Vampire Lord Offers to Turn You... For a Price (Steamy Curse of Strahd) - ALL PARTS

Transcript

Look, I get it. It's gotta be you, I know that. I do.

I do. They're already the strongest one here, both just physically and in a fight. With these powers, hell, we might actually do it.

But can we trust this. ..oh, what'd the warlock call it? His.

..patron? I mean, come on! He's dead! I know he claimed it was part of his.

..what, his deal, or whatever? And that he'd come right back when we finished the deal. But do you really trust that so much? Some magical being promising you so much? If you die, then we're screwed.

Totally screwed. Completely screwed! Don't even stand a fucking chance! Look at me.

Look at me. Little sneaky rogue, right? He'll mop the floor with my limp fucking body the moment he sees me.

The cleric! Sure, healing's great, but healing assumes that there's someone to heal. You can't heal a corpse, so I'm told.

That's, what, stronger magic or something like that. You're the only one who stands a chance at surviving a single blow from that motherfucker's sword, and you know it. So you're the only one worth healing, okay? So if this doesn't work, then you're dead.

The cleric is definitely dead. And I am either condemned to live in the shadows, or I'm dead too. And honestly, I'm still skeptical that hiding will do any good, because this dude seems like he can see through stone walls, honestly.

What a freak. And if you die, not only do we all die, and there's no way to bring the warlock back, if that's even on the table, but everyone that's helped us in Barovia dies too. You know that, right? I mean, what if you're just making a deal with the devil? No, no, I don't know what else we'd do.

I don't. No, I don't have any other alternatives. I'm sorry, but look, please.

If this doesn't work out how we want, then you're probably throwing your life away, and our warlock's sacrifice would have been just as in vain. Alright. Fine.

No. I trust you. I do.

I do trust you. I mean, I have to, right? I have to.

But I do. So go out there. Kick some ass, I guess.

For all of us. We'll wait for your signal, like we all planned. But this next part, this is all on your shoulders.

Good luck. That was the conversation that took place, was it not? In fact, judging by the look on your face, I would wager that was word for word exactly the conversation that took place.

You have survived for a while now in Barovia, mercenary. Surely you must have figured out by now that I am always watching. Always listening.

Even when you shroud yourself in your magical darkness, I am there. Every word that falls from your lips lands on my ears first. You cannot hide from me.

You cannot lie to me. Don't you see, mercenary? I am not some petty lordling in his castle.

I am Barovia. I am the land itself. Every creature, every pathetic soul, one way or another, bends to me, has been broken by me.

Your plan? To come here to tell pretty little lies to my face. To trick me and kill me.

Even you knew you weren't strong enough for that. So you employ this patron, this what? Magical being to give you powers.

Enough to overcome my own. Then tell me, how did this meeting with this being go? What have they offered you? Because, surely, that must be the case.

No. They have not joined you here, clearly. You are here alone, mercenary.

There are only two souls in this room. Yours and mine. And I think, perhaps, this deal did not take place.

For there is not even a whiff of magic about your rusting armor. Do you expect this patron to appear out of the blue, like they did with the warlock? That is what he told you before he died, was it not? But mercenary, I killed that warlock.

I snuffed the light out of his eyes with my own two hands. He made no deal to save himself, like you say. He did not sneak away.

He did not survive. His corpse is rotting in my own dungeon as we speak. And soon, soon, the same will be said of your other friends.

For without their valiant fighter, their sword for hire, to hide and cower behind, they are defenseless. Within the hour, my servants will have descended on them. And then they too can join the first, down under the ground.

By coming here, mercenary, you sealed their fates, don't you see? And you thought this was all going so well, didn't you? All according to your plan.

Your eyes betray you, mercenary. I can see the moment of panic. I can smell your fear, the worry, the anxiety that builds up inside.

Suddenly, the plan is not so solid, no. But it pains me, in truth, to see you like this. Turned against me and injured, even if only in emotion.

Have they truly come to mean so much to you? Your friends? Did that title stick? I warned you about them, girl.

Do not say I didn't. But you are lonely. I understand this.

I do. Perhaps more than anyone, I do. And perhaps it is because I understand this loneliness and the great pain it brings, the great void in the heart, that I will do something I should not.

And give you, give them, one last chance. At life, at freedom, at leaving this cursed land. At striking out against me, I suppose, if that is how you will waste your time.

Whatever they do with this freedom, it is their choice. I ask for but one thing in return. And, if you agree, I can stop my miserable minions from their impending assault in an instant.

The answer, dear mercenary, for what I ask, is an end to this miserable state that has led us both to this moment. All I ask is for an end to this curse of loneliness. No, no.

I do not wish to join them, to join your group. They coerced you into this betrayal. I do not need to see them ever again.

No, no. But you, you stay the hand when they do not. You listen to my words when they shout protest the moment I open my mouth.

I cannot ask to join you, for I have not lied each time I told you that I cannot leave this land. That truth still stands. It is a magic deeper than I can control, let alone understand.

It is my curse, one far more cruel than my thirst for blood and fear of the sun. Ah, you are learning after all. Clever girl.

Yes, I would ask for your company. Yours alone, I said I do not care for them. I am here in Barovia, in my castle, Ravenloft.

Now, I understand that after all you have seen and done, that is less desirable than other options you have perhaps thought of. So, I seek to sweeten that deal. For what good is companionship if I am forced to live forever while you will grow old, frail, and someday fade from time itself?

You have seen my spawn, no? I know you have. You have split a few of them in half with one fucking blow.

It is true that I suppose, save for meeting the iron-clad maiden that you have become, they can live forever. But of course, you have seen them. Their immortality is less than ideal.

They are broken, in heart and in mind, bound to my will despite whatever hate they harbored before. You would not want that, I know. I would not make you one.

No, I would seek to bring you above that, above them. A gift I have given to no other. A true embrace.

Ascension to heights that only I have reached. Should it interest you, should you take my deal, I would make you a true vampire. That we might rule this land together.

Dismal as it may be, perhaps it would be a brighter county when seated beside you. You pause, mercenary. Have I caught you by surprise? It seems that has become harder to do over the past weeks.

I am serious, though. It is not common. Usually, the last thing any vampire wants is another vampire in their realm, because of the power.

The Patron that abandoned you. I do not know what they have promised, but I can promise you more. One kiss, the kind you have but tasted in brief moments, and then you drink from myself, and you will feel the true power.

The dark magic that you can only imagine coursing through your veins, replacing the frail red blood that runs there now. Think of all we could do. I conquered and rebuilt Barovia alone, but together with two of us, perhaps we could even break this curse.

Of course, of course, I understand. What I am asking, what I am offering, it is no small thing. You can say no if you wish.

I have never held you against your will, forced anything you did not want.