The mists brought many brave souls to Barovia to do battle with Strahd in his castle or to save the folk of Orasnou from Strahd’s minions. The Dark Powers are strange and unknowable. They do not let mortals out of their grasp easily. For reasons that are their own the Dark Powers have been emptying Barovia of many outsiders. These outsiders are sometimes already in search of a way out. Perhaps they are friendly with Vistani who know a secret way or they wander the woods for days. Regardless many are escaping to Faerûn.

Escaping the Mists

Characters who have participated in any of the Curse of Strahd adventures, be they the Curse of Strahd hardcover adventure or any parts of the Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts D&D Adventurers League modules, should all have the Demiplane of Dread story award. This story award locks the character into Barovia until an escape can be found. There are several places in the Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts campaign for at the end of the Curse of Strahd hardcover to escape through the mists.

If however, a character cannot make it to any of those exits there are other ways to return to Faerûn.

Downtime Activity: Escape the Mists A character with the Demiplane of Dread story award can gain the Escape the Mists story award after paying 20 Downtime days to leave Ravenloft. The Downtime day cost is modified as follows-

+10 Downtime Days: Touched by the Mists – For each time the character has died, been brought back to life by the mists, and gained the Touched by the Mists story award.

+5 Downtime Days: Enmity of Jeny Greenteeth – A character with the Enmity of Jeny Greenteeth story award (from 04-06 The Ghost) has not only angered the hag, but the mists themselves.

+5 Downtime Days: You Murderer – A character with the You Murderer story award (from 04-08 The Broken One) has killed villagers of Orasnou. The Dark Powers grip on them is tight.

+5 Downtime Days: Cursed by Greed – A character with the Cursed by Greed story award (from 04-09 The Tempter) has given in to greed at the behest of the Dark Powers. Leaving Ravenloft will be difficult as a result.

+10 Downtime Days – Escape the Mists – Each time a character escapes the mists, but then returns to Barovia, escaping again gets progressively harder.

If a character does not have enough Downtime days to escape the mists, they are stuck in Barovia forever. To gain downtime days, a player should play more Curse of Strahd adventures or be a Dungeon Master to gain DM rewards (Downtime) to award to a character to escape Barovia.