Arc T - The Three Fanes - Curse of Strahd: Reloaded

*An adventure for five 9th-level characters.* In this arc, upon claiming the broken hilt of the *Sunsword* from the depths of the Amber Temple, the players must return to the Shrine of the Rozana at Soldav to commune with the Ladies of the Fanes. To cleanse the Fanes of Strahd’s corruption, they learn, certain individuals must bury the Wizard of Wine’s enchanted gems at the center of each Fane: Urwin and Davian Martikov at the Swamp Fane; Dr. Rudolph van Richten and Arturi Radanavich at the Forest Fane; and Lady Fiona Wachter at the Mountain Fane. And when Exethanter decodes the *Tome of Strahd*, he delivers a terrible warning: that unless the players can cleanse the Fanes by the zenith of the Grand Conjunction, Strahd’s will finally escape the Mists—while killing every creature in Barovian in the process. For the reconsecrations to work, however, the players must first help Urwin and Davian Martikov end their feud, help Dr. Rudolph van Richten and Arturi Radanavich lift their curses, and help Lady Fiona Wachter find the courage and hope to defy Strahd’s rule. To make matters worse, the swamp witch Baba Lysaga has captured the Martikovs of the winery and imprisoned them in Berez, Strahd’s forces are hunting for Arturi and Van Richten both, and an emissary from Castle Ravenloft has seized power in Vallaki by taking Lady Wachter’s children as hostages. Can the players reignite the *Sunsword*, rescue the Martikovs, free Vallaki from Strahd’s rule, and reconsecrate the Fanes before the zenith of the Grand Conjunction arrives? > [!warning]+ **Pending Changes** > The arc below is fully compatible with existing versions of prior arcs. However, Chapter [[#T4. The Monster Hunter]], as well as associated sections of the guide in [[Arc C - Into the Valley]], [[Arc E - The Missing Vistana]], [[Arc K - The Fallen Abbey]], and [[Arc L - The Den of Wolves]] are expected to undergo significant revision **after** the core guide is complete, with the following changes: > > * Arturi Radanavich will be removed from the campaign. > * Ezmerelda d’Avenir was born Ezmerelda Radanavich, changing her name after the Radanavich clan was slaughtered. > * Ezmerelda was not present when Van Richten killed the Radanaviches, and was therefore the sole survivor of the massacre. (Ezmerelda was subsequently found by the Vistani of N9. Vistani Camp (p. 119), and was raised as a “younger sister" of Luvash and Arrigal until she left Barovia at age fifteen.) > * Ezmerelda believes that Strahd von Zarovich, or his servants, were responsible for the deaths of her extended family, and, when she departed Barovia, sought Van Richten’s mentorship to avenge them. > * Two years into her training, upon learning of Ezmerelda’s goals, Van Richten consulted with the seer Inarin Alstar, and learned of the curse that lay upon him. > * Driven by fear for Ezmerelda’s safety, and guilt for his role in her family’s deaths, Van Richten scorned her goals and informed her that she would never be worth anything as a monster hunter. > * Van Richten’s ploy worked, and the two parted ways shortly thereafter. Van Richten then immediately began preparing to return to Barovia, intending to slay Strahd von Zarovich before Ezmerelda could do so—and die in penance if necessary. > * When the players first return to the Luna River Crossroads after completing [[Arc S - A Sword of Sunlight]], they are met by Alexei, who pleads with them to accompany him to the Vistani camp. > * At the Vistani camp, the players encounter Escher, who is searching for Rudolph van Richten, and can help the Vistani drive Escher off. > * After dealing with Escher, the players learn that Arabelle was recently wounded when a pack of ghouls attacked; while Van Richten has done his best to stabilize her, she is slowly dying of the ghouls’ venom. > * Players who attempt to heal Arabelle hear Madam Radanavich’s curse (“Live you always among monsters, and see everyone you love die beneath their claws."), which prevents Arabelle from healing and worsens her wounds. Van Richten can also share that his curse is responsible for Arabelle’s condition—for, despite his best efforts, he allowed himself to feel affection toward her, and so hastened her demise. > * Van Richten shares the truth of the Radanavich massacre. Ezmerelda responds as she and Arturi respond below. > * Arabelle whispers the following prophecy: “When blood of two is blood of one / and broken wheels meet fiery tongues / the dead shall halt their endless war / and blight the living nevermore." (To lift Van Richten’s curse, Ezmerelda and Van Richten must complete the Vistani blood rite, rendering Van Richten a Radanavich, then burn the wreckage of the Radanavich caravan.) > * The remainder of the chapter otherwise proceeds largely as described below. # T1. Return to Soldav ## T1a. The Narrow Road The players’ return to Soldav is three-and-a-half miles long and takes two hours and twenty minutes. The players face no obstacles during the return journey. > [!warning]+ **Distance Patch** > A prior version of [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain]] stated that the journey from Soldav to the Amber Temple is one mile long. This distance has been updated for newer campaigns only. The players can gain access to Soldav as described in [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain#R5a. The Twin Falls|R5a. The Twin Falls]]. Upon entering [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain#R5b. The Tunnel|R5b. The Tunnel]], they are met by Como and two **scouts** guarding the secret door. Como is glad to see the players, and anxiously asks for news of Diona and her companions. (Como, who had previously hoped to court Meda, is especially dismayed to hear of her fate.) Como is glad to lead the players to [[#T1b. The Shrine of the Rozana]] to speak with Elder Burebis regarding the *rite of channelled divinity*, or to lead them to [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain#R5d. Chief’s Longhouse|R5d. Chief’s Longhouse]] if they wish to rest after their time at the Amber Temple. (When the players arrive at the longhouse, Oroles is stacking firewood near the hearth while Diegia is out settling a minor dispute regarding the ownership of a baby goat. Oroles is glad to hear of Diona’s good health, but mourns the fates of Meda and Duras. “They knew the risks," he says, “but our people are worse for their loss.") ## T1b. The Shrine of the Rozana When the players return to the Shrine of the Rozana, they find it largely as described in [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain#R5f. The Shrine of the Rozana]|R5f. The Shrine of the Rozana]]. However, when the players first greet or look for Elder Burebis, read: <div class="description"> Several heartbeats pass before, with the sound of a rasping sigh, Elder Burebis’s face emerges from the mass of roots upon the wall. His eyes flicker weakly open, his gray-blue flesh now sunken and pale. "You have returned," he whispers, his voice trembling and desiccated. “Good." </div> Burebis can share the following information if asked: * Since the players last visited, his health has taken a turn for the worse. He expects that “his time" is coming soon, and has just enough strength to speak with the players now. * He believes that he has lingered “long past my due upon this plane." Coughing, he adds: “Even for a member of my race, as long-lived as we are." * He is grateful to have an opportunity to aid the players in their quest. “If the mountain sustained me for one reason," he rasps, “it was for this." Burebis is eager to know what the players have learned and obtained from the Amber Temple, especially whether they have found a means to commune with the spirits of the Ladies Three. If the players tell him about the *rite of conjured divinity* and ask for “a location where the Ladies’ presence is strongest," read: <div class="description"> Burebis’s ancient face slowly exhales. Along the wall beside him, the roots rustle, then pull away, revealing a hidden passage that cuts through the mountain. "It will take you to the Cavern of Lights—the place where the Tauta first communed with the Rozana," he rumbles. “If they can hear your call anywhere, they shall hear it there." </div> ## T1c. The Cavern of Lights If the players enter the tunnel to the Cavern of Lights, read: <div class="description"> The stone passage winds for twenty feet through the mountain, emerging into a circular stone chamber approximately forty feet across. Pale green crystals jut from the rock along the walls, floor, and ceiling, growing in crystalline formations that range from six inches to more than six feet in height. Four engraved carvings mark the walls between them, each more than three feet high: a spider, a wolf, a raven, and a butterfly. </div> > [!lore]+ **The Butterfly** > The butterfly carving represents the Dreamer, the fourth and youngest sister of the Rozana. However, no living soul in Soldav knows this—not even Burebis. (Some, including Oroles, speculate that it represents the Tauta, who were “reborn" upon their arrival in the valley, as a butterfly is reborn from its chrysalis.) > > If the players later return to the Shrine of the Rozana and ask about the butterfly, Burebis shares only that he once asked his mentor, the Seeker, who the butterfly belonged to. However, the Seeker declined to tell him, noting only that it belonged to a story that had found its end. (“I had never known her to dwell in sorrow," Burebis rumbles thoughtfully, “but I’ve always thought I heard an echo of grief in her voice.") If the players carry out the *rite of conjured divinity* within the Cavern of Lights, read: <div class="description"> A faint shudder seems to run through the walls of the chamber, followed by a pulse of shimmering light that glints through the crystalline formations. A soft, sourceless breeze picks up in the air, a warm, gentle draft that sends small eddies of sediment swirling across the floor. Slowly, the crystals glow brighter, a burgeoning light growing deep within them. Radiant rays flash across the chamber, refracting and reflecting and refracting again until, from a central formation, they burst across