A/N: Greetings. What follows is a chronicle of my most recent Curse of Strahd campaign. I was the GM for this campaign and I took it upon myself to make some...adjustments...to the Strahd formula. Of the many changes, some of which I don't want to spoil, the largest was the influence of the Dark Powers. I'll not go into specifics, suffice it to say the ending of our campaign was far from what I expected.

I hope you enjoy!

1: Snatchers

"On three." Maric said, his eyes focused and voice steady, "You ready?"

Sandy lifted his hand and balled a fist, meeting his companion's gaze. The halfling cocked a smile and replied, "Always."

"Alright then." Maric nodded, meeting Sandy's cocky grin with a smile of his own, then began a countdown, "One…." He paused for dramatic effect before continuing, "two…" He left another pause in an effort to build the tension that was surely building in his opponent's gut, "...three!"

The pair pumped their fists three times while shouting in unison, "Boulder! Parchment! Shears!" Maric then flattened his hand out, palm down, while Sandy kept his tiny hand in a balled up fist.

"You've got to be kidding!" Sandy threw his hands up, storming away from the campfire and stomping a small circle in the fallen leaves around the group's modest campsite, "How do you win every time!?"

Maric let out a hearty laugh, leaning back so far that he nearly fell off the log he'd been using as a makeshift stool. After he composed himself he shrugged and offered Sandy a coy shrug, "I dare not tell you my strategy master Goldcreek, else I'll never win again." He kicked at a stray twig and then nodded towards the treeline not twenty yards away from their camp, "Now if I've tallied your losses correctly this final, decisive, defeat leaves you with all of the dishes and first watch tonight. That sound about right?"

The halfling grumbled, no doubt saying something rude about Maric under his breath, before stomping his way over to the pile of pots and pans that had been left from supper. He tossed all of them into a single large cast iron pot then grunted as he struggled to lift them off the ground. Maric desperately stifled a chuckle as the halfling waddled away, carrying the collection of dishes nearly half his size towards the stream not far away from camp and within the forest.

Once the halfling was out of earshot Maric leaned back and took in his surroundings. They'd made camp at the edge of The Reaching Woods, the nearest town of Scornubel being a few hours walk away. With a storm brewing they had opted to settle in under the shelter of the trees rather than risk getting soaking wet on their journey towards civilization. The party had just finished setting up camp once the storm had decided to roll off to the east rather than rain down on the party. By then they'd dedicated too much time and effort to setting up camp to pack it all up again and head in towards town.

The forest was more foreboding now that he looked at it without the threat of a thunderstorm looming overhead. A shroud of darkness lay at the treeline, refusing to recede even as the light of the full moon broke through the thick cover of clouds to illuminate the surrounding area. The light of the campfire almost seemed to burn dimmer as if the flame was beginning to die out despite the fact that a fresh pair of logs had just been thrown in. As he stared deeper into the depth of the wood he felt a shiver run down his spine and goosebumps rise up on his arms. Something nagged at the back of his mind but as he tried to focus on it the thought slipped away before he could identify the source.

"So what's the secret?" Duna asked, shaking him out of the trance he'd been lulled into while staring into the trees.

He shook his head in an effort to clear his mind, grunting out, "Huh?"

"Couldn't help but notice that Sandy's not here, and the dishes are nowhere to be seen. I'm assuming that means you've won yet another round of boulder, parchment, shears?" The dwarf dropped a pile of freshly cut branches and twigs next to him before she sat down on her own makeshift stool nearby. Duna had always scared Maric. It wasn't that she was mean, on the contrary she was one of the more delightful companions he'd had the pleasure of travelling alongside. However that didn't change the fact that for the longest time after he'd met her he was convinced that she was some sort of golem Sandy had built from the essences of various giants, trolls, and ogres all squished down and brewed together in one manageable dwarf-sized package. She wasn't the swiftest creature ever born on the continent but he'd long ago been convinced that she could lift mountains if she ever put her mind to it.

