Smuggling Vaasi Stallions, a complete guide

[cure]

I attempt to capture the different cases and categories below bringing together the many subtleties of the smuggling of Vaasi stallions.

Suggestions, as always, are welcome.

BACKGROUND
The horses of Nova Vaasa are recognised rightly throughout the lands of the mists for their superior quality. The Vaasi princes, however, forbid the export of stallions. Legal sales are limited to animals that are female or gelded. Exceptions are made neither by Vaasi officials nor by the Vaasi soldiers charged with enforcement. Bribery might yield favourable results in the moment, but few very attempting it reach the frontier alive and intact with their prize. A crushing majority of the Vaasi, merchants included, are fiercely proud of their horses and abhor so much as the thought of breaking the ban on export. This is not to say that the Vaasi underworld refrains entirely from all involvement in smuggling. But only the most suicidal or brazen Vaasi, conceivably as a deliberate provocation intended to reach the ears of the authorities, speaks proudly of such deeds, even in the presence of friends or family. Indeed the smuggling of stallions counts prominently among the infamies imputed to Malken. Although there is no legal restriction on the ownership of stallions within Nova Vaasa itself, foreigners recognised as such and wishing to purchase stallions are typically either refused or offered animals that are no better than horses found in other domains (DC 20 Appraise check to notice, with 5 ranks in Ride affording a +2 circumstance bonus). Consequently, Vaasi soldiers, except when dealing with horse smugglers, can be counted on to ride down foreigners upon whom they set their sights. Punishment for being found guilty of involvement in smuggling stallions is castration and exile for the Vaasi and castration and a life time of hard labour under the whip for foreigners. Soldiers who seize smugglers in the act within a half day of the border (particularly that with Barovia) often dispense with the niceties of legal process. The Vaasi and foreigner alike are bound my their wrists, castrated, dragged to the border behind the stallions that they were stealing, and are left dangling, typically dead but occasionally alive, from trees as an abject warning to others in the business.

The single largest outlet for Vaasi stallions is Barovia. But the towns and villages of that land are likely to yield a paltry return to the thief of a noteworthy Vaasi stallion. Rather smugglers are drawn by the Svalich pass, gateway to the cities of the West, principally Levkarest, Lechberg, Mortigny, Ste Ronges, Pont-a-Museau, Port-a-Lucine, Silverbas, Lekar, Stangengard, and Martira Bay, where significant prices can be demanded and are sometimes paid. Traffic into the domains of Darkon, Hazlan, Tepest, and the Nocturnal sea taken together is two-thirds of the business going over the Svalich pass. The vast majority of this smuggling is split between the outlets of Darkon and the Nocturnal Sea, with most of the sea traffic being bound for Nevulchar Springs however. In comparison to the demand from Darkon, Hazlan is a distance second, Tepest an even more distance third, and the islands of the Nocturnal Sea a close fourth. Stallions reach Paridon, Touraine, and Zhukar via Darkon, Phiraz via Hazlan, and even Port d'Elhour via the Nocturnal Sea, with the assistance of the mistways and intrepid or mad entrepreneurs willing to brave them.

Every winter smuggling essentially much grinds to a halt during the brief but harsh Vaasi winter. It resumes earliest via the Nocturnal Sea, which itself is especially treacherous in the season as well as in the fall, and latest via the Svalich pass, which is closed an average of six months a year. Every summer a trickle of stallions of the Vindhåre (“wind-manes") breed, whereof Hazlan has a relative (smuggled) wealth, are bought into Barovia where trails, goat paths really, lead from Immol to the village of Barovia on the Svalich road. Equally dangerous work involves an even less consequential dribble of animals across Hazlan to Kartakass. The emergence recently of a fairly steady trickle of Rødbuge (“red-bellies”), the most cherished and marshal of Vaasi horses, brought through the fell forests of Tepest and over the scoured wastes of Keening, to markets in Darkon has driven down prices and angered Darkonese smugglers operating on or along the Nocturnal Sea. The ghastly cost of traversing these evil realms in relative safety is a closely guarded secret.