the walls as brilliant, many-colored auroras that shimmer and dance across the stone. A soft, female sigh echoes through the room—followed by the unmistakeable sense of a new, unfamiliar presence. </div> > [!info]+ **Communing with the Ladies** > The players can use the *rite of conjured divinity* to summon the spirit of the Huntress, the Weaver, or both. Any attempts to summon the spirits of the Seeker or Dreamer have no effect. (The Seeker cannot be summoned because she is physically incarnated as Madam Eva; the Dreamer cannot be summoned because she is sealed within the Heart of Sorrow at Castle Ravenloft.) > > Once summoned, the spirits of the Huntress and Weaver can communicate only through telepathic emotions and visual images, which are displayed as shifting auroras on the walls. The goddesses can also communicate using short messages of three words or less, but no more than three times each per day. (Due to their weakened, vestige-like state, the Huntress and Weaver currently struggle to convey complex thoughts through words.) > [!info]+ **The Ladies’ Messages** > The Huntress and Weaver might use the following short phrases to communicate when unable to answer player questions using their auroras: > > * “THE HUNTER": Referring to Dr. Rudolph van Richten > * “THE HUNTED": Referring to Arturi Radanavich > * “THE OLD RAVEN": Referring to Davian Martikov > * “THE WATER’S KEEPER": Referring to Urwin Martikov > * “THE WIDOW": Referring to Lady Fiona Wachter Once summoned, the Huntress and/or Weaver are glad to answer the players’ questions as described in **Communing with the Ladies**. As they do, they might provide the following responses to the players’ questions: * **Who are you?** An aurora illuminating the wolf carving on the wall (Huntress) / An aurora illuminating the spider carving on the wall (Weaver) * **Where is the Seeker?** A woman kneels before a raven, which becomes mist and flows into her chest; raven’s wings then sprout from the woman’s shoulders. (The image is joined by a sense of loneliness and longing.) * **What does the butterfly represent?** A grave marked by falling snow, joined by a sense of grief and loss. (The Ladies refuse to elaborate.) * **What are the Fanes?** A powerful, fast-flowing river that meets another, casting great sprays of water where they join. (*The rivers represent leylines. Their intersection represents an intersection of leylines, and the power they channel.*) * **What do the Fanes look like? / Where are the Fanes?** Three circles of standing stones: one amidst a bog (the Swamp Fane, overlaid on the spider carving); one atop a flat, terraced hill surrounded by trees (the Forest Fane, overlaid on the wolf carving); and one along a mountain spur, just beneath a grassy promontory (the Mountain Fane, overlaid on the raven carving). * **What happened to the Fanes / How did the Fanes become corrupted?** A tall, gaunt shadow standing amidst a circle of standing stones, one hand clutching a dagger and the other bleeding onto the ground, with the blood rising to swallow the stones whole. (*The shadow is Strahd. The blood represents the ritual he used to desecrate the Fanes and “become the Land."*) * **How can we reconsecrate the Fanes?** Three pinecone-shaped gems: one that glows with viridian light (the Weaver’s gem, overlaid on the spider carving); one that glows with emerald light (the Huntress’s gem, overlaid on the wolf carving); one that glows with sage-green light (the Seeker’s gem, overlaid on the raven carving). * **What do we do with the gems?** Two dueling ravens cease their feud and bury the viridian gem at the center of a circle of standing stones amidst a bog (overlaid on the spider carving); an old, silver-furred fox drives away a horde of rats chasing a weary sparrow as a fire burns behind them, then becomes a sparrow itself, the two sparrows burying the emerald gem at the center of a circle of standing stones atop a flat, terraced hill (overlaid on the wolf carving); an old, proud she-cat with three kittens sleeping at her paws casts off the bat whose wings cover its eyes and turns her gaze into the sunrise, then buries the sage-green gem at the center of a circle of standing stones along a low mountain spur (overlaid on the raven carving). * **Where is the third gem?** A great crater atop a mountain peak. (*The players can recognize the peak as the peak of Mt. Ghakis.