It didn't help that she often liked to present herself in as intimidating a manner as possible, even when travelling amongst friends. She kept the sides of her head shaven while growing out her auburn hair on top of her head into a long ponytail that stretched down her back. She had two sets of tattoos etched in blue ink and shaped like dwarf berserker runes, one set starting up on her left shoulder and going all the way down and around her arm while the other set covered her right eye. On her back she liked to keep a large warhammer, the head of which was larger than Maric's skull.

"Oh yeah." Maric shook his head, reigning in his trailing thoughts back to the present, "There's really not much of a secret." He leaned in and whispered to her conspiratorially, "He throws boulder every time. I'm not quite sure he gets the game."

The dwarf barbarian barked out a short laugh, "Poor little guy. Almost feel bad for him."

Maric wagged a finger at her, "Don't go sharing with him. Can't have the little guy figuring out my little 'secret'."

Duna raised one hand while crossing her heart with the other, "On my honor I'll not reveal your secret to any beyond this campfire."

Maric opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as Riordan dropped down in a seat next to him shouting, "Oooh we sharing secrets now?" nearly forcing Maric to topple off his own log.

"None that concern you." Duna chuckled as Maric recomposed himself, "Strictly confidential. Swore so on my honor."

"Oh come now Duna." The elf ranger mockingly begged, putting his hands together, "We've travelled together long enough to know you lack sufficient honor to support those kinds of oaths."

"I think you've confused me for yourself, you knife-eared prick!" Duna retorted, the hints of a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Riordan leaned back as if struck by an arrow, "Oh now you've gone and wounded me my dear!" He leaned forward once again, speaking to Maric "Can we allow these kinds of harsh words in our group? I do believe I'm owed some kind of recompense for that kind of language." Duna started to reply but was cut off as Riordan clapped his hands together, "Tell you what. Why don't we leave it at fifty gold and we'll say your insult is settled eh?"

"I'll do you one better." Duna laughed before reaching into the edge of the campfire and tossing a smouldering coal at the ranger all in the blink of an eye. Maric flinched as the red hot coal soared through the air, nearly hitting his face, and landed in Riordan's lap. The ranger hopped to his feet, wiping at his trousers as if they'd caught fire, before tripping over his log and falling in a heap on the ground.

Duna proceeded to laugh, harder than the situation warranted by Maric's reckoning, while Maric helped their companion up off the ground. Despite the darkness it was easy to see that Riordan's face had started to turn red after the incident, and Maric stifled a laugh rather than work the elf up for real this time.

Duna coughed and shook her head, "Sorry Rio. Couldn't quite resist once the thought worked its way into my head."

The elf continued to idly wipe at his trousers, "No harm done I suppose." He paused before adding, "Though I'd think twice before falling asleep before me these next couple days. Could wake up to a nasty surprise."

Maric stepped in before the two of them could work themselves up again, interrupting Duna's undoubtedly clever response by asking, "You see anything out there when you did your rounds?"

Riordan turned away from glaring at Duna to meet Maric's gaze, "Nothing beyond the usual. Got a good chuckle watching Sandy haul the dishes to the stream. You beat him at boulder, parchment, shears again then eh?"

"Yeah. Though now that both you and Duna pointed it out maybe I'll start throwing shears every once in a while. Give him a sporting chance"

"Eh?" Riordan asked.

Maric waved him off, shaking his head, "Nothing. Just talking to myself." For a few minutes he drifted off, letting Riordan and Duna get back at sniping at one another while he looked back towards the forest. The nagging sensation that he felt before started tugging at him again and he felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up once more. For a second it looked like he saw something move in the darkness. He reached out and patted Riordan on the shoulder as he continued to stare.

"Wha-" Riordan batted Maric's hand away as the man nearly slapped him in the face, "What do you want mate?"

"Do you…" he trailed off for a second before continuing, "do you see something out there?"

Riordan looked towards the trees, squinting for a second, before shrugging, "Nah. Nothing out there that I can see."