As for the smugglers themselves, those operating out of Barovia and Tepest have no overarching organisation. A decade ago a troop of Falkovnian soldiers, posing as civilians, did attempt to take charge of Barovian smuggling and reorganise it around Falkovnian military needs but they met with a grisly fate. Barovian based-smugglers do, however, share a significant degree of camaraderie. They do not attempt to develop contacts with the Vaasi, wisely fearing betrayal. Whereas Tepestian based-smugglers have little fondness of one another and are highly dependent upon the underworld of Liara. The territoriality of the lord of Barovia and of the goblins of Tepest deters pursuit by Vaasi soldiers across the frontiers, the mounting of Vaasi choke-points and ambushes within Barovian and Tepestian territory, and the penetration (more so of Barovia) of Vaasi spies (although Vaasi merchants fill the void admirably). Barovian wolves seem to have no special fondness for the flesh of smugglers or their stallions, but the same sadly cannot be said of the goblins of Tepest. Smugglers in both lands survive by not entering and especially not exiting Nova Vaasa by way of the Old Svalich and East Timori roads. Hence there is a process of natural selection among smugglers in favour of extensive geographic knowledge. To the south, Hazlani-based smugglers who are caught are typically freelancers outside the protection of, and indeed probably betrayed by, one or more criminal organisations. The use of arcane magic is not unheard of and may be responsible for an exceptional degree of success. Land based smuggling into Darkon is especially alarming to the Vaasi as it is focused on the Rødbuge. To be counted among the most adept horse thieves are Darkonese elves who benefit more than most from the cover of night. Smuggling by sea to Darkon and to the islands is highly organised. It relies upon the Vaasi underworld when deep-water harbours are required.

