Well, if nothing else, the power from Sykane does, in fact, actually work. I truly didn't think it would (or at least not without some sort of consequence, which, technically, is still possible/yet to be seen, isn't it?). It wasn't enough, really, considering nearly all of us went down, but... it was something to keep Ri-An from dying. More help than I could have done without it. Fuck, Ri-An shouldn't be in this fucking place.
What happened after though. That...
It isn't fair, whatever caused it (Sykane's doing?), that they should go down without the... unbearably powerful second chance, like I got. And, frankly, besides barely bringing Sylvain back what good did it do, really? One less body to clear up, I guess, but other than that? On brand, though, isn't it: Osrin gets a shot at doing some good and she wastes it. This. This is why I walked away from this shite. I'll help when I can, but more often than not? I can't. Strahd left us to lick our wounds, which was a mercy (he's not the worst person I've ever met, after all). Yes, he and his wolves and rats and Doru(? -- I still don't understand what happened there and why he attacked Bodaway) were the reasons so many of us fell, but he left us. Alive. Better than a lot would have done for us.
I tried to not sleep again -- it wouldn't be the first time I avoided sleep to avoid nightmares -- but when that almost immediately failed I'm grateful, at least, that my mind was my own. Blank.
By morning everyone was awake (alive), if fuckin rough, but... alive. Talked about Madame Eva's reading (fuck, it was the first chance we've had to do so, wasn't it?) and the skepticism from some of the others was clear and not surprising but... I'm certain her reading was true -- she knew too much (though the comment about wings... that was Lu's signature, not mine; laughable) and wasn't using any of the tricks I'd expect. Does that mean I understand everything she read for us? No. Not by a fuckin longshot, but... I can just feel it's true and that we'd be idiots not to listen. Da's insight would probably be really fucking helpful in this.
We've got vague ideas toward what we should look for or focus on, after Ireena is safe, which is something. A start, I guess.