**Act III.**

Desmond, Tatyana, and Valentine make their way to the temple of Sylvanas to prepare for their roles in the wedding ceremony. They meet Kuksha, the wood elf druid who will be officiating the ceremony. She has wise, kind, and sympathetic words for all three of them, noting that they are a complicated band. The ceremony proceeds with each of them taking a cardinal direction and role in the ritual as Armand and Voronika enter. They receive blessings from their friends and family in the name of each cardinal direction and then the druid fastens their hands with six vines for six vows.

As the bride and groom leave to begin the festivities, Desmond, Tatyana, and Valentine linger in the temple, discussing their mixed feelings about the union. Desmond finally ends the conversation by entreating them to come celebrate with him, and the show goes to break…

**Act IV.**

After a night of celebration, Tatyana and Valentine are awakened late by the sound of anguished screams. As the two of them leave their room to see if anyone is hurt, Desmond awakens elsewhere, covered in blood. In the distance, he hears Armand screaming, and he tries to identify whose blood it is. It’s not Armand’s, but his mind is too hazy to identify whose blood it is.

Tatyana and Valentine run into Armand, who is also covered in blood. He tells them in shock that Voronika is dead, it looks like something tore out her heart. As Valentine runs to check on her friend, she feels a cold chill and turns to see a tall hooded figure with burning eyes standing on the edge of town. Then a second pair of eyes appear as a black knight rides forward on a horse wreathed in flame. He demands to know where the raven crown is.

Desmond arrives beside Tatyana and Valentine as the guards charge the black knight and he kills them with a gesture. He dismounts and approaches the three heroes, noting that Tatyana may be a worthy opponent for him. Desmond’s features turn wolfen, though he doesn’t fully transform, and he taunts the knight. Beside him, Armand pleads with Desmond to remain safe, that he’s lost too much already tonight, but Desmond will not be dissuaded. When he fires an arrow at the knight that breaks against his armor, he declares Desmond unworthy of his attention.

Valentine casts Dissonant Whispers and finds out the knight is unable to feel fear, though the inside of his head is a maelstrom of desperation and guilt, not anger. When the knight tries to show her something through their mind link, the mysterious voice in Valentine’s head blocks it and says she’s not ready to know that yet.

Tatyana charges the black knight, getting distance from her friends before touching the cursed axe. She swings and misses, but the knight says she has the heart of a true warrior, and he will fight her when she is ready. Tatyana feels intense pain as the symbol of a black rose burns into her back. After raising the guards he just killed, along with the dead in a nearby graveyard, the knight promises to find Tatyana later, saying, “No one and nothing escapes Lord Soth.” As the Mists roll in, separating them from Armand, and the undead approach, Soth disappears.

**Act V.**

Desmond, Tatyana, and Valentine find themselves in a sparse forest with the three strangers from their dream. Uriah recognizes them and warns that they’re surrounded by undead. The six of them begin to fight off a number of zombies and skeletons, to little effect. When, after the first round, all of the undead are still attacking, Desmond fully transforms into his wolf form. His muscles ripple and strain his armor as Desmond grows dark brown fur with tan mottling down his shoulders and back. His glowing yellow eyes scare the stuffing out of Uriah as Desmond attacks a zombie with tooth and claw.

The voice in Valentine’s head approves of Desmond’s transformation. The party continues to do their best to fight the undead surrounding them. As Valentine casts Arms of Hadar, black tendrils oozing out of her ears and eyes, the story cuts away to a very different scene.

**Epilogue:**

As Strahd von Zarovich stands on a balcony of Castle Ravenloft looking out over his domain, a servant approaches and tells him he has a visitor. They claim a disembodied voice asked permission to enter, saying it was the count’s oldest friend. Suspicious, Strahd extends an offer of hospitality to the mysterious visitor, and Azalin Rex appears in his inner sanctum to greet him. Strahd remarks that hospitality is a double edged sword, and he should not have given it so quickly. As the two dark lords greet each other for the first time in many ages, B. Dave tells us it is a good place for us to stop.

**Previous Episode:** .5 - The House of Lament

**Next Episode:** 2 - The Banished Grief

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