Vaasi diplomats and their political masters are very disheartened by the attitude of their counterparts. The aristocracy, the military, and the powers that be, to say nothing of the nouveau riche, of other domains welcome the illicit commerce in Vaasi stallions as they are the principle consumers. Smugglers have virtually nothing to fear in regard to their own persons from authorities once safely out of Nova Vaasa. This is not to deny that stallions are sometimes confiscated, the commitment to law and order publicly reaffirmed, and officials spared thereby the burden of having to pay for their new mounts. Some diplomatic progress, however, has been claimed recently in righting the situation in Tepest (with threats) and Hazlan (with the help of the Church of the Law Giver). The promulgation of new edicts and the enforcement of old laws has in little over a year ended the careers of two Rashemani freelancers in Hazlan and a cripple in Tepest coincidently burnt as a witch. The diplomats and religious figures responsible have been dispatched to Castle Avernus to bend the ear of the much esteemed Lord Azalin to their cause.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SMUGGLING OF, AND THE TRADE IN, VAASI STALLIONS
-there is smuggling of stallions trainable, or already trained, as race horses, light war horses, and heavy war horses
-there is no smuggling of draft animals and the like
-untrained animals stolen directly from the Vaasi plains are generally selected by individuals with multiple ranks in Appraise and Ride; five ranks in Ride affords a +2 circumstance bonus to the Appraise check; a successful selection requires success on a DC 20 (rare item) Appraise check; an individual failing a trained Appraise check by not more than ten is uncertain of the quality of the horse under consideration and typically tries again with another; an individual failing a trained Appraise check by more than ten or an individual failing an untrained check by any amount sees intrinsic merit where there is none; this is to say that the less skilled the horse thief is, the more likely the buyer gets a Vaasi stallion that is no better, but is vastly more expensive, than an animal raised at the farm down the road;
-there is effectively no theft and smuggling of two year olds with the potential to be superior or exceptional stallions as that potential is fiendishly difficult to realise in the absence of Vaasi training (DC 25 Animal handling check);
-there is effectively no theft and smuggling of Vistani selected two year olds as no one who steals from the Vistani or buys goods stolen from them is ever pleased with the final outcome; whatever the particular fate visited upon the individuals involved, a stolen stallion affords a -8 Ride check penalty to crucial rolls and produces abominations when used for breeding;
-Vistani selection and Vistani training are not services that can be purchased separately; only Vistani selected and trained animals are available for sale and these are sold exclusively to Vaasi middlemen according to a pact that permits the Vistani to freely take horses from the Vaasi plains; no Vistani tribe has been caught violating the pact;
-trained stallions are purchased from corrupt Vaasi middlemen by smugglers, are purchased from uncorrupted Nova Vaasans by smugglers posing successfully as natives, are stolen with stealth from Vaasi stables, are taken directly with violence, or the threat of it, from under Nova Vaasans, or are purchased from bands that usually keep far out of sight deep within the Dommark (the Plain of Judgement);
-the Dommark is a 30 mile wide and 20 mile deep blasted and parched plain lying between the Nocturnal sea and the Prince’s road to the east and the west and the Ivlis and the South Darn rivers to the south and the north; every Nova Vaasan knows that it is the will of the Law Giver that all may enter the Dommark but that few may leave; his clergy describes the Plain of Judgement as the iron forge, forever replenished by the souls of the iniquitous; unsurprisingly, Vaasi soldiers see no need, and are hesitant in the extreme, to enter it; thus it affords excellent shelter to the few who can survive its extreme conditions; these are principally nomadic bands who take two year old stallions from the surrounding plains, train them, and trade them to smugglers;
-this illicit commerce began innocently enough in 731 when a mounted Abbar Shaman wandering the Dommark came upon the surviving member of a safari; the aristocrat offered the ageless man a fortune for his horse, the shaman asked for a dream instead, and a deal was struck; the stallion proved to be of exceptional quality, the young noble escaped Nova Vaasa with it, and he told his tale at every inn on the road back to Port-a-Lucine; when smugglers subsequently sought out the shaman they found instead hardened individuals who had escaped Vaasi persecution for all manner of real and alleged crimes by fleeing into the Dommark where they had banded together and irked out a survival; evidently none was interested in surrendering a horse for a dream, but spare mounts were readily exchanged for supplies, and the economic potential of the situation dawned upon all; smuggler still encounter the shaman from time to time and the same terms are always available;
-superior linage implies that both parents or a parent and a grandparent of a race horse won at local events and those of a warhorse enjoy local celebrity for their battle prowess or that at least one parent of a race horse won at regional events and of a warhorse enjoys regional celebrity for its battle prowess; stallions of this quality are traded once a day in the horse markets of Abora, Bergovista, Egrets, Kantora and Liara;
-exceptional linage implies that both parents or a parent and a grandparent of a race horse won at regional events and those of a war horse enjoy regional celebrity for their prowess in battle or that at least one parent of a race horse won at national events and of a warhorse enjoys national celebrity for its battle prowess; stallions of this quality are traded once a week in the horse markets of Abora, Bergovista, Kantora and Liara, with the most coveted and pricy heavy type, the Rødbuge warhorse, being reserved to the Great Corral in Kantora;
-careful record keeping is the norm; yet there remains the immense and invaluable oral tradition that gathers about noteworthy stallions and their lines; and its watering, nourishing, and pruning falls chiefly to the bards of Nova Vaasa; they are few in number, and not universally loved, still many buyers and breeders swear by the assistance of their Skald of Horses;
-Vistani selected and trained stallions are initially sold only at the Great Corral in Kantora; they are, however, subject to secondary buying and selling across the domain; the horse market of Egertus has only light Rødbuge war horses; whereas all types may be found at the horse markets of Abora, Bergovista, Liara and Kantora;
-arguably Vistani selected and trained stallions should command a higher price than they do; the middlemen call this The Gypsy Taint; it is chiefly a consequence of a wide-spread and short-sighted prejudice for strength over balance; but it also stems from prejudice against the Vistani; and there is even fear among some buyers of The Gypsy Taint, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
-stallions taken from the Vaasi plains, at least by anyone other than the Vistani, do not have the potential to become superior or exceptional animals, though the fresh blood of the right one can be crucial to the breeding of such stallions;
-the question of true linage is usually not a problem for the seller when a buyer commissions the theft of a given animal, but is a constant problem for sellers
trying to capture the full value of their prize from rightly sceptical buyers; and it can be a problem for the buyer too when the stallion is too obviously an animal of exceptional worth for word of its new home may reach its bereaved, rich, powerful and rightful owner who will feel duty bound to set the matter aright by the most violent means permissible.
-although the distance travelled, the time taken, and the risks run to get smuggled stallions to a particular market vary, prices on that market reflect the average number of days of travel in the given season using the most efficient route and means while minimising risk (e.g. riverboats are typically employed from Levkarest to Montigny, to Ste Ronges, to Pont-a-Museau, and most of the way to Martira Bay);
-no smuggled stallion can command more than the Assets of the village, town, or city where it is being offered; practically, however, stallions are offered for substantially less than the gold piece limit of a place so that they can be sold quickly and easily; professional smugglers seek markets where business is rapid and convenient and seek stallions appropriate to those markets; the theft of the finest Vaasi stallions involves far too much risk and far too little reward save for when a theft is commissioned and one has some extraordinary reason to trust one’s employer; otherwise the quest for trophy horses is a fool’s errand.

