On the morning after the battle of Yester Hill, people across the valley of Barovia are startled when the sun rises in the east. The remaining heroes reunite at the Blue Water Inn in Vallaki where Casaba shares his tale from the Festival of the Blazing Sun. The town is in high spirits, but how long will the joyful mood last? 

Player Characters: Casaba, Gorgonzola, Kane, Nyr, Takarov

Part 8. The Morninglord

Kane, Nyr, and Barsun camped upon Yester Hill. After the epic confrontation with Strahd von Zarovich and the departure of Gydean, they did not know what else to do. All they knew was that they desperately needed to rest.

As they slept upon the hilltop, the howls of wolves and the groans of the living dead haunted their dreams. When Kane and Nyr awoke the next morning, the gnome rogue Barsun was nowhere to be seen. And as if their nightmares had come to life, the two remaining adventurers found themselves surrounded by a pack of wolves. Behind them, the corpses of the druids of Yester Hill were stumbling up the hill, hungry to feed upon the flesh of the living.

Kane and Nyr had no intention of being a meal for ravenous wolves and zombies. They clicked their heels, activated their winged boots, and flew into the sky.

High up in the clouds, they saw something far more shocking than waking up in the midst of zombies and wolves. The wall of fog beyond Yester Hill was gone. And over the hills and forests to the east, they saw the sun rising.

Nyr had not seen the sun in many days. Every day since she had arrived in the valley had been gloomy and full of mists. But for Kane, it had been ten years since he had last seen the light of the sun, ten years since he and Gydean had first arrive in the valley of Barovia.

Kane and Nyr flew over the hills toward the Wizard of Wines. The Martikovs had been standing outside the ruins of the winery for hours, transfixed by the sun as it climbed higher into the sky. None of them had ever seen real sunlight in their lifetimes. The small children played beneath the warm glow of a sunny afternoon for the first time. Their parents stared at the changing landscape as the day grew brighter, perhaps hopeful that things were changing but also fearful that the darkness might return if they turned their gaze.

Davian, the patriach of the family and its oldest living member, observed the changes with quiet foreboding. He did not trust the sun, suspecting it to be a mirage conjured by the dark lord Strahd or a trick played by the mists to give the people false hope. Even if the mists had truly been lifted, he feared that it was a temporary state. Davian believed that it would only be a matter of time before the mists returned.

Kane and Nyr told the Martikovs of all that had happened upon Yester Hill. The family wereravens listened with wrapped attention. But at the end of their tale, a dark mood fell upon Davian. The news of Gydean’s departure with the Tome of Strahd and the Sunsword were ill tidings.

“There will always be a dark lord of the valley,” Davian warned the heroes. “If Strahd von Zarovich has truly been destroyed, then I fear that your friend Gydean may take his place. If revenge is what he seeks, he will first try to take Strahd’s seat of power in the dark lord’s lair, Castle Ravenloft. But he will only be chained by that dark throne. Failing in his attempt to leave the valley, he will try to lure his prey into these lands through the mists. How many others will be caught in his web of hatred? These dark lords are doomed to repeat their cycle of vengeance for all eternity.”

Kane and Nyr could not let that happen. They needed to stop Gydean from making a terrible mistake. But they could not stop him alone. They would need help to pursue Gydean in Castle Ravenloft.

They decided to return to the town of Vallaki, hoping that any remaining members of their party might be waiting for them at the Blue Water Inn. They convinced Ireena and Ismark to join them. After Gydean had returned her locket to her, she was filled with curiosity about the boy in the picture inside it. She wanted to find him if he was still alive, and she hoped there might be a clue in Vallaki to aid her investigation.

Urwin would return with them, since he had already been away from his inn for too long. He urged his father, Davian, and the rest of his family to join him in Vallaki. Despite having reconciled his differences with his son, Davian Martikov declined Urwin’s invitation and refused to join them on the road. But he assured the heroes that he and his family of wereravens would be watching over them.

2.

As the party traveled to Vallaki, already they could see that the land was changing. The dark shadows of the valley were receding. The wolves and other beasts of the woods did not seem so vicious, but preferred to keep to themselves in the shadows of the trees. As evening fell, the sun began to set in the west and cover the valley in a golden light.

