The room beyond the torture room was as fascinating as it was strange. The center of the chamber was occupied by a bright burning brazier with magical heat-less fire. Encircling the brazier was seven cup-like depressions around its rim, each containing a colored gem. Set into alcoves, staged across the room from each other, stood statues of two of the terrifying Black Riders that haunt my dreams, with lances poised to charge through the center of the chamber, skewering those stupid enough to step the wrong way in this ancient place. Above the brazier was a large hourglass with magic writing faintly glowing on its underside. The Inscription read:
Violet leads to the mountain spire Orange to the castle's peak Red if lore is what you seek Green to where the coffins hide Indigo to the master's bride Blue to ancient magic's womb Yellow to the Master's tomb
With very little time to take a proper moment to think of what to do, the green stone was thrown into the brazier and it opened up a glowing portal atop the brazier. We wasted no time stepping through to whatever fate awaited us. It was a strange feeling, stepping through an arcane portal which traverses vast distances with a single step. A wave of vertigo washed through the group and with a flash, we were in the attic storage room of the Coffin-maker's shop. The mysterious crates were still stored within. We made our way downstairs as quietly as we could, not sure exactly what we could be walking into. There was no sign of Henrik Van Der Voort anywhere within the shop and soon we found our way to the door leading to the yard. Several ravens were present and we were told that the Martikovs had set up a safe house for us with desperately needed beds and food for our exhausted and starving troupe. We secretly wound our way through the shadows of the town to a specific home, not far from the south gate. We gorged on succulent wolf meat and the ever present borscht until we were in danger of bursting. We slaked our thirst on water and wine and collapsed one and all onto our cots as if they were the most opulent beds we had ever lain upon. Muriel was there to guard us while we slept like the dead - our first decent sleep in five days. Muriel would be our main point of contact now instead of Hecate. As for Snelb, he decided that he had had enough of battles and facing danger with our rather unconventional traveling troupe. He felt that he could serve better with the Martikov's than with us, so he bid farewell to Nim and the rest of us. Even Uphir was beginning to concede, after his rescue of us in the dungeons, that Snelb may have had some redeeming qualities. Over the next couple of days we brought Muriel up to speed on what happened in Berez and our tortured stay in Strahd's dungeons. We learned many things from Muriel within that time as well. She spoke in detail about her and the Martikovs belonging to an ancient order - The Keepers of the Feather. Each of the members of this secretive group were were-ravens. This group stayed in the shadows, acting as a spy network, working with another faction in Barovia against Strahd. The Grim Order were fighters and warriors who stood against Strahd, having long ago been wiped out by Strahd's forces in the years before strahd claimed his mantle as the Vampyr Devil of Barovia. The Grim Order were part of the knights who were at Arganvostholdt. Their leader was Lord Arganvost, who was a powerful silver dragon. Muriel implied that there were other members of the Grim Order that may still exist outside of Barovia, as the order predates Strahd sealing in Barovia behind his cursed wall of mists. Muriel spoke of two powerful sites in the land that were currently not working at full power. There was a beacon at Arganvostholdt that, if lit, would bring an increase in the power of good over evil in the land. The other was the holy shrine at the pool in Krezk, which could be activated to further spread its light against the darkness of the land. We had noticed on our previous trip to Krezk that the statue in the gazebo seemed to be missing something, a disc perhaps? Speaking of Krezk and the mountain Abbey above, we learned that the Abbot was taking care of an insane deformed family there. We learned that the Keeper's had located the cabin in which they suspected Izek Strazni had been holding Ireena. Neither she nor Izek could be found there, but it looked like the place had been besiegned in a great battle and the interior and exterior of the cabin was awash in blood. They suspect that Izek is likely dead, as he had not returned to Vallaki since. It definitely appeared to us that Strahd had finally won and gained his prize - Ireena was now truly lost to us. Muriel told us that since leaving Berez, Sir Greggor of the Grim Order, our wandering friend golem, has taken up residence within the manor house after having killed all of the scarecrows and lost ones in the area. We learned that there were five Dark Riders, of which, the leader wears a great helm adorned with antlers. They were the former men-at-arms of Strahd who stood with him when the rest of his forces rose against him after he murdered his brother Sergei, and Tatyana had flung herself to her doom. They became his staunch lieutenants and serve him even now, in un-death. After a day or so of rest, Ulwin presented our group with a ceremony, pledging our group as one of the Grim Order. The creed of the Order was to "Bring Light Unto Darkness" and their symbol was a burning torch sharpened into a stake at the butt end, outlined in white on a black field. Ulwin began the initiation into the Grim Order by taking a prepared scroll and setting it upon the table with a sharpened, unlit torch, a vial of holy water, a candle and sealing wax. He gazed solemnly upon our group and asked who spoke for those gathered here and Nim said that he did. He locked eyes with us each in turn and with a severe voice asked if we willingly offered to bring light unto the darkness and we all replied that we did. He then said "Take this Grim Order; bring light unto darkness while you might. Save those you can, for the rest; give them mercy." He then poured the vial of holy water on the sharpened end of the unlit torch, lights the torch and hands it to Nim. He then added his seal to the document identifying us by group only, as members of the Grim Order. Janlynn took some time to do a Tarokka reading, once again asking the same question. Now that we had lost the Book of Strahd, we needed new direction. The cards fell exactly the same except for the first draw; the card that speaks of history and knowledge of the ancient. Janlynn received her visions and learned some new information. "The Faceless God is in the Temple" and "A woman hangs above a roaring fire. Find her and you will find the treasure." We discussed the possibility of finding a weapon at Arganvolstholt and talked some about the missing device that will be needed to activate the powers of the shrine. We talked about the mountains and the faceless god, and the strange dusk elf Kasimir Velikov. Kasimir is an elven name and Velikov is Vistani. We had a strange encounter with a ghostly house guest while recovering. From the shadows of a corner of the house, a ball came bouncing out. Nothing could be seen in the shadows and though I wanted to pick up the ball and investigate, some in the group felt it best if the ball were left alone. Careful investigation of the corner revealed tiny footprints in the dust of the corner. All thoughts immediately went to the evil doll from the house of Ulric, in Berez. No one wanted to think that we were being haunted by that murderous construct.
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