The muddy road waited ahead of Katya as she lingered just beyond the other side of the ancient gateway into Barovia.  The tall reeds and grasses formed a natural wall around the trail and they swayed with the growing winds that blew through the fog shrouded landscape of the valley before them.  Mercifully the massive stone walls of the gate granted the woman some coverage from the irrepressible chill of the rain that patiently bid its time to greet them.<br/><br/>From her vantage point Katya watched as Esperanza trudged forward towards the gate to join her.  Xavier, the Boulder, was by her side and seemed keen to keep his charge protected until he paused and broke off to investigate the source of the vultures meal.  Esperanza was momentarily left alone as he headed off to the left side of the crumbling structure and pushed his way through the tangled overgrowth of weeds and shrubs.  Though their distances were not far apart from each other, the clouds of fog and mist that hung low to the ground and the diminishing light of day played havoc with their sight lines.<br/><br/>The further apart they became, the more wraith like their forms became to one another.  The smell of rot, at first faint, only grew stronger with every step until it overtook the other aromas and banished them.  By the time Xavier's stride had brought him to his goal he could barely make out the specter of Esperanza waiting at the cobweb riddled entrance of the gate, and her twin, Katya was all but gone from sight as she loitered on the opposite end of the tunnel.  But the visceral sight before him and the task that he had set out to perform became the focus of his efforts.<br/><br/>There, hidden away from casual observation at the edges of the thicket of woods was what was once a short plump man whose corpse had turned a blackish green.  A collection of beetles mingled about the body, partaking in the feast it offered.  His skin had dried away in places and was still bloated in others.  Portions of his thin hair had fallen away from his scalp, and his face had sunken inward.  As the warrior knelt down to examine the carcass that had been gouged, ripped, and pecked at by the vultures the means of death seemed quite evident.  A single line curled across the mans throat, it had the look of a sharp and precise instrument and though the passing of time had let the wound curl open it was obviously a thin blade that done the deed.<br/><br/>The man himself, who Xavier roughly estimated to be somewhere in his elder years was dressed in a distinguished manner.  The cut of his clothing resembled that of a man of some station and certainly of the upper class.  But his traveling jacket had been torn from his body and laid in a disheveled heap at his side.  His blood stained shirt and moldy trousers were ripped and shredded in spots where the vultures had picked away at the meat of the man.  A black leather strap that was typical of a coin purse had been cut in half and hung from his belt, and if the man wore jewelry it was gone.<br/><br/>About the body, obscured by mud Xavier spotted a tube of stained bamboo.  The seal of wax had been broken, and small remnants of its existence were scattered about the scene.  At a glance, the keen eyes of Xavier noted a crumpled up piece of parchment several feet away, stuck in a barricade of twigs and weeds.  Though it was stained by the elements, it was still quite readable, and from the date upon it, nearly a month old.  It read.<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)">Hail thee of might and valor:</span></span></span><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)"><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"> <br/>
     I, the Burgomaster of Barovia send you honor - with despair.</span></span></span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)"><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">     My beloved home has been plagued by a creature calling its race 'vampyr.'  My once adopted daughter who has grown into a lady, the fair Ireena, has been plagued by the creature over these past several nights.  I fear for her greatly.  For over four hundred years he has drained this land of the life-blood of its people.  Now, my dear Ireena has taken sanctuary in the security of my manor with only the symbol of our savior, the Morning Lord, and my servants to protect her.  Yet I fear that even that holy relic will not be enough, the creature has become far to powerful to be fought any longer.  </span></span></span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)"><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">     So I have decided to leave in the hopes that this letter will find its way into the proper hands and that I might spoil whatever cunning plans the Devil of Barovia has set his sights towards.  </span></span></span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)"><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">     Give us up for dead and encircle this land of death with the symbols of good.  Let holy men call upon their higher powers so that the evil one may be contained within the weeping walls of Barovia.  Leave our sorrows to our graves, and save the world from this evil fate of ours.  I beseech you, do not enter Barovia unless you intend to end this monsters reign of terror, for the mists that surround our haunted land are a poison that will suffocate any that try to leave these lands of dread.  This fate I accept, though I have hopes that an antidote I plan to acquire before my departure will spare me that painful end.</span></span></span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)"><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">     There is much wealth entrapped in this community.  Return for your reward after we are all departed for a better life.</span></span></span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)"><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">Kolyan Indrivoich,</span></span></span><br/><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)">Burgomaster </span></span></span>