They saw the town of Vallaki in the distance. They were surprised to see that the gates of the town were unguarded. They could hear music coming from the Blue Water Inn, louder and more boisterous than any they had heard in the valley, even among the Vistani bards and minstrels. But it was not a human voice that sang the songs. It was the voice of a goblin.

Inside the Blue Water Inn, the whole population of Vallaki had filled up the tavern. Urwin had never seen so many people in his inn at one time! They were listening with wrapped attention to the song of Casaba, the goblin bard, who sang about a group of heroes battling evil druids to rescue a vineyard. When his song had ended, the crowd cheered him and reached out with their hands to touch the edges of his cape. Strangely, many of the people called him the Morning Lord.

What had happened in this town while Kane and Nyr were away?

When the crowd of people finally allowed the goblin bard to rest, Casaba reunited with his friends and brought two new companions with him. Beside him, there was a second goblin dressed in studded leather armor and an old man dressed in chainmail who had one too many drinks.

The goblin’s name was Gorgonzola, and he claimed to be a paladin of Lathander, the Morninglord. The drunk old man was a local mercenary from Vallaki named Takarov Starinov, said to be the former owner of the Blue Water Inn. Urwin seemed to recognize Takarov and urged him to slow down before he drank himself to an early grave.

Now that they were together again, the party shared their tales of all that had happened to them. Kane and Nyr related the dark tale of Yester Hill and the terrible truth they discovered. And Casaba told them of the Festival of the Blazing Sun.

3.

Earlier that day when Kane and Nyr had departed from Yester Hill, the Festival of the Blazing Sun took place in front of the Burgomaster’s mansion in Vallaki at the break of dawn. For several days, the people of the town had been collecting twigs and branches. These were piled into a giant wooden sphere that would set on fire, becoming a blazing effigy of the sun. The burning of the effigy was the main event of the festival. The burgomaster, Baron Vargas Vallakovich, promised the townspeople that it would light the way for a new dawn in the valley. The people did not believe him, of course, since he had promised the same thing each week during every other festival.

Gorgonzola the goblin paladin had wandered into the valley through the mists several days ago. He had been search for a temple of the Morninglord. Eventually, he found the Church of St. Andral in the town of Vallaki. At first, the parishioners of the church were frightened by his appearance. But Gorgonzola soon won over the priest, Father Lucian, and his parishioners by chopping wood every morning in preparation for the festival. Once they got to know him, they were impressed by the goblin’s genuine devotion to the Morninglord who was also worshipped in the Church of St. Andral.

After Gorgonzola added the last of the wood to the effigy, he watched as another goblin, Casaba the bard, climbed onto the stage. He was surprised to see another goblin in this remote valley, let alone a bard. But he was even more shocked by the music that flowed from the bard’s lips.

Casaba began to sing a song of surpassing power. Never had the people of Vallaki, or the entire valley, heard such a beautiful song.

He sang about his life as a goblin, how he had paid his dues time after time, and had done his sentence though he committed no crime. He had made a few mistakes and had sand kicked in his face. But Casaba always came through. His life as a bard had brought him fame and fortune. It was a challenge, being a goblin bard, but he was determined not to lose. Casaba had no time for losers. Casaba was a champion, the best goblin bard, and he would keep fighting ’til the end.

Casaba’s song touched the people of Vallaki. They had spent their entire lives being downtrodden and oppressed by the darkness of the valley and the false promises of their burgomaster. Upon hearing the bard’s song, even the soulless people of the town felt a tiny glimmer of hope welling up inside their empty hearts.

Then, as the wooden effigy was lit, the sun rose in the east.

At first, people mistook the growing red light as the glow of the flames that crackled on the great wooden sphere. But then, they realized that the light came from beyond the horizon, and it was far more brilliant than the greatest bonfire they had ever seen. High upon the stage, standing in front of the light of the bonfire and against the radiance of the rising sun, there was Casaba the goblin. And in the eyes of the townspeople who were dazzled by the blinding light, he looked like a saint delivering them from the darkness.

In that moment, Takarov came stumbling out of the inn. In a drunken haze, he looked upon Casaba standing upon the stage, singing his brilliant song, and for a brief instant, he thought the Mornlinglord had descended from the heavens with a choir of angels.