*) > [!abstract]+ **The Spear of the Huntress** > If the players summon the vestige of the Huntress while in possession of the *Spear of the Huntress*, the spear begins trembling in her presence. If a player presents the spear to the Huntress while her spirit remains, read: > > --- > > Green flames burst across the spear’s shaft and blade, though the wood and stone remain untouched. The crystals across the cavern hum in warm recognition, and the air fills with a sense of fierce, triumphant joy. Slowly, the flames recede, then eventually vanish—but the spear remains warm to the touch. > > --- > > The spear then loses the properties of a *blood spear* and becomes a +2 *spear of warning* with the following additional properties: > * If you throw this spear as a ranged attack, it flies back to your hand at the end of your turn. > * You can use a bonus action to cause harmless emerald-green flames to wreathe the spear’s blade, or to extinguish those flames. While aflame, the spear sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. > * When you ignite the spear’s blade, or as a bonus action while the spear’s blade is aflame, you can cast *hunter’s mark*. When cast in this way, the spell doesn’t require your concentration. You can cast this spell a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, and the spear regains all expended uses at dawn. > [!info]+ **Reconsecrating the Fanes** > For the players to reconsecrate the Fanes, the following events must come to pass > > * Davian and Urwin Martikov must reconcile and bury the viridian gem at the center of the Swamp Fane, which lies across the Luna River from Berez. > * Arturi Radanavich and Rudolph van Richten must lift their curses and bury the emerald gem at the center of the Forest Fane, which stands around the Gulthias Tree at Yester Hill. > * Lady Fiona Wachter must deny Strahd’s authority, find hope for the future, and bury the sage-green gem at the center of the Mountain Fane, which lies at the base of Old Bonegrinder’s hill. > [!info]+ **The Fanes** > |Lady|Symbol|Fane|Fane Location|Gem|Gem Location|Quest| > |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| > |Weaver|Spider|Swamp|Berez|Viridian|Baba Lysaga's Hut|Reconcile Davian and Urwin Martikov| > |Huntress|Wolf|Forest|Yester Hill|Emerald|Blue Water Inn (Claudiu Martikov)|Lift Van Richten's Curse| > |Seeker|Raven|Mountain|Old Bonegrinder|Sage|Roc's Nest|Convince Lady Wachter to Defy Strahd| > [!abstract]+ **Burebis’s Death** > As the players prepare to depart Soldav for [[#T1d. The Roc’s Nest]], Elder Burebis dies. When he does, the clouds over Soldav, as well as Burebis’s enchantments protecting Soldav’s location from its enemies, immediately dissipate. Although the Mountain Folk are disturbed by the clouds’ disappearance and mourn Burebis’s loss, Chief Diegia and Oroles insist (if the players ask) that Soldav is “more than capable of taking care of itself" in the players’ absence. ## T1d. The Roc’s Nest If the players ask Chief Diegia’s family how to reach the peak of Mt. Ghakis, Como is happy to serve as their guide. (If the players previously befriended him in [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain]], Scorilo gruffly insists on accompanying them as well, noting that “someone has to keep my brother from getting killed.") Como warns the players, however, that the roc of Mt. Ghakis is believed to nest atop the mountain, and asks, anxiously, whether they intend to anger or harm it. The journey from Soldav to the peak of Mt. Ghakis is four-and-a-half miles long and takes approximately three hours. As the players make the journey, read: <div class="description"> For the first mile, the journey follows the same path that ends at the Amber Temple—until Como turns onto a side, barely visible side trail that climbs higher amidst the cliffs. The trail becomes a switchback, zig-zagging and hugging the steepest slopes of the mountain as the valley falls away before you. After climbing three hundred feet, the trail evens out, then turns south, as it climbs the curved plateau just beneath the mountain’s highest peak. The air is thin here, as low-hanging clouds roll like ordinary fog across the frigid slopes. Ahead, a sharp cliff rises to the mountain’s snow-capped peak, forcing you to climb, hand-over-hand, on your final ascent to the top. As you climb the cliff’s final ridge, the crags fall away to reveal a bowl-shaped indentation the size of Vallaki’s town square. Great pine trees, thirty feet or taller, have been uprooted and laid around the bowl’s edges, with the basin’s floor covered with great boughs of frozen oak branches and leaves. The entire array has been pressed down, as if by a great weight, and enormous black feathers the height of a man litter the floor. At the basin’s center, a small, pale green light shimmers faintly from its place nestled amidst two oak boughs. </div> The light is the third gem of the Wizard of Wines winery, stolen by the roc ten years ago at Madam Eva’s behest. If the players approach or attempt to retrieve the gem, the **roc** of Mt. Ghakis descends atop the gem to confront them. Read: <div class="description"> The wind roars with a sudden gale, and the skies above boil beneath the weight of an immense, avian shadow. A pair of enormous claws breaks through the clouds, followed by a span of gargantuan black wings, and—finally—a ravenlike head whose beak could devour a horse whole. The mountain shudders as the roc of Mt. Ghakis slams onto the earth below, stones and branches crunching beneath its talons. Its throat feathers rustle as it lowers its great head in warning, a low, guttural croak emanating from its throat. </div> The roc won’t let the players take the gem unless they prove themselves worthy of doing so. The players can prove themselves worthy using the following methods, or in any other