>>5266786>>5266896>>5266989>Ask the burgomaster a question. Press him to speak about the curse.--
"Actually, I have one more question," you say. "I think it's important that I know more about this curse. I cannot be dissuaded from entering the Abbey - I need to go there, to find my sister, there is no other way about it - but if there is danger, it may help me to understand the nature of it."
And so Dmitri explains the origin of the Abbey's reputation in the village. "Saint Markovia was a priest of the Morninglord who once took a stand against Strahd. The Abbey is named after her; the Abbey of Saint Markovia. It operated as a hospital and a convent, but it fell on hard times after the land was swallowed up by the mists, and Saint Markovia and her followers were crushed by Strahd."
Dmitri goes on to explain that after the fall of Saint Markovia and the encroaching of the mists, the Abbey became a fortress closed off from the rest of the world. But horrible madness that fell upon the clergymen and nuns during these years, driving them to such horrible acts as suicide, mutilation, and cannibalism. The land outside was nightmarish to the clerics and nuns holed up inside, who, for about a generation, would be killed by creatures of the woods the moment they left the protection of their walls. But ultimately it was their isolation and greed that drove them to their end, as the clergy began fighting over food and wine. By the time their supplies ran out, they had either been killed by each other's hands or driven hopelessly mad by the terror of being trapped in a madhouse. For years afterward, the villagers of Krezk avoided the place, fearing that the abbey was cursed and haunted.
Then, over a century ago, a pilgrim from a distant land came to Krezk and insisted that he be allowed to reopen the abbey. The nameless man was strikingly handsome and extremely persuasive, and the villagers couldn't help but do as he commanded. Eternally young, he presides over the abbey to this day, and locals refer to him simply as the Abbot. Many villagers suspect that the Abbot is Strahd in disguise, for they've heard stories about Strahd appearing in other guises. The truth, however, is anyone's guess.
"So the Abbot himself has nothing to do with the curse?" you ask.
"No, I believe not."
"I see... I did have another question too, if you don't mind."
"Go ahead, I'm only standing in the freezing cold. The hearth can wait."
(cont.)
