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Bell gathers some strands of hair from Ireena's old room and sends ravens as Animal Messengers to Barovia to keep an eye on Izek.

Percy casts Divination by painting the sigil of Andras on the floor and pouring his blood over it. He learns that the nature of the curse is not likely to change.

P gives the writing copied from the druid speech to Bell but he cannot decipher it.

We load up our cart with Sporebies and head to Berez via Valleki. On the way we see a group of approx 5 travelers leaving Valleki with their possessions. Bell offers them Goodberries but they throw them out.

There are no guards at the gate and the gate is slightly ajar. There is no one at Rictavio's cart. P asks B to ask the sabretooth tiger where his master has gone and B says he'll do it when we return. There are remnants of people who appear to have been stoned to death in the streets. Percy doesn't recognize any of them but one of them was carrying Fiona's manifesto, indicating that they were perhaps her supporters.

The road to Berez eventually becomes more of a worn path and the fog becomes more dense. We find the corpse of a wolf in the river, stuck with spears and crossbow bolts.

--- BEREZ ---
black clouds of flies. light flashes amid a dark ring of standing stones on the far side of the river, where the fog is much thinner. on our side, the fog obscures everything past approx 120 ft.

Bell Communes with Nature while Percy casts a ritual to Comprehend Languages and Dren unloads the cart. B detects no strange concentrations of plant life. Flies begin to bite us and we kill three swarms.

Percy sends out his owl to investigate the light. A dozen moss-covered standing stones, from 15 to 18 feet tall, some leaning inward. A wary-looking peasant woman lurks behind the tallest stone, clutching a lantern. We think she was probably signalling to us. Percy surmises that she is signalling "HERE" in morse code. We cross the river, Bell flying people across as an eagle and Percy crossing on the Shield Guardian.

Muriel Vinshaw, friends with Danika and the Martikovs. Late teens. She is "like them." She stays down here to keep a watch, to make sure "things stay normal." Says she can't believe we made it down here without knowing "what lives here," -- Baba Lysaga.

The stones look similar to the ones near Raven Roost. The structure seems ancient. N, S, E, and W stones are taller. Bell says that it seems to him that the land inside the circle was once Blessed. Sees druids around from time to time using the circle but hasn't seen any in a few weeks. She tells us that Berez flooded and was abandoned. Nothing lives here except BL and the goats that she keeps to probably eat. Doesn't know if she has the seed but she has "a lot of weird stuff." Rides around on a giant skull. Periodically goes out and messes with the scarecrows that she has set up. Sometimes they come to life. Seem like an alarm or trap. Stays in her hut in the middle area.

Mother Night - something to do with a god and forsaken land. her parents taught her but she didn't pay too much attention and now they're dead. martikovs were close to them. never heard that MN and BL are the same, but MN is only a fairy tale, like Morning Lord.

ML took care of the kids, MN got mad and left or something, Strahd came in and banished the gods

ancient, land - druids say it a lot. doesn't know if S has power over the druids, but he definitely does "weird shit" with them. hasn't seen it personally but feels like they've got to be connected.

never heard young woman deal story.

never seen druids with BL. thinks they probably do go to the other side of the river but she hasn't seen them.

We return to the other side of the river and leave Nellshan and Nikolaj, along with two sporebies, at the wagon. Percy rides on the SG while his owl flies 200 ft ahead with P seeing through his eyes. We approach ruined cottages and see a short stretch of dirt road that's still intact. A cursory look as we pass through reveals nothing of interest in the cottages. A wooden pen, probably for goats. A tossed-together, ramshackle wooden hut.

Percy Divines again and asks "where will we find this seed?" He is told it will be kept near that which possesses it.

hut - built on a stump, root legs like spider legs. Giant's skull, upside down and hollowed-out. Two irons cages filled with ravens. Gale enters the ethereal plane and stealths while we walk to the hut and try to call her out. No response. B talks to the ravens and they say they'll fight if we set them free. Percy sees that it's a magical lock but they birds don't know the password, so B Dispels Magic. And old woman sticks her head out in response to the ruckus.

Percy tells her we're travellers interested in history and were told the town was empty so we're surprised to find her hut. Asks why we let the ravens free and Dren says it wasn't him. Bell raises his hand and admits it was him and that he did it because they asked him. She asks if he's dumb and P cuts in and apologizes for him and offers to help catch them. Asks why she catches them if they're so filthy and she says she loves the sound they make as they cry. She hops into her skull and summons four swarms of insects. She has no magic items on her person.

After we kill her insects, her house stands up and begins to move. She turns around and notices the door to the house is closed. She runs inside and attacks Gale. Dren eventually beheads her.

Inside the hut: wooden furtniture including a crib and a chest, and a tub stained with blood. There is a green light coming from below the floor boards. Dren breaks through and finds the seed. The hut stops moving as he removes the seed.