CHARACTERISTICS OF VAASI HORSES BY TYPE, TRAINING, AND LINAGE/SELECTION

Base ability scores for normal, non-Vaasi horses
Race or light war horse
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6

Heavy war horse
Str 18, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6

Vindhåre (“wind-manes") sprinter race or fast light war horses have +1d3 feet of movement but afford -1 Ride checks due to ill-temper.
Vindhåre sprinter race or fast light war horses have +1d3 feet of movement but afford -1 Ride.
Superior Vindhåre sprinter race or fast light war horses have +1d4 feet of movement but afford -1 Ride checks.
Exceptional Vindhåre sprinter race horse or fast light war horses have +1d6 feet of movement but afford -1 Ride checks.
Vistani selected and trained Vindhåre sprinter race or fast light war horses have +1d4 feet of movement, have +1 Wisdom and are well behaved.

Vindhåre distance race or tough light war horses have +1d2 Constitution but afford -1 Ride checks due to ill-temper.
Superior Vindhåre distance race and tough light war horses have +1d3 Constitution but afford -1 Ride checks.
Exceptional Vindhåre distance race and tough light war horses have +1d4 Constitution but afford -1 Ride checks.
Vistani selected and trained Vindhåre distance race and tough light war horses have +1d3 Constitution, have +1 Wisdom and are well-behaved.

Rødbuge (“red-bellies”) have +1d3-1 Wisdom and +1d2 Charisma, heavy warhorses have +1d2-1 Strength, and both light and heavy warhorses afford respectively a +1d2 and +1d2-1 bonus to the Ride check that must be made for the rider to attack in the same round as the mount.
Superior Rødbuge have +1d3 Wisdom and +1d3 Charisma, heavy warhorses have +1 Strength, and both light and heavy warhorses afford respectively a +1d3 and +1d2 bonus to the Ride check that must be made for the rider to attack in the same round as the mount.
Exceptional Rødbuge have +1d3+1 Wisdom and +1d4 Charisma, heavy warhorses have +1d2 Strength, and both light and heavy warhorses afford respectively a +1d4 and +1d3 bonus to the Ride check that must be made for the rider to attack in the same round as the mount.
Vistani selected and trained Rødbuge have +2 Wisdom and +1d4-1 Charisma, heavy warhorses have +1 Strength, and both light and heavy warhorses afford respectively a +1d3 and +1d2 bonus to the Ride check that must be made for the rider to attack in the same round as the mount.

BASE COST IN GOLD PIECES FOR A TWO YEAR OLD UNTRAINED VAASI STALLION WITHIN NOVA VAASA
Light horse 100
Heavy horse 250

MODIFIER TO BASE COST
Average linage x1
Superior linage x10
Exceptional linage x100
Vistani selection of a Vindhåre x50
Vistani selection of a Rødbuge x10

TRAINING COST IN GOLD PIECES
Training as a race or light war horse +50
Training as a heavy warhorse +150
Vistani training of a Vindhåre +2500
Vistani training of a light Rødbuge +1000
Vistani training of a heavy Rødbuge +1000

COST IN GOLD PIECES FOR A VAASI STALLION IN NOVA VAASA

Untrained Average Superior Exceptional Vistani
Vindhåre 100 150 1050 10050 7500
Light
Rødbuge 100 150 1050 10050 2000
Heavy
Rødbuge 250 400 2650 25150 3500

MODIFIER FOR A STOLEN STALLION BY SMUGGLING ROUTE

Vindhåre Untrained Average Superior Exceptional Vistani
Barovia x1 x2 x4 x8 x6
Darkon x1.5 x3 x5 x9 x6
Hazlan x.75 x1.5 x3 x7 x6.5
Nocturnal
Sea x1 x2 x4 x8 x6
Tepest x2 x4 x6.5 x10 x7