reasonable way: * The players can fight and bloody the roc (see statistics below). * The players can reveal the ignited blade of the *Sunsword*. * The players can reveal their knowledge of the roc’s role in stealing the gem, as well as its reason for doing so (i.e., to keep the gem safe from Strahd at Madam Eva’s instruction). The roc attacks if the players attempt to steal the gem, or otherwise act dishonorably (e.g., attempting to cast *charm monster* on it). > [!info]+ **Fighting the Roc** > The roc has the statistics of an ordinary **roc**, but with the following changes: > > * It can use a bonus action to shape-shift into a Tiny raven or return to its true form. Other than its size and actions, its game statistics are the same in each form. > * It regains 40 hit points at the start of each of its turns if it’s physically touching the stone of Mt. Ghakis. The roc dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate. > * It can take up to three reactions per round, but only one per turn. If the roc would lose its reactions and isn’t unconscious, it loses one reaction instead. > * It gains the following reaction: ***Indomitable.*** **Trigger:** A hostile creature ends its turn. **Effect:** The roc can repeat the saving throw against one effect or condition currently affecting it. (This reaction has no effect if the effect or condition didn’t originally require it to fail a saving throw.) > * It gains the following reaction: ***Raven’s Gale (1/round).*** *Trigger:* A hostile creature ends its turn within 10 feet of the roc. *Effect:* The roc flaps its mighty wings, forcing each creature in a 30-foot cone centered on the first creature to succeed on a DC 21 Strength saving throw or be thrown 20 feet away. A creature that fails the saving throw by 10 or more also falls prone. If the players prove themselves worthy, read: <div class="description"> A great shudder rolls through the roc’s frame, followed by a deep, rumbling trill that echoes from its beak. It steps back, then slowly lowers its head in an unmistakeable bow. </div> Once the players prove themselves, the roc is glad to confirm the following information through nods and shakes of its head (though it won’t volunteer information the players don’t already know or suspect): * Its true name is Turul, and it was once the familiar of the Seeker, who is now Madam Eva. * Its nest lies upon the peak of Mt. Ghakis. * It is no friend of Strahd’s. * If the players previously encountered it as a raven by the Luna River in [[Arc M - The Dragon's Manor]], it was the raven they encountered. * It stole the third enchanted gem from the Wizard of Wines winery at Madam Eva’s behest—to keep it safe from Strahd, and to await the day when the saviors the Seeker foretold would come to find it. * It can’t (and won’t) follow the players to the valley below to aid them in their fight against Strahd. (Its place is Mt. Ghakis.) However, it can transport them down from the mountain to a destination of their choice. If the players don’t ask the roc for a ride, it bows its head and lowers a wing to the ground toward them, then tilts its head inquisitively, as if inviting them to climb it. The roc is willing to fly the players to any single location in Barovia except Castle Ravenloft. Due to its great size and speed, no journey takes more than twenty minutes. Upon delivering the players, it lingers for no more than one minute, then returns to Mt. Ghakis. # T2. Descending the Mount > [!info]+ **Travel Times** > ***Wizard of Wines to Vallaki.*** The journey from the Wizard of Wines to and from Vallaki is six and one-quarter miles long and takes just over two hours. > > ***Wizard of Wines to Berez.*** The journey from the Wizard of Wines to and from Berez is nine and one-quarter miles long and takes just over three hours. > > ***Vallaki to Berez.*** The journey from Vallaki to Berez is four and one-half miles long and takes one and one-half hours. > [!abstract]+ **Kasimir’s Departure** > When the players descend the mountain, Kasimir shares that he must return to the dusk elf encampment at N9. Vistani Camp (p. 119) to see that his people are protected. “When Patrina first appeared in my dreams, I never believed myself the one who would wield the weapon of sunlight against Zarovich," he says. “I knew that I would uncover it—guard it, if needed, until it found its rightful hand. But my place is with my people, and it is time I returned to them." > > Before Kasimir departs, he asks, thoughtfully: “The Vistani have a tradition—the blood rite, they call it—by which a man may become Vistani himself, though he was not born amongst their wagons. When we came to the valley, I shared the blood rite with the man who brought us here; I let Kasimir of Othrondil die, and was reborn as Kasimir Velikov, blood-brother of the Vistani." He pauses, then continues: “But Patrina could never let go of the past. While I sought to move forward, she could only ever look back. I can’t help but wonder, though—if she had completed the blood rite as I did, and so became Vistani, would she have fallen down the dark path she did?" > > Kasimir