[Curse of Strahd] Session V

 Following Ismark, he gets approached by some villagers who need to talk to him about stuff. He asks them to wait. During this time, the party sees an old woman selling pies, who has a short conversation with them. Granny offers each a free one, "because you must be so tired after such a journey, dearies." They each pick a different flavour of her three options; meat, maple nut, & bread. After a short bit of gossip regarding the town, Ismark returns & they resume their trip to the tavern Blood on the Vine; during which they notice a raven with blue-tipped wings following them.

At the tavern, they hear of the story of the village, of which they're inadvertently a part of. About nine months prior, Doru (son of the village priest) gathered up a dozen men to fight back against Strahd; but never returned. Shortly after, an elf approached the village, announcing that Strahd would give them nine months to put their affairs in order before he punished the entire village. Since then, much of the village had left for the other two settlements; those that remain include those too old & young to travel, as well those convinced by Ismark that it's better to stay & fight. Undead have laid siege to the town for almost a week now, every night breaking themselves against the barricades.

There's a big argument between Ismark & Bildrath, the town merchant only staying because his nephew was convinced by Ismark's rallying cry, clearly upset (Bildrath's sister died in one of the attacks). After that scene, they head up to the Burgomaster mansion to meet Ismark's father & his sister, Ireena. There's debate of what to do next, & the Burgomaster explains that the party is trapped until the siege ends; as literal thousands of undead wander the forests surrounding the village, inexplicably sending but a tiny fraction to attack at night. They're assigned to the Western Barricade, and wait.

It's a rough fight, bringing Soorsha to ~3HP, as they fight multiple waves of zombies, a couple ghouls, a wight, & even a hulking undead with virulent miasma streaming from its mouth. Ultimately, they prevail with only a minor breach in the barricade, of which none of the undead manage to actually cross.