"...and while at first it seemed that the threat of the newly resurgent Zeidenburg, beneath the banner of the young and untested Traitor-Princess Amalia Szathmari, might be all for naught, and that the iron boots of the von Zarovich might soon enough trample again unresisted on the hollows and fields of long-suffering Gundarak, there came in the seven hundred and seventy-first year since the beginning of the Barovian Calendar a new menace in the West. A new menace to those who had fought to depose the Bitch-Countess, a new menace to the generation of watchmen who guarded the lands of the western Boyars, but an old menace indeed, the one they call Dukkar, Malocchio himself, and the fields of Duke Gundar's people were watered again with the blood of others fighting for the rent and torn pieces of a land that wished neither of its conquerors as master..."~Ambrose Saumarez, A History of the Central Core
Of late, the whispers shared on the Old Svalich road have grown increasingly dire. It is known that for some time, Malocchio Aderre has coveted the eastern reaches of Gundarak-That-Was, seeking to add the rest of the domain to his territory and its men, whether they wish it or not, to his bands of ravagers. The memories among the people of the western provinces still recall vividly the death and destruction on the border of only a few years hence. Indeed, with the Countess' rule growing increasingly precarious, Invidian soldiers were seen to cross even the boundaries of that land, and there are whispers of his forces having fought skirmishes with the Wachter Militia practically before the gates of Krezk itself.
With the fall of Lyssa and the rise of the resurgent Strahd von Zarovich, however, Malocchio seems to have realized that his window for acting to take what he views as rightfully his is rapidly closing. Within days of the battle for Castle Ravenloft, therefore, stories coming down the Old Svalich tell of Invidian soldiers marching into Barovia and overwhelming the westernmost garrisons; burgomasters executed, gold seized, and the people despoiled of everything they have of worth or value. Wachter holds his borders; most of the Province is shielded by the southward curl of the Balinoks. But the Invidians have reached the gates of Teufeldorf, and it is there that the Von Zarovich turns all of his attention, the town to be held at all costs against the encroaching Aderre. Zeidenburg, secure in the hands of Szathmari and the Gundarakite force she has raised up to keep it, must be left to be dealt with at a later time.
So it is that more rumors begin to drift down the Svalich; Szathmari, it says, has called for all Gundarakites who can manage the treacherous crossing from the north or the long road past Teufeldorf from the east, all those sound of mind and body who might raise a sword in the defense of their forlorn people, all those who might give their blood or their lives for the ghosts of Gundarak, to return to the land that perhaps only their parents or grandparents knew. A new Gundarak, she is said to have cried out to the masses assembled, a new Gundarak will be born from the ashes of the old, all Tyrants deposed, the rights of her people restored, and the horrors of the long winter of darkness to be driven away by the new flowers and radiant light of the spring that is to come.
