<strong>Time:</strong>8:10 am (<strong>Day</strong>1)<br/><strong>Weather:</strong>Complete cloud cover; storm clouds; light winds blowing westward; waning daylight<br/><strong>Environs:</strong>Dense forest 30 feet north and 50 feet south; dirt road leading east towards fog wall; dirt road leading west through a fortified gatehouse.<br/><hr/><br/>The long road leading away from the massive wall of fog seems to stretch on and on, and despite two hours of hard walking, the light of day does not seem progress more than beyond a pale dawn before the sun has yet to rise.  Or perhaps the time of day before a deeper dusk creeps over the land.  The forest looms mysterious and silent on either side of the road, providing a the illusion of a seemingly impenetrable wall of wood and shadow.  But more so, the world seems to hold its breath; with the exception of the sound of the breeze through the trees and the resulting creak of wood, there is no sound of birds or insects, no cry of the wild one would expect of the world waking up to greet a new day.  Up above, the ominous dark clouds refuse to disperse, and always, the low rumble of thunder rolls across the sky.<br/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/Espauae.jpg?1)</div>Just as it seems the dirt road is unending, a wall of stone appears up ahead in the distance, and as the group gets closer, they can make out immense stone buttresses looming high, cutting across the road and out from the woods on either side.  Huge iron gates, nearly thirty feet high, hang on the stonework, dew clinging with cold tenacity to the rusted bars.  Two headless statues of armed guardians flank both sides of the gate, their moss-covered heads now lying among the weeds and debris at their feet.<br/><br/>The gates hang open and forlorn, and no tracks in the earth indicate that this region has seen any traffic in months, if not years.  The walls look like they've seen signs of assault, as though from catapult stones, but enough time has passed that vines and moss has grown into and over these old injuries.  On the battlements above, a lone crow caws out as if in bleak welcome before concerning itself with preening its oily black feathers.<br/><br/>Carved on the arch above the gateway, the words "beyond", "Barovia", "domain of", "knee", and "respect" can be seen.  Anything else cannot be made out, by virtue of an excess of moss and vines hiding the rest.<br/><br/>Disquietingly, peering through the passage that lies past the gate reveals a body hanging at the end of a rope at the other end, its feet a good ten feet off the ground, with the rope seemingly attached far up above in the shadows.  Without approaching the corpse, details are difficult to make out, other than it appears to be a man dressed for travel.<br/><br/>As the group approaches to within fifty yards of the looming stone structure, there is an ominous rumble, then followed by a deep rumble.  The earth begins to shake beneath their feet, softly at first, but quickly escalates in violence.  The crow shrieks in alarm and flies off in a flurry of feathers.  The massive gateway holds true, but a few massive blocks break free and fall, crushing the shrubbery at the base of the wall like matchwood.  After less than a minute of this, the tremors subside, lessen, and are gone.<br/><br/>Silence reigns supreme, and even the stormy sky seems to hold its breath.  Dust drifts from the walls and corpse on the rope sways and slowly rotates in place.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">All characters should make Initiative rolls and Wisdom saves, posted up in your next post.<br/><br/>For this particular scene, all PCs should also make Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks against a DC 10.  Anyone who fails loses balance and falls prone from the violence of the tremors.  Those who succeed manage to keep their footing.</div></div>