“It’s the Morninglord!” Takarov shouted. Then he stumbled forward and fell into a stupor.

But his cry was taken up by the people of Vallaki. Soon, everyone was chanting and referring to Casaba as the Morninglord. Father Lucian, fearful of what the townspeople would say if he spoke against their newly annointed savior, reluctantly joined their chants, causing the rest of his parishioners to join in as well.

Baron Vargas, not one to miss an opportunity, held up Casaba as a saint and a hero of the town. Now, the view that Casaba was truly a reincarnation of the Morninglord had the authority of both the Church and the Burgomaster. How could anyone argue?

When the tale was finished, Kane and Nyr sat in stunned silence and awe. Casaba truly was the best goblin bard.

4.

The heroes still had one more person to meet. They went to see Kasimir in the Vistani camp outside the town of Vallaki. They asked the dusk elf for his help in the dangerous quest to find Gydean in Castle Ravenloft. Kasimir would not aid them unless they aided him in launching an expedition to the Amber Temple, where he hoped to make a bargain with the dark powers to restore his dead sister, Patrina, to life. This time, the heroes agreed to undertake the mission if it meant enlisting Kasimir’s assistance.

Before the heroes set out for the high mountains where the Amber Temple was said to be located, they stocked up on warm weather clothes and supplies. They also learned that Madam Eva was visiting the Vistani camp. The heroes felt that they needed her guidance in the tasks that lay ahead of them.

Madam Eva greeted the heroes, including the new members of the party as if she had always known them. Then she revealed a secret about herself. She was far older than any of them suspected. In fact, she was Strahd von Zarovich’s half-sister!

After Strahd made his pact with the dark powers and became the master of the valley, Madam Eva had remained in these lands to guide the hapless adventurers who were lured into the mists. She had hoped that one of them might have the strength to free Strahd from his curse, which is why she aided them with her fortune telling.

Things might have seemed hopeful with the rising of the sun, but Madam Eva had seen the sun rise before. It had happened whenever a group of brave and lucky adventurers managed to defeat Strahd and destroyed his body. But Strahd’s soul remained intact. Each time that the sun rose and the mists parted, they returned again after a period of months. And each time Strahd returned to his throne in Castle Ravenloft, his immortal heart grew darker as he brooded in his eternal prison.

In order to truly release Strahd from his endless torment, someone else must take his place upon the dark throne. Castle Ravenloft and its seat of power were the shackles that bound the master to these cursed lands.

If Gydean took the mantle of the master of the valley, he would become yet another dark lord. But without another to replace him, Strahd can never be free. Madam Eva wanted her half-brother Strahd to be free of his bonds. But the choice was not hers to make. It was up to the heroes to determine the fate of Strahd, Gydean, and the valley of Barovia.

However, one thing had changed in all the centuries that Madam Eva had witnessed. The Wizard of Wines, which had supplied the people of the valley for generations, had now been destroyed. It would take a long time to rebuild the winery and grow new grapes to harvest. The town of Vallaki had just received a new shipment of wine, but the other smaller villages in the valley were already running dry. When the mists returned and the sunlight was lost once more, could the people survive without wine to stave off their sorrow and despair? Or would they succumb to desperation and madness after having enjoyed a brief taste of freedom and hope?

Casaba had come to care for the people of the valley to looked to thembe as his savior. He wondered if there might be a way to build a new winery, or perhaps a distillery, to produce new drinks. Or, if the mists had truly been lifted, could he lead the people out of the valley if they believed he was the Morninglord and were willing to follow him?

Madam Eva was touched by the goblin’s compassion. But she warned him that not all the Barovians could truly be led to freedom. In the valley, only a small portion of the population were born with souls. The rest were soulless entities, conjured by the dark lord’s subconsciousness to feed his ego. If the soulless Barovians tried to leave the valley, they would cease to exist.

The party now had much to consider, but they had little time to spare. Even as the heroes spoke with Madam Eva, the people of Vallaki were celebrating the rising of the sun with food and wine, unaware that these bottles of Purple Grapemash No. 3 might be their last.

To be continued…