tsr09497 - AD&D - Ra.. - Property Is Theft!

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Chapter One
Widower Once Again
In the lengthening shadows of dusk outside his vardo, Raul Salazar poked at the dying embers with a charred stick. New
wisps of flame stirred in the outdoor hearth, revitalized by his attention, like the thoughts at the fringes of his memory.
Why did you leave me, Leyla? What am I going to do?
A baby cried, snapping Raul out of his reverie.
He stormed over to the vardo, overhung with his metalwork, where Nikko fretted in a crib of wrought iron, a pale pink
mouth of
wails and screams. Nikko only quieted by nightfall, tranquilized by the forest's predatory silence.
Later, as the crescent moon climbed though the night sky, filtered by the autumn leaves overhead, Raul returned to his
outdoor forge-hearth, strangely comforted by the scattered tools and his lonely violin. Every night was the same. He
pounded at the iron, working pain into art and sorrow into numbness, until he gazed through an exhausted haze at the
violin, wanting to hurl it in the flames. He played it instead, consoling himself with her favorite melody, and some nights,
Leyla came back, to look after her husband and child.
Getting to Invidia
"Widower Once Again" provides the DM with a convenient way of transporting the heroes to the Ravenloft domain of
Invidia, where the principal action of this module occurs. Alternatively, it can also be played as an independent miniadventure.
The scenario begins in any campaign setting. By meeting Raul and becoming involved in his dilemma, the party
gains a powerful Vistani curse that attracts the attention of Ravenloft's powers.
The DM should feel free to adapt this introductory episode for the particulars of his or her campaign. If the party starts
outside Ravenloft, the DM should try to make the events and descriptions outlined in this chapter fit into the regular
campaign as much as possible. For instance, if the party is engaged in a desert campaign, they might encounter Raul as a
lone nomadic tribesman with camels and tents instead of a horse-drawn vardo. As the encounter unfolds, be careful to
describe Raul and his belongings as characteristic of a gypsy, a wanderer, drifter, or rover; do not mention that he is a
Vistana. Such a characterization may reveal to players that a RAVENLOFT adventure is soon to follow. As the Dungeon
Master, you will maximize the drama of this scenario if the players have no idea that their characters will soon be in
Ravenloft.
There are two reasons why Raul, a Vistana, may not be in Ravenloft at the start of the adventure. Raul may be a member of
the fabled "Lost Tribe," who purportedly escaped Ravenloft, as mentioned in Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani.
Alternatively, Raul may simply have fled Ravenloft using the force of his grief-bolstered will, combined with his natural
Vistani talents for traversing the Mists. Raul's background depends on whether or not the DM wants the Vistani to play a
permanent role in his regular campaign.
Should the DM wish to keep the Vistani strictly in Ravenloft, or if the heroes are already within the misty confines when the