Rødbuge Untrained Average Superior Exceptional Vistani
Barovia x1.5 x3 x5 x9 x6
Darkon x.75 x1.5 x3 x7 x6
Hazlan x2 x4 x6.5 x10 x7
Nocturnal
Sea x1 x2 x4 x8 x6
Tepest x1 x2 x4 x8 x6

PREMIEUM FOR A STOLEN STALLION BY SMUGGLING ROUTE

Vindhåre Rødbuge
Barovia +500 +500
Darkon +300 +300
Hazlan +200 +300
Nocturnal Sea +300 +200
Tepest +200 +200

BASE COST IN GOLD PIECES OF A VAASI STALLION BY SMUGGLING ROUTE

Vindhåre
Untrained Normal Superior Exceptional Vistani
Barovia 600 800 4550 80900 45500
Darkon 450 750 5550 90750 45300
Hazlan 275 475 3375 70575 49875
Nocturnal
Sea 400 700 4350 80700 45300
Tepest 400 800 7025 100700 52700

Light Rødbuge
Untrained Normal Superior Exceptional Vistani
Barovia 650 950 5750 90950 45500
Darkon 375 525 3450 70650 45300
Hazlan 400 800 7025 100700 52700
Nocturnal
Sea 400 700 4350 80700 45300
Tepest 300 500 4250 80600 45200

Heavy Rødbuge
Untrained Normal Superior Exceptional Vistani
Barovia 875 1700 13750 226850 21500
Darkon 488 900 8250 176350 21300
Hazlan 800 1100 17525 251800 24800
Nocturnal
Sea 450 1000 10800 201400 21200
Tepest 450 1000 10800 201400 21200

MODIFER TO COST OF A VAASI STALLION BOUGHT TO MARKET

x3 Mistway
x1.75 / day of extreme risk (e.g. Keening, Balinoks in fall & spring)
x1.5/ day of high risk (e.g. Barovia, Darkon, Falkovnia, Hazlan, Invidia, Sithicus, Tepest)
x1.25 day of medium risk (e.g. Borca, Kartakass, Mordant, Richemulot)
x1.1 day of low risk (Dementilieu)
x1.5 / day at sea in fall or winter (Nocturnal Sea & Sea of Sorrows)
x1.25 / day at sea in spring and summer (Nocturnal Sea & Sea of Sorrows)

The multiplier for the highest risk run during a day of travel is used.
When a market is served by more than one smuggling route the lowest price is the market price.

SAMPLE MODIFERS TO COST OF A VAASI STALLION TAKEN FROM THE VAASI FRONTIER TO MARKET IN THE SUMMER

Vindhåre or Light Rødbuge Heavy Rødbuge
VIA BAROVIA
Village of Barovia x1.5 x1.5
Vallaki x1.5² x1.5²
Krezk x1.5³ x1.5^4
Zeidenburg x1.5³ x1.5^5
Teufeldorf x1.5^4 x1.5^6
Skald x1.5^4 x 1.25 x1.5^7
Harmonia x1.5^4 x 1.25 x1.5^7 x 1.25
Har-Thelen x1.5^6 x1.5^9
Karina x1.5^5 x1.5^7
Lekarest x1.5^4 x1.5^5
Stuben x1.5^4 x1.5^5
Aerie x1.5^4 x1.5^6
Mortigny x1.5^4 x1.5^5 x 1.25
Pont-a-Museau x1.5^4 x 1.25 x1.5^5 x 1.25
Silverbervas (by water) x1.5^5 x 1.25 x1.5^6 x 1.25
Silverbervas (by landl) x1.5^5 x1.5^7
Lekar x1.5^6 x1.5^7 x 1.25
Neufurchtenburg x1.5^6 x1.5^8
Chateaufaux x1.5^6 x1.5^7 x 1.25
Port-a-Lucine x1.5^6 x1.5^7 x 1.25
Mordentshire x1.5^6 x1.5^7 x 1.25
Ludendorf x1.5^6 x 1.25 x1.5^7 x 1.25
Rivalis x1.5^7 x1.5^8 x 1.25
Martira Bay x1.5^8 x 1.25 x1.5^8 x 1.25