is grateful for any thoughts and insights the players might share. > [!abstract]+ **Urwin’s Plea** > Following his family’s kidnapping at Baba Lysaga’s hands in [[#T3. The Witch of Berez]], Urwin Martikov sent raven messengers to the following locations to await the players’ return: the woods near Chapter 12: The Wizard of Wines (p. 173); the woods near I. Black Carriage (p. 37); P. Luna River Crossroads (p. 40); and R. Raven River Crossroads (p. 40). Each messenger bears the following letter, which is tied to its leg in the form of a small parchment scroll: > > --- > > Emergency—please come to Blue Water Inn. —Urwin > > --- > > Once the players have received its message, a raven flies away to alert the other ravens, as well as Urwin, that its message has been delivered. > > If spoken to using a *speak with animals* spell, a raven shares that the winery was attacked by a “great evil," and that its flock speaks of a lone survivor who fled to the “home of blue water." (The raven, which didn’t witness the attack personally, is referring to Baba Lysaga and the Blue Water Inn, respectively.) > [!info]+ **Victor’s Plea** > Shortly after the players descend the mountain (e.g., as they conclude their investigation of the Wizard of Wines), if the players befriended or assisted him in [[Arc H - The Lost Soul]], one of them receives the following *sending* from Victor Vallakovich: *I need your help. Lady Wachter has betrayed us, the town has gone mad, and I can’t reach Stella. When will you return?* > > If the players ask for further information, Victor replies with the following additional *sending*: *Too much to share like this. Come to my family’s home. Don’t let the gate guards see you.* ## T2a. The Wizard of Wines If the players return to Chapter 12: The Wizard of Wines (p. 173), read the following as they approach the winery: <div class="description"> Great holes mar the winery’s northern second-story wall, showing splintered, rubble-strewn rooms beyond. Below, several unfamiliar scarecrows stand silently amidst the vineyard, their painted gazes leering through the mist. </div> > [!lore]+ **Baba Lysaga’s Revenge** > After learning of the players’ victory in [[Arc J - The Stolen Gem]], the swamp witch Baba Lysaga resolved to punish them for their defiance, and began crafting more **scarecrows** and **strix** to aid in her endeavor. After hearing of the players’ exploits in [[Arc P - Ravenloft Heist]] and observing Argynvost’s beacon following the events of [[Arc Q - A Shining Beacon]], Lysaga put her foul plan into motion. > > While the players lingered upon Mt. Ghakis, Baba Lysaga rode her creeping hut down the Luna River, to Luna Lake, then rampaged through the Svalich Woods until she reached the Wizard of Wines vineyard. She, along with her freshly crafted scarecrows and strix, assaulted the winery in the dead of night, first plucking Martin and Viggo from their beds, then imprisoning the other Martikovs in silver cages as they fought in vain to rescue the children. Only the teenage Claudiu escaped, carrying the Winery’s sole remaining enchanted gem and fleeing alone through the night sky to Vallaki, where he sought refuge at the Blue Water Inn. > > Now, Baba Lysaga lurks in the depths of Berez, waiting for the players to come rescue their beloved feathered friends—and finally die at her hands. > [!abstract]+ **Investigating the Trail** > A player who succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) check identifies enormous gouges and trenches pockmarking the wet earth in a rough “trail." The trail, which was left by Baba Lysaga’s creeping hut, leads south through the Svalich Woods to Luna Lake, then north beneath Tsolenka Pass along the Luna River, until ending in Chapter 10: The Ruins of Berez (p. 161). If the players follow the trail, their journey to Berez is eight and one-half miles long and takes five and one-third hours. A total of seven **scarecrows** stands silently still around the winery. They attack any creature that attempts to enter the winery. If the players enter the winery, they find it empty. If they ascend to the second floor, they find that the wall between the two W19. Sleeping Quarters (p. 179) has been reduced to splinters and rubbles, and that the rooms’ shared southern wall has been marked with the following message, engraved in scorched, blackened wood: “*A Mother Never Forgets.