It is agreed that the group will stay with Ireena, to guard her least the vampire makes an appearance, though Andur doubts they will be able to do much against it. Leaving the church behind they return to the square. Ireena has made a round for appearance's sake, checking on the survivors of the plague. She tries to lift heavy spirits, but struggles under the weight. The villagers turn to Ashlyn, who saw them through siege of the town square, and has largely taken over the role of leadership even in the aftermath of the crisis. The presence of the vampire has not been revealed, though from the advice they they should return to their homes and not let anyone else in until sunrise will likely tip off the wiser villages to the knight's suspicion.
Ireena accompanies the group back to the mansion with Ashlyn staying in the village with one of the families. Ismark is in his study, waiting for a Ágnes to finish a pot of cabbage stew. Miri joins the maid, cooking up a hot supper for the group, having lightly scolded Andur on the journey there for munching his trail rations. After a meal of smoke-cured pork and dumplings, with a little of the left over stew, trying to ignore the corpse they know is there, through the cold room's closed door, the party retires for the night. There is a spare bed in the servant's sleeping quarters, the gardener fled on the first night of the plague. There is also the master bedroom, empty for a month, for Andur and Ela to choose from. Ismark goes to bed, and Ireena to hers, accompanied by Miri who does not want the poor girl out of sight. The Aasimar has stayed with peasants before, who often sleep the whole in one bed, huddle up around the fire pit's embers, but Ireena is a noble, or what passes for one in such an isolated village, and hasn't shared a bed since she was a toddler. Not bothered by concept, or simply too tired to care, she removes her armour and keeps her filthy clothes on, slipping under the blanket, moving up against the wall to make room for Miri in the small bed.
In the morning the group skips breakfast and heads straight back to the village, Ireena leaving her brother and Ágnes to look after the house. In the square the village is waking up, taking stock of the damage by day. The village has lost half its population between the undead and those who fled them. Has this happened before the harvest it would have spelt the of Barovia for sure, but with the crops already in storage winter will endured, and on a morbid, with so many dead there is in fact a grain surplus, which can be traded with the Vistani or a merchant, if there are any season stragglers . Still, the church will need to be fixed, one way or another.
Ireena, with the help of Ashlyn, sees to the unpleasant task of asking what each family can spare to trade with others. A lot of valuable skills have been lost, and the village will need to cover the gaps with coin until someone else can learn the craft, a time consuming venture. Purses are slim, coin was never a strong part of the village's economy, but people offer what they can. There is also some resentment towards Arik, the owner of the Blood on the Vine tavern. Fearing they would never survive, many traded heavily for an endless supply of drink to take their minds off the shambling undead, and he has profited nicely of the disaster. He agreed to offer 25 silver towards the community fund, perhaps that will settle the ill-feeling towards him. The owner of Bildrath's Mercantile is even stingier, arguing they shouldn't pay more than the average family, offering 2 sacks of grain, 6 eggs and a side of mutton. Meanwhile Andur, Miri and Ela are approached the young half-elf girl, sans any bow now, though she has a hunting knife strapped to her belt. “Hello, sir, lady, sora,” she greets them in order, smiling at the elf as she uses their shared tongue, though her pronunciation is a little rough. “Did you find Imi? No one has seen her, and they say Doru was the source of the plague? She was, his friend. Is she okay?” she asks, though her voice says she already suspects the answer.
Still no sign of that damned Vistani, though the villagers report there were three staying in the tavern for the duration of plague, they left just before dawn.
