Part 1

Somewhere, in a distant land, long, long ago. There was a once beautiful valley, riddled with lush forests, plentiful fields, and mountains of the most picturesque sort. We soar over them, over a large town, with thousands of people doing honest work on an honest day, not one of them expecting the cataclysm that shall befall them.

We leave the settlement, and follow a road from above, where carriages leave towards a castle in the distance. A large fortress, fit for a Conquerer. A conquerer of these very lands.

We rise as the foundation does, rising high over the forest below, and we stop at the castle overlook, where a false romance ends, and a true tragedy begins.

We see as a man in ceremonial armour, wounded by arrows, giving chase over the balcony towards a woman with auburn hair in the most beautiful of wedding dresses.

At the precipice, she turns towards her pursuer and speaks.

“Elder… please what is happening?”

The man takes another step, as the bricks holding the bride's balance shifts and she tumbles, like a sheet of cloth down into the abyss.

The man gives howl to a bloodcurling cry, as he reaches for her hand! He slowly turns around towards us. His eyes red and black with rage, as he takes six more arrows from assailants unseen.

Part 2

(As strahd)

The blackness returns, covering the world, never to lift. It weighed upon me, heavier than the mountain. Smothering me and crushing me into something less than dust, but then I was looking at dead men.

You come to my home tonight,

Seeking entertainment and excitement.

You think you safe from all the horrors of this earth.

You come to my home tonight.

Fleeing War, famine, disease

You come seeking games to play, to indulge yourself.

You think you are in control, you think that… the world is your oyster and my realm is a pearl. You believe this to be a game, orchestrated to your amusement.