#gondolas

...at all the dead, warning Modri that if the locals found this scene, they would stake their hearts and cremate them all instead of giving them regular burials. Modri is particularly upset at the idea of cremation, since it was a very uncommon practice in Europe at the time. If we are to believe the outfits and such, this is late 18th century. When Modri says he cannot allow the villagers to burn the bodies, the guy warns that Modri would be burned as well. This suggests that no matter what Modri said, they would not trust him... so, they would kill him (possibly a stake through his heart) and add him to the pile of burning corpses (or they would restrain him somehow and just add him, making him burn alive). Strigoi is a Romanian term, and there are dead strigoi as well as living ones. The corpses there could supposedly become the former, while Modri would potentially be labeled as one of the latter (which is why he would also be killed and burned by the locals). The folklore about them gave Bram Stoker a lot of material to work with, but stories of strigoi are still common in Eastern European cultures.

The guy talks about souls devoured by demons. What he says matches quite well with what Sebastian tells our earl. Those souls are removed from existence. There's no way into Heaven because they cannot even be judged. He believes in the idea of "from dust to dust" (but apparently not "from ashes to ashes"? 🤔) and thinks burial is the only proper way to honor them. Then he offers to help dig graves.

Back on the estate of his former master, Modri sits near the wheat fields (still full of ripened wheat thanks to the one wish properly granted by the demon). There's now a row of fresh graves between him and those fields. The guy stands behind him, still holding the handle of a shovel. He comes forward, places a hand on his left shoulder, and gives him a stern warning to never again yield to the devil's temptations.

Next, the guy is leaving the estate, by foot. Soon, a carriage catches up to him, and the driver offers him a ride. The guy gladly accepts, but he's surprised when he asks the destination and turns to see the driver.

Modri is in the driver's seat. His eyes are wide open as he says "Rome". The guy gives him an odd look, but that's all we see of them or their communication until they reach Italy.

Major edit: Now they are in Venice, on their way to Rome, though we don't know how long it takes for them to get there. Nor do we know what happened to the carriage or horse. It's quite possible they either sold the horse and carriage or just paid to keep them looked after at some local stables.

They've apparently just taken a gondola to a particular section of town. These are the traditional gondolas of Venice, and that is the famous Rialto Bridge, which connects two districts at the most narrow spot along the Grand Canal. Here are images of it showing roughly what it looked like back then.

From the waterway, they take some steps up to a walkway along a stone building. By the time we see them again, they are already in Rome.

There are some minor questions here; idk if it's really all that important how or what or why, but I'd personally like to know how Modri decides to go to Rome. Sure, we learn pretty soon what's in Rome, but how on earth does Modri know to go there? Is it something they talk about earlier that we are just simply not privy to? Of course, I'd also like to know if this location where they disembark is anywhere in particular within Rome. I'll see if I can find any info on it. (Edit: I give what should be the obvious answer to the first question in part 4, and the not as obvious answer to the second question is now just above ⬆️ in this post.)

I'm still confused as to why this guy sounds like he isn't just speaking with a different accent or dialect but possibly a different language, and yet... Modri has no trouble understanding and communicating with him. The speech bubbles don't suggest anything other than English is being spoken here, and that just doesn't make any sense. Perhaps it's all being shown as "English" simply because that's the language Modri is using to recount the tale. Ok... but I still have questions about that. Like: How well do they communicate with each other way back when this is actually taking place? And: How is Modri's English so fluent now; where even is his Austro-Hungarian accent? I haven't noticed it. 🧐 🤨