Incursion

[Mephisto]

It was the head that was noticed first.
It was impaled upon the pike at an angle, a pool of still fresh blood gathering beneath the grisly visage. Two hollow pits that may once have contained eyes had been gouged out with crude efficiency. Insects scurried across the barely recognisable female features.
Even the acrid scent of burning flesh was secondary to the lifeless, eyeless gaze of the woman which now stared only into the unforgiving embrace of infinity.
"Iadul..." The words came to Ivan's lips completely bypassing his conscious.
"Ivan..." Gregor said after as he finished retching, "These are Vistani."
"I know." Ivan replied, a dry feeling forming in his mouth. Ivan was Barovian. He had been told since birth not to ask questions. He had been taught not to wonder.
Ivan's mind was racing now, and he was unable to stop it. He was an aged man, and he had seen many things, many of them being things he cared not to recollect. The systematic murder of Vistani was something he had heard of before.
"They have returned." He said simply, risking another glance at the scene of carnage that lay before the two fishermen.
The Vistani were under the Count's protection. No one in Barovia would dare defy Strahd himself. This could mean only one thing, and the possibility made Ivan sick to the stomach.

Stormclouds and buzzards gathered overhead.

[Mephisto]

In the days following the attack on the Tser Pool, no horns nor hooves of the invading forces are heard. The battle had been long, and hard, with many lives lost on both sides- but the Invidians and their Falkovnian mercenaries had been driven back across the border, ther numbers decimated. The bodies that surround the village of Barovia now only carrion for the crows and buzzards that descend on the feast.

One by one, the vistani return to the Tser Pool, bringing women and children with them. They begin the long process of mourning their losses and rebuilding their camp. In the village of Barovia, healthy young males are forced to conscript to bolster the ranks of the dwindling Barovian army. There are reports of increased Gundarakite rebellion in Zeidenberg in the aftermath of the Invidian invasion. Many widows cry during the lonely nights, seeking shelter and comfort at the church of the Morninglord.

And throughout all of this, there is one detail that goes overlooked, except by the vistani themselves.
Madame Eva has not been seen since the day of the battle. Some of the vistani claim the mysterious messenger of the Count, Van Holtz, released Eva from his protection when the way was safe- but Eva never made it back to the camp. Concern grows, directed at the mysterious gentleman who spoke words of 'taking care of Madame Eva'.

These are dark days for the vistani, and Barovia as a whole. If the vistani are right, the consequences could stretch even beyond. The threat of war is averted, but another shadow hangs over Barovia...