Maric stood up and stepped away from the campfire and towards the treeline, ignoring his curious companions. He whispered something, barely audible enough for even him to hear, and closed his eyes. After a moment he felt another, more familiar, presence call out in response to his words and he felt a familiar twinge of energy. When he opened his eyes he could see everything clearly as if it was daytime. To his surprise when he looked out into the trees he couldn't see anything aside from a thick fog deep in the forest.

He started to turn back to the campfire when suddenly he heard Sandy's voice cry out from within the woods, "Help! Help me!" Maric spun on his heel, scanning the woods to try and find Sandy amongst the trees.

"There!" Riordan shouted, already running into the woods, bow drawn from his back and arrow notched. Maric looked to where Riordan was pointing and finally saw the halfling wizard about a hundred feet away, running towards them at full sprint. Maric dashed forward with Duna right behind him with warhammer in hand.

Riordan was the first to reach Sandy, the halfling ducked between the elf's legs and took cover behind his right knee, "Shoot it Rio!"

"Shoot what?!" The ranger scanned the trees with his bow, "There's nothing out there!"

"That's impossible! I saw…" Sandy sputtered, catching his breath, "I saw something out there!"

Maric finally caught up, taking up position at Riordan's right while Duna stopped on his left. "What is it?" Maric asked.

Riordan grunted and shook his head, "Don't know."

After a minute passed Duna chimed in, "There's nothing here Sandy!"

"I'm telling you it...whatever it is...is out there! Tried to grab me by the stream!"

Maric stared out from where Sandy had come from. All he could see thirty feet away was the same thick fog that had obfuscated the forest before. "It must be hiding in the fog." He chewed the inside of his lip for a moment before adding, "Let's get back to camp. We can take whatever it is out in the open."

Riordan was the first to turn around, "Uhh…which way is camp?" He asked. They each spun around only to see a wall of fog rolling in from the direction of their camp, now only twenty feet away.

Maric flexed his fingers and whispered a short phrase, akin to a cleric's prayer, and moments later there was a hiss in the air before looking down to see the blade that had appeared in his empty hand. The blade was old, far older than Maric or any other members of his party, with a long black blade that had been chipped and scratched after countless battles. The guard on the hilt, which shared the same chips and dents as the blade, stretched out before curving up at the ends. The grip fit his fingers perfectly and was cold to the touch. He raised the blade just as the fog fully enveloped the party.

Maric shifted on his feet, the enhanced vision granted by his patron failing to pierce the obfuscating fog. "I can't see a damned thing!" He shouted, though even to him his voice sounded distant and muted. It sounded like Duna had snarled some reply but, despite the fact she was standing no more than five feet away, her words were swallowed by the dense mists. He closed his eyes, straining his ears to try and pick up something, anything, to clue him in to the location of their unseen assailant.

He stood there in silence, listening intently to the sounds of the forest around them. He could hear the crunch of the leaves under his companion's feet, the tightening of Riordan's bowstring, Sandy's muttering incantations, and the clink of Duna's weapons against her back. There was something else, something that didn't belong to one of the members of their party. Far off in the distance, slightly muffled by the fog, he could hear the rattling of chains.

Maric didn't wait. He pointed his freehand in the general direction of the chains and released the energy he'd been building up in his palm. There was a bright flash as a beam of crackling green energy erupted from the palm of his hand and arced through the dense mist towards the source of the sound. There was a loud "CRACK!" that reverberated around them seconds later as the blast connected with something concealed by the fog. Maric closed his eyes again, focusing to hear the sound of the chains once more, but whatever it was had fallen silent.

"I think I got it." Maric said, triumphantly turning to face his companions.

Riordan stepped closer, clapping Maric on the shoulder, "Well do-" His words were cut off as a large hand erupted from the mist, clasping down and enveloping Riordan's head with unnaturally long fingers. Riordan's bow fell to the ground as he grasped at the creature's bony wrist, desperately trying to pry the hand away. He was lifted up off the ground, a muffled scream emerging from the palm of the creature's hand, before disappearing into the fog.