VIA DARKON
Nevulchar Springs x1.5² x1.5³
Sindar x1.5² x1.5³
Maykle x1.5³ x1.5^4
Karg x1.5³ x1.5^4
Vaaki x1.5^4 x1.5^5
Mayvin x1.5^5 x1.5^5
Rivalis x1.5^5 x1.5^6
Martira Bay x1.5^6 x1.5^7

VIA HALZAN
Toyalis x1.5 x1.5
Immola x1.5 x1.5²
Village of Barovia x1.5³ x1.5^5
Harmonia x1.5x1.75³ x1.5x1.75³

VIA NOCTURAN SEA
Graben Island x1.5³ x1.5³
Liffe x1.5³ x1.5³
Nevulchar Springs x1.5³ x1.5³

VIA TEPEST
Vitkal x1.5 x1.5
Mayvin x1.5 x 1.75² x1.5 x 1.75²
Vaaki x1.5² x 1.75² x1.5² x 1.75²
Rivalis x1.5³ x 1.75² x1.5³ x 1.75²
Martira Bay x1.54 x 1.75² x1.54 x 1.75²

SAMPLE PRICES OF VAASI STALLIONS TAKEN FROM THE VAASI FRONTIER TO MARKET IN THE SUMMER

Vindhåre Light Rødbuge Heavy Rødbuge
2 year old 2 year old 2 years
Vallaki 1350 1462 1968
Lekarest 3037 3290 6644
Silverbervas
4556 4935 12458
Chateaufaux
6834 7403 14950
Martira Bay 5125 4271 6976

[ScS of the Fraternity]

That was certainly thorough.

Any thoughs of submitting it as an article to QtR 13?

[cure]

That was certainly thorough.

Any thoughs of submitting it as an article to QtR 13?

Yes, I have that in mind. But I am not entirely happy with the piece yet and was hoping that some suggestions as to how to improve it might be forthcoming.

Simplifying the generation of a final price is something I still want to do also.

[Le Noir Faineant]

I am afraid there is no cure for this disease.

Seriously, a very interesting article. I was looking for a good hook for getting characters into the Nightmare Lands plot and you provided it.

[cure]

I was looking for a good hook for getting characters into the Nightmare Lands plot and you provided it.

Actually, I am about to add an Abber Shaman who wanders the Dommark (the blasted and parched Plains of Judgement in east central Nova Vaasa) who provides trained stallions to smugglers in return for them sharing with him their dreams.

It is now added above and follows below:

-trained stallions are purchased from corrupt Vaasi middlemen by smugglers, are purchased from uncorrupted Nova Vaasans by smugglers posing successfully as natives, are stolen with stealth from Vaasi stables, are taken directly with violence, or the threat of it, from under Nova Vaasans, or are purchased from bands that usually keep far out of sight deep within the Dommark (the Plain of Judgement);
-the Dommark is a 30 mile wide and 20 mile deep blasted and parched plain lying between the Nocturnal sea and the Prince’s road to the east and the west and the Ivlis and the South Darn rivers to the south and the north; every Nova Vaasan knows that it is the will of the Law Giver that all may enter the Dommark but that few may leave; his clergy describes the Plain of Judgement as the iron forge, forever replenished by the souls of the iniquitous; unsurprisingly, Vaasi soldiers see no need, and are hesitant in the extreme, to enter it; thus it affords excellent shelter to the few who can survive its extreme conditions; these are principally nomadic bands who take two year old stallions from the surrounding plains, train them, and trade them to smugglers;
-this illicit commerce began innocently enough in 731 when a mounted Abbar Shaman wandering the Dommark came upon the surviving member of a safari; the aristocrat offered the ageless man a fortune for his horse, the shaman asked for a dream instead, and a deal was struck; the stallion proved to be of exceptional quality, the young noble escaped Nova Vaasa with it, and he told his tale at every inn on the road back to Port-a-Lucine; when smugglers subsequently sought out the shaman they found instead hardened individuals who had escaped Vaasi persecution for all manner of real and alleged crimes by fleeing into the Dommark where they had banded together and irked out a survival; evidently none was interested in surrendering a horse for a dream, but spare mounts were readily exchanged for supplies, and the economic potential of the situation dawned upon all; smuggler still encounter the shaman from time to time and the same terms are always available;

[Le Noir Faineant]

That sounds really cool as well. Maybe that is the exact reason for the group to venture into a dreamscape for the first time. And then those dreams start to haunt them...