Having come together with a plan to ride out to strike fear the party first had to decide on where to go.
Tasha was quite keen the Invisible Person‘s idea of Halloween but was concerned that they might not seem all that scary if people were expecting to be frightened?
Strahd wanted to rule Waterdeep!
Vecna.. didn’t have a strong idea on where he wanted to go EXCEPT that he wasn’t going to agree with either Tasha or Vecna.
Eventually with The Invisible Person’s help they settled on riding out to the kingdom of Shou Lung with Strahd hyping it up as the perfect place.
The others didn’t know much about the kingdom of Shou Lung and thus could not think of any objections and thus the matter was settled – they would ride out to Shou Lung on the morrow!

They should have used their words more carefully, for on the morrow they came together unsure if The Invisible Man?? Thing?? Person?? was with them or not (for how could you tell), Daniel in his formal underpants and Strahd looking fabulous on his flaming Nightmare named Bucephalus along with horses for each of the party to ride out.

All where dressed in their best, ready to ride out and terrify as Tasha worked from a old tome Strahd had given her that documented the kingdom of Shou Lung to open a Gate to release the Dreadlords onto a unsuspecting world.

They emerged into a clearing on the outskirts of a great city.. the great wall Strahd mentioned visible though the list mist of early morning – but not as he’d described – there was no busy city just ruins, the wall crumbling and all around them was the remains of a town… they were standing inside the stonework of a building that had collapsed long ago.

..it could be worse.. the moment Strahd and Daniel arrived they started to hear voices.. desperate voices whispering in their ears. Telling them to get out

GET OUT…

to run before it is too late.

Vecna and Tasha could only look on in a mix of confusion and bemusement as Strahd.. the most feared vampire in all of Ravenloft started shouting out and trying to hide in fear of some unseen force as Daniel was having a conversation with unseen spirits.. the haunted voices of those who had died here trying and begging to get them to leave.

Both where afraid and yet to the others there was nothing obvious wrong…
“Strahd.. when did you last visit this place..?” Tasha asked, a sinking suspiciousion confirmed when Strahd replied that he’d never actually been here.. he’d read about the Kingdom of Shou Lung in a book.
“HOW OLD WAS THE BOOK!?!” Vecna demanded.. for it was obvious that the kingdom had been destroyed or abandoned long ago.

While the others argued Daniel continued to try and reassure the voices in his head… following them to ruins he still felt afraid but in time the fear passed and he grew curious looking though the remains of the long lost people.

There was something… odd about this place, while Strahd continued to rave and try to bat away the unseen ghosts the others too got the sense that something was wrong… Daniel translating the long lost languages to find hints that whatever it was that killed the city.. it had been some kind of plague… a plague.. of magic?

Tasha and Vecna looked around them anew as they listened to Daniel describe what he’d found, a new urgency dawning as the clue ticked into place for both where very proud of their magical abilities and if there was one thing that could scare a wizard.. it was the threat of something taking away their magic!
Taking the initive Tasha sighed “Right well this place sucks.. Strahd we’re leaving!” and started casting a spell to return them back to Death House so that they might regroup and start again.

..however she didn’t account for Daniel who started talking..and talking… and talking about some Inn he had visited in the Shadowfell and how they should go there..
“I don’t know where that is!” Tasha shouted.. but the damage was already done…. her spell going awry as the group where split – returning to the Mists but scattered across the Domains of Dread.

It was only much later that Strahd would remember that he’d left his horses behind…