"Ya think I'd be here if the bar was safe?"  Ismark stated bluntly as he stared after Ireena letting out an incredulous snort when she made no movement to fetch his drink for him.  Then his gaze turned towards Katya and he produced a somewhat sardonic smile in response to her gesture of gratitude.  "Yeah, we're all in this together, for now at least."  There was a shrug of his shoulders as he looked briefly between the twins and then to Ireena.  "And that letter doesn't sound anything like what my father would of sent out."  There was a pause as once more he looked between the trio of women whose similarities were becoming all the more apparent by the moment.  "No doubt Strahd was behind that letter you received, not my father."  For a brief moment Ismark nibbled nervously at the tips of his fingernails before continuing.<br/><br/>"Teo here is right though, that door doesn't open for anyone.  Hell, don't even so much as open a window."   A short nod was curtly given towards the lone gypsy woman.  "Just a quick lesson on vampires for those of you that don't know any better.  Don't look em in the eye, they got a way of getting into your head if you stare at em for too long."  He let out a exaggerated puff of breath as he stared at the seemingly distant cabinet where the booze was kept.  "There's a door to the back in the kitchen, just as stout and hardy as this one here.  Oh, and a tunnel in the cellar that heads back to my family's manor, which I assume isn't quite safe right now."<br/><br/>With a twist of his lips and a hearty groan he finally rose up from the comfort of his chair.  "Guess I'll get it myself."  On his way over towards a simple yet sturdy liquor cabinet of darkly stained wood he remarked towards Bucren with a quick glance.  "Ya won't find anything down here, but there's a few bundles of arrows and some extra bows n' string up in the master bedroom.  Couple of spots up in the windows too where ya can maybe pop a few shots to thin that damn herd at our door."  Several shaky breathless groans rose from beyond the heavily fortified entrance, slamming fists and raking nails upon the stout wood that showed little sign of giving way to the efforts of the undead.<br/><br/>He grumbled as he got down to one knee as if was going to propose to the cabinet full of booze.  "As for your friend, I doubt he's dead, they don't finish em just like that."  He snapped his fingers as he yanked open the door and began to filter through the dusty bottles hidden within.  With a disgusted snort his chubby hand grasped a hearty bottle full of drunken promise and he muttered, finally stealing a look towards Esperenza.  "He'll probably be alive for a bit.  They'll take em to the castle, bleed him dry slowly, that's what they like to do."  Unwilling to lock his gaze upon the young woman for any longer then he had to Ismark turned his eyes upon the bottle in his hand and with an audible pop he wrested the cork free.<br/><br/>Turning with the freshly opened bottle in hand the plump Barovian noble made his way back to his chair and plopped his hefty self back down with a groan.  "Say, where's Elrick?"  With one look at the faces of Andrei and Ireena, Ismark knew the sad answer to that question.  In response, immediately the bottle found its way to his lips and he tilted his head back, taking a deep swig of its contents.  Rivulets of amber streaked down his pockmarked chin and fell to stain the unkempt ivory of his attire.   A lazy pass of his forearm wiped the stain away from his cheek as the Burgomaster's son let out a satisfied smack of his lips before gesturing with his hand towards the open liquor cabinet.  "Help yourselves if you like."  Feeling that his obligations as a host had been covered, Ismark settled back into the comfort of his chair, seemingly oblivious to the sounds of danger scratching and clawing at the door.