Maric and Duna both rushed forward after Riordan only to come face to face with the creature which had claimed their friend. It was tall, standing nearly eight feet tall even as it was hunched over. It was clothed in a tattered robe which had seemingly been haphazardly sewn together of various materials ranging from fine black silk to course brown burlap. The skin beneath the robes was a similar patchwork of textures all sutured together to form the lumbering, emaciated, beast. Chains stretched over its shoulders and across its chest, holding a large wooden coffin to its back. It tilted its head to look at the two companions, and as the hood fell back they could see it had no eyes, no mouth, nor nose or ears. In place of the face was a similar pallid patchwork of skin as its chest.

Duna let out a thunderous roar, charging the monster's legs with her warhammer. She crossed the short ten foot gap between them in a near instant, lashing out with her colossal weapon. However before she was able to connect with her enemy another creature lashed out from the mist nearby, lashing out with a powerful backhand that lifted her off her feet and threw her five feet to the side.

Maric lunged forward, not waiting to see Duna's landing, swinging his sword at the first creature. He whispered a short incantation as he moved and the black blade burst into flames. This time, when the third creature lunged from the shadows to try and bat him away like the second had Duna, he was prepared. He ducked the swing of the third creature's arm, sliding across the ground and underneath the first creature's spread legs. He came up swinging, slicing the back of the first creature's calf, cutting a deep gash in the muscle and scorching the skin. Black ichor poured from the wound and the creature let out a throaty growl as it spun to face Maric.

The creature came at Maric with a pair of powerful swings, both of which he narrowly dodged. Unfortunately as he recovered from dodging the second blow the creature kicked out with one of its powerful legs. The blow caught him in the chest, lifting him off his feet and throwing him back into a trunk of a large oak. The creature dashed at Maric with arms outstretched as if it intended to hug him, though he doubted that was its true intention. It's hands clasped on either side of him, hands easily wrapping around his torso as it lifted him off the ground. He tried to struggle but no amount of strength or dexterity allowed him to break free of the creature's grasp.

It had lifted him six feet off the ground when, out of the corner of his eye, Maric could see Sandy scurry across the ground, nimbly dodging behind the other two creatures and coming to a halt fifteen feet away from the trio of enemies. The halfling's fingers danced through a series of intricate symbols before he shouted a word in a language Maric didn't recognize, then suddenly a wave of thunder erupted from all around the tiny halfling sending two of the three creatures sprawling, including the one which was carrying Maric.

Maric and the monster fell to the ground together in a tangle of limbs. He had only spent a second struggling to break free before Duna rushed up and brought her warhammer down on one of the monster's elbows. There was a sickening crunch as the monster's arm buckled inward, with bone protruding out at an awkward angle. This gave Maric enough leverage to break free of the grapple and stumble away from the fallen giant.

"Help!" Sandy cried out. Maric and Duna turned just in time to see the halfling wizard get swept off of his feet by the third creature, which had evidently focused its attention on him after the thunderwave. The coffin on its back swung open and the creature dropped the struggling halfling inside. When the coffin closed again the chains moved on their own, wrapping around the wooden box, sealing it shut.

Maric stretched out his free hand to release another blast of eldritch power, but the blast went wild as the first creature attacked again with its unbroken arm. A fist collided with his torso, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending him back to the ground. As Duna turned to retaliate the second creature, which had stood up while they were distracted with Sandy's capture, tackled her to the ground. She snarled something in dwarvish as the second beast wrapped one of its hands around her torso while the other unslung the coffin from its back. Within seconds she was sealed away in a coffin just like Sandy.

Maric slowly stumbled to his feet, the ribs on his left side protesting with every move his arm dangling uselessly at his side. The three creatures pressed closer, arms at the ready to capture him as they had his friends. He looked between the creatures, then to his useless limb, then shook his head and turned to run away. Unfortunately his feet didn't carry him far. With every step it felt more and more like he was running through molasses. His legs felt sluggish and sore, and he quickly started to run out of breath. It wasn't long before he collapsed, exhausted, to the ground. The next thing he knew he felt familiar fingers wrap around his torso as he was lifted up out of the dirt, and placed in his own chained coffin.