A Strahd Tail

The  sun was rising, the dented but polished blade of the half orc was shining some light on his face. Hoskgak has been sitting in the middle of the fighting ring the whole night, but no one approached. This forsaken land has no decent fight with public. I miss crowd, I miss enemy, he faced down and glanced drops of dry blood on the sand while sighing. With a disappointed expression he stands up and follows Destiny. Serenity flew away at the first howling sound a while ago. Taking a turn they reach what seems a wolf head, but made of stone. Destiny approached the entrance carefully on what seemed hours of care and stealth, under Hoskgak’s astonished expression. Serenity reappeared and kept back with Ireena hiding behind a rock. Someone was moving at the entrance. Finally, perhaps the pit boss. Maybe the orc will be able to put a show to a crowd today after all. Innocently Hoskgak waves at the humanoid and approaches him. He says some words but Hoskgak is unable to understand a word...

Are we the heroes of Barovia? Are we even making a difference? Serenity sits listening to Destiny telling, anyone who will listen, of her heroic deeds. The history books will no doubt tell how she single handedly defeated Strahd with one wave of her tail! She looks across at Hosgak, so often oblivious to the magic and the assistance of others, building his own legend within his own mind. Being raised with nothing but stories of heroes, perhaps he can be forgiven for seeing the world through a lens of heroism. What have we done to deserve the title of Hero?  Yes, we survived the House of Death, home to the forsaken Durst family. But surely heroism is more than just staying alive? Was it heroic to convince the Vistani Rado to pay his tab? Perhaps not. But saving the drowning Arabelle from Bluto surely was? Although, Bluto was unarmed and no match for us, we still murdered him, surely not the action of a hero? A work in progress... We did save the winery! Defeating the blighted vines ...

Serenity sits quietly alone, mopping up wine-coloured blood from her snow-white fur with a torn damp rag. She soaks the rag in a bucket and with each squeeze the redness of the swirling water deepens in colour. She meditates, breathing in and out in slow, controlled movements. Under her breath, almost imperceptibly, she mutters to herself "I must not run in ahead of my party... I must not run in ahead of my party..." Why could she not learn? The endless fights, the countless monsters slain, the many cuts and wounds. Even being knocked unconscious and crashing to the ground again and again, still she cannot stop the urge to run head long into battle... "I must not run in ahead of my party..." Perhaps, had she like-minded fighters to battle shoulder-to-shoulder with, she might be unstoppable. But Destiny, who runs as far as possible at the first sign of a fight, Watch... sorry, Kenny, who disappears and only reappears to be devoured out of existence over and over and ...

Destiny performs the now very familiar hour long ritual to bring Watch back into existence. Poof, there he is, cross armed and his cheeks redder than normal. Perhaps it's his expression, perhaps it's his posture, but he looks different to Destiny, somehow with more stature than before. "Watch, you look... different." Watch ignores Destiny. "It's strange," Destiny continues, "perhaps Watch was not quite the right name for you. You strike me more as a... a Kenny. Yes, Kenny I think." Watch ignores Destiny. "No more chatty, let's go finish this", said Hoskgak impatiently. *** It was said that the Heroes of Barovia descended to the Fidatov's family crypt that night to confront the ghosts that haunted it. But little was known about what actually happened that night despite the discovery of some first hand accounts. We do know that the party was joined by a certain "Kenny" who met an untimely end. We also know that the her...