Act 2, Scene 5: The Dusk Elves

While Arabelle cleaned up and the camp calmed down with her return, our heroes made their way to Kasimir's cabin in the hill, to meet the leader of the dusk elves and take his measure — and perhaps pick up a new bow for Ayduin while they were at it.

It quickly became evident that the dusk elves deployed language strategically — after the guard outside Kasimir's home greeted them in Common, he let Kasimir know in Elvish that he had guests and then, noting the pointed tips of Ayduin and Sylvain's ears, added something else in Barovian.

Kasimir, too, made use of language, exchanging pleasantries in Common and offering tea to the group, before — with apologies to the rest of the group and a request that they indulge him in using his mother tongue — he began to speak with Sylvain and Ayduin in a cheerful tone about how they might work together to undo Strahd.

While the others sipped tea and took in the decor — with wooden statuettes depicting various elvish gods familiar to Ayduin, such as Corellon, Angharradh, Aerdrie, Hanali, Labelas, Sehanine, Solonor, Tarsellis, Vandria, Araleth, Fenmarel, Naralis, and Rellavar — the pair learned more about Kasimir's history with Strahd. The woman Strahd had been interested in — who had been killed, leading to Strahd's murder of every remaining female dusk elf in Barovia — had been Kasimir's own sister Patrina, and she had sought Strahd out intentionally, courting his power. The dusk elves had killed her for fear of what she might become if she survived to achieve her goals.

Noting that there were eyes and ears on him more often than not — hence why the dusk elves lived under Vistani supervision — he asked the elvish among our heroes what their future plans were and, upon hearing of a quest for certain items, asked for more information. After Sylvain wrote down what he could remember of Madam Eva's prophecies in Elvish and handed it to Kasimir, Kasimir read over the list, nodded, and promptly burnt it.

He confirmed what our heroes had already suspected: that the dead dragon's lair where they were to find a fallen paladin was almost certainly the haunted house nearby which they had been warned against, the headquarters of the Order of the Silver Dragon; Kasimir echoed the other tales they'd heard of the place by stating it was extremely dangerous, and they would want to make sure they were well prepared before venturing there.

Regarding gardens, he stated this one was harder to identify, as there are plenty of gardens around Barovia, most of which get covered in snow at some point. However, he did know of a tower far to the south, guarded by golden knights. Moreover, that tower was on the way to a location Kasimir himself had interest in: a temple full of forbidden knowledge, where he suspected there may be information that could help destroy Strahd for good. However, it was much too dangerous for him to go alone — even more dangerous than the haunted mansion, he suspected. If and when the party was ready and willing to make a serious move against Strahd, he could guide them there.

Sylvain could pick up on something Kasimir was not quite saying about the place, but his offer of help seemed genuine enough; it was clear the leader of the dusk elves was eager to defeat the man who had decimated his people.

Finally, speaking of the sword of sunlight, Kasimir spoke of tales of a sword once wielded by Strahd's brother — a sword Strahd hates passionately. He did not know where such a sword might be found, but suggested it would be quite a useful tool in unsettling Strahd, if found.

After this, the group switched back to Common, with most of the party largely unaware what had gone on, given Kasimir and Sylvain's bright and pleasant tones and manners as they'd spoken. They were told about an elf who could treat the dire wolf pelts they had — who I definitely didn't name Toma and then forget and name him Feodor, it's fine, his middle name was Toma and he went by both — as well as Celegal, one of the youngest among them, and quite talented at making bows and arrows. With Ayduin selecting one of Celegal's finely crafted bows — carved with wolves and the cycles of the moon — and some ammunition, agreeing to bring back water from a sacred pool in Krezk in exchange, the party settled in for the evening, with plans to make for the winery the following morning.

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