>>5260694>>5260738>>5260982>>5261050The carriage departs, pulled by the enchanted horses, leaving the great fortress behind.
The carriage takes you through the woods at an alarming speed. This is faster than any horse could move. There is a stillness about the forest that notice even from the inside. You feel safe, but also incredibly isolated. You sit, staring down at the sack containing your new found enchanted paper birds and think about what this gift implies as the trees whip past.
It wasn't so much that the conversation with Strahd seemed pointless, it's more the way the meeting ended. As if there was something else that should have happened, something he thought you were privy to. Why else would he have threatened you unprovoked? Just to spook you? You didn't say anything to insult him, so far as you were aware.
You fight with the thought that's been nagging you since before you left the castle. There's no way you are just being paranoid. You remove one of the paper birds from the bag and compare it with yours once again, one of the ones given to you by Vasili: it's identical. Part of a set. You sigh in frustration.
Vasili told you he had hundreds of them. Strahd said the same thing in his note.
Vasili had said he came from a noble house outside the Village of Barovia, and that he was a patron of Lady Fiona Wachter, who you now know is an associate of Strahd. They are all friends, no doubt.
Why did you let Ireena leave with him? Could she be in danger right now?
The more you think about it, the more your stomach churns. What if Vasili took her somewhere on purpose, intending to bring her to Strahd? Have you been played for a fool?
Your working theory is that Strahd could be taunting you, trying to communicate to you that he has Ireena under his thumb. Or, the more likely scenario, you could be reading too much into his threats and finding subtext in his gift note that doesn't exist. That's what hanging out with a vampire lord will do. He's certainly got into your head a little bit, you'll give him credit for that, but with Kossuth's aid, you will get to the bottom of whatever games he decides to play with you.
You need to decide soon whether you will write Ireena as instructed and pray your fears are unfounded. After all, you cannot divert this carriage now. You've made your choice; are going to Krezk, on the far west end of the valley. Too far away to divert Vasili directly, should he be trouble for Ireena. If nothing else, you ARE going to find your sister. And if fate will have it, you and her will leave this hell as soon as you've been reunited.
(cont.)