*" ## T2b. The Town of Vallaki ### Town Gates If the players return to Vallaki, they find each gate guarded by two **guards**, two **cultists** loyal to Lady Wachter, and one **cult fanatic**. Players who previously met the cult fanatics Andrej, Boris, and Miruna in [[Arc H - The Lost Soul]] recognize them at the western Sunset Gate, the Northern Zarovich Gate, and the Eastern Morning Gate, respectively. If the players attempt to enter through the gates, the guards solemnly inform them that they are under strict orders to forbid the players from entering Vallaki. The cult fanatics can further share that these orders have been issued by Burgomistress Lady Fiona Wachter, for unknown reasons. A player who succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check can convince the guards to allow them to pass. Otherwise, the guards and cultists attack if the players defy their command and attempt to enter Vallaki anyway. If the players kill any guards or cultists, the guards and cultists fight to the death, attempting to kill the players in return. Otherwise, the guards and cultists use nonlethal tactics, surrendering if three or more guards and/or cultists are knocked unconscious. > [!abstract]+ **Breaking Into Vallaki** > Vallaki’s guard patrols are largely as described in Town Gates (p. 95). However, an additional six **cultists** loyal to Lady Wachter patrol the walls alongside the **guards**. > [!lore]+ **The Long Arm of Castle Ravenloft** > Following the players’ exploits in [[Arc Q - A Shining Beacon]], and upon learning of the players’ close relationship to Lady Fiona Wachter following [[Arc F - Lady Wachter's Wish]] and [[Arc H - The Lost Soul]], Strahd sent an emissary from Castle Ravenloft to bring Lady Wachter—and Vallaki—to heel. Hoping to spread fear and despair in advance of the Grand Conjunction, Strahd commanded his emissary to “break the town’s spirit"—by any means necessary. (If Volenta Popofsky or Anastrasya Karelova are still alive, Strahd designated one of them as his emissary. Otherwise, he turned his fanatical Vistani **spy** Eliza into a **vampire spawn** and designated her as his emissary instead. If neither Volenta, Anastrasya, nor Eliza survive, Strahd instead chose the **vampire spawn** Helga, who is as described in K32. Maid in Hell (p. 64). > > Upon arriving at Wachterhaus, Strahd’s emissary presented Lady Wachter with a signed and sealed proclamation from Castle Ravenloft designating the emissary as Strahd’s official “voice" in Vallaki. A reluctant Lady Wachter invited the emissary into her home and allowed the emissary to place a coffin in Nrq. Storage Room (p. 114). > > That night, the emissary used a *potion of waking slumber, brewed by the coven of **Barovian witches** in Castle Ravenloft, to place Stella, Nikolai, and Karl Wachter within an unconscious trance. The emissary’s accomplices, two loyal **vampire spawn**, then secretly guided Lady Wachter’s three children out of Wachterhaus to N5. Arasek Stockyard (p. 115), killed Gunther and Yelena Arasek, and locked the Wachter children in a warehouse adjoining N6. Coffin Maker’s Shop (p. 116). > > The following morning, the emissary presented Lady Wachter with a list of edits to issue—and warned her that, although her children were “in a safe place," they would remain so only during Lady Wachter’s “good behavior." Recognizing that the emissary intended her children to serve as hostages, Lady Wachter has obediently followed the emissary’s commands ever since. > > Thus far, Lady Wachter has ordered that the players be barred from Vallaki and that posters be placed across town naming them enemies of Vallaki. She has also restricted Vallakians from leaving town, ordered that Father Lucian Petrovich be arrested for “treason," and commanded that the Blue Water Inn be closed for “harboring enemies of Vallaki." If the players befriended him, when the toymaker Gadof Blinsky began selling dolls shaped like the players, Lady Wachter also had Blinsky thrown in the stocks. > > Rumors speak of a group of Vallakian guards who visited Wachterhaus to speak out against Lady Wachter’s new edicts—and who vanished, presumed to be dead or spirited away to Castle Ravenloft. It’s also common knowledge that swarms of bats now sleep somewhere in Vallaki, flying out into the streets to spy for the Burgomistress each night. As such, although some Vallakians chafe under the new regime, none dare stand up to it. > [!item]+ **Potion of Waking Slumber** > A creature that drinks this potion must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or fall asleep for one hour. While asleep in this way, it hears and obeys any commands provided to it in a language that it understands. > [!info]+ **Securing the Hostages** > The hostages’ location is concealed by a *beacon of private sanctum* (see below), which Strahd’s emissary obtained from Baba Lysaga and deployed in Arasek Stockyard. (This is why Victor has been unable to reach Stella using his *sending* spell.) > [!item]+ **Beacon of Private Sanctum** > *Wondrous item, rare* > > When its command word is spoken, this six-inch iron cage gains the effects of a *private sanctum* spell. When cast indoors in this way, the *private sanctum* extends no further than the walls of the structure that contains it. > > Once activated, the beacon can’t be activated again until the next dawn. ### St. Andral’s Church If the players pass N1. St. Andral’s Church (p. 97) during the daytime, read: <div class="description"> A dark-haired woman wearing a gray robe stands on the church steps, a small crowd encircling her from below. An unfamiliar poster has been posted on the church doors behind her. "The silver light is a message from Ezra, She Who Dwells in the Mists," the woman proclaims. “We must not surrender to darkness, nor lose ourselves to fantasies of a golden dawn. We must bend with