With the funds from Stela, the silverless Kiera is able to hire a carriage for the journey, and soon you are on the road, watching the dull landscape float slowly by through the small windows in the door and wall. Your carriage is a sleek, beige construct, what little of the wood is exposed has been hard rubbed with sandarac, likely from pine. It’s a good model, with very little ware and barely a trace of rot, effort has been made to replace damage sections, and the two beasts tasked with pulling it are heavy draft horses, inelegant, but more than up to the task. The owner, and driver, is rightfully proud of it.<br/><br/>Slowly the landscape changes, becoming rugged, the grass first thicker, then sparse tuffs which give way to tress: tall and pointed pines and thick oaks. The plains you travel over remain flat, but whereas once there were hills in the background, they are now replaced with steep mountain slopes, reaching up far into the clear sky. The borders to the barony of Barovia are marked unofficially by the Svalich woods on the south and eastern side, unofficial in that no one dares enter even the fringes of the tree line. It is getting dark, and soon the towering, moss covered trunks flank you on both sides, forming a living labyrinth, a foreign land cut off from the surrounding people and their customs. The path is ill kept, with clumps of weeds marring its surface, the edges eroded, merging in some places with the forest floor. Ten minutes later, you the carriage reaches a huge stone arch, between which a set of rusty iron bars forms a gate, in front of which are two headless guardians, crumbling statues of soldiers with wicked polerarms set against a charge, the stone of their necks uneven, but the edges are worn down.<br/><br/>Abruptly the gates swing open, and the coach stops, the driver willing to go no further. He hops down from his perch to inspect his prize, making a deal of the rock they hit an hour ago, and musing aloud if the wheel would need mending. However they are unable to find any indication of damage, and so return the deposit to Kiera. With that settled, they wish no further delays to their departure, and unable to turn the carriage on the narrow road they unhitch the horses from the front and leads them back, barely pausing to check they are secured before leading them off, bidding you good luck in these cursed lands.<br/><br/>With no other choice you continue on down the road by foot. The air is getting stilled, and a mist begins to rise from the earth. It starts among the tress, hugging the trunks and swallowing their needle crowns, and soon wafts onto the path, cutting your range of sight in half. When you are a way down the road, you hear a stuttering scrap and turn to see the gates close, as mysteriously as they opened, before they are swallowed up by the billowing, white clouds. Without the safety of the carriage, the trees seem even closer, and you cannot be sure what is hiding in the mist. You stick close together, and hands clutch the hilt of blades or a flask dangling from a belt, whilst Keely readies the flow of air she can channel to defend herself.<br/><br/>You cannot wait to reach the village, hoping for a warm bath, food, maybe a mug of ale, but of course it is not be. A mile after the gate, you exit the Svalich Woods, and there is the town, choked with mist, but otherwise still. Towards the edge it seems abandoned, the houses empty and neglected, some windows boarded up, and the night is early enough that you should see some activity, but the only indication of life is a flickering fire from what you presume to be the village square, directly ahead on the far side of the settlement. To the left Barovia’s grandest and tallest, at least 3 stories, house stands, this must be where the mayor resides, whilst to the right a small church rests on a hill, overlooking the small, quiet village. The wind carries the subtle scent of carrion upon it.<br/><br/>OOC: Six gold pieces are returned to Kiera. You are 300ft from the village outskirts, no obvious signs of life or movement.