the wind and seek solace in the mist, for only there may we endure what must be endured." </div> If the players previously encountered her in [[Arc H - The Lost Soul]], they recognize her as the **cult fanatic** Ruxandra, a loyal follower of Lady Wachter. (The “silver light" Ruxandra refers to is the lit beacon of Argynvostholt.) If inspected, the poster reads: “BEWARE: ARMED AND DANGEROUS. REPORT ANY SIGHTINGS TO THE BURGOMISTRESS," and features a rough sketch and description of the players. > [!abstract]+ **Ruxandra’s Sermon** > If the players continue to listen to her sermon, Ruxandra preaches to the crowd that, “as Ezra teaches us, to want is to wound ourselves. When we struggle, we harm only ourselves and those we love. To find peace, we must surrender, opening ourselves to what *is*, rather than what *cannot be*. In dreams, we shall find only bitterness; only through acceptance may we find solace and comfort." If Milivoj is alive and in Vallaki, add: <div class="description"> A dozen yards away, Milivoj kneels amidst the churchyard, a small pile of weeds beneath his muddy gloves and a brown cloak draped across his shoulders. He glares silently at the woman from afar. </div> If the players make themselves known to him, Milivoj greets them with anxious gratitude. He can share the following information: * Three days ago, Lady Wachter began issuing new edicts, which she claims “bear the authority of Castle Ravenloft." * Her first edict was to imprison Father Lucian for “treason" against Vallaki and Castle Ravenloft. (Milivoj doesn’t know where Lucian is being imprisoned.) * With Father Lucian imprisoned, the church has closed down, though Milivoj has done his best to maintain the grounds and interior. He’s also invited Yeska to live with his family. * Since the church’s closure, a small group of Vallakians have begun using the church’s front steps to preach the religion of Ezra, the Goddess of the Mists. (Milivoj’s mouth twists in distaste at the name. “Father Lucian’s sermons always encouraged us to dream of a brighter future," he spits. “But this ‘Ezra’ seems to just want everyone to sit down and shut up.") * Lady Wachter has also issued other edicts. She’s shut down the Blue Water Inn, forbidden most Vallakians from leaving the walls, and (if the players have previously befriended Gadof Blinsky) thrown the local toymaker into the stocks. (Milivoj, who has always found Blinsky Toys to be fairly creepy, isn’t sure how he feels about the latter.) Lady Wachter has also put up posters warning of the players and asking that any sightings be reported to Wachterhaus. * Rumor has it that a group of Vallakian guards went to Wachterhaus to protest Lady Wachter’s edicts, and that all of them were either killed or sent to Castle Ravenloft. * Every night, bats fill the streets of Vallaki, with many hanging from roofs or eavesdropping through windows. Nobody knows where they sleep during the day. Milivoj asks the players to convince Lady Wachter to free Father Lucian from imprisonment—and, he adds darkly, to free him themselves if she refuses. He is grateful for any aid the players are able to promise or offer. ### The Blue Water Inn If the players pass or approach N2. Blue Water Inn (p. 98), they find the tavern evidently deserted. A large sign has been hammered into the front door, and reads: “CLOSED BY ORDER OF THE BURGOMISTRESS." (The door is unlocked.) If the players enter the inn during the day, they find N2c. Taproom (p. 100) and N2e. Kitchen (p. 101) empty, but hear Danika’s voice drifting across N2j. Great Balcony (p. 102), originating from N2o. Boys’ Bedroom (p. 102). A player who succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check overhears Danika saying: “—know you want to go outside, but I need you to stay out of trouble right now, and that means staying inside. Okay?" A moment later, Brom and Bray’s voices murmur something unintelligible, and Danika replies: “I knew I could count on you to understand. Now play quietly, okay?" She then exits N2o. Boys’ Bedroom (p. 102). > [!info]+ **Yeska’s Second Home** > If Milivoj is dead or imprisoned in Castle Ravenloft, Yeska is a guest at the Blue Water Inn, and has received a cot in N2o. Boys’ Bedroom (p. 102) while he waits and hopes for Father Lucian to be set free. If the players speak with him, he asks that they “bring Father Lucian back" while fighting back tears. ***Speaking to Danika.*** Danika is grateful to see the players, and insists on preparing them hot tea and reheated potato soup in the kitchen. Though she hopes to learn of the players’ recent exploits, she can also share the following information if asked: * Urwin is currently away from the inn, gathering information from a flock of ravens passing through the eastern woods. He should return within the hour. * The Blue Water Inn is currently closed, by order of Lady Wachter for “harboring traitors against Vallaki and Castle Ravenloft." It hasn’t had any customers for two days. * Three days ago, Lady Wachter began issuing new edicts, which she claims “bear the authority of Castle Ravenloft." In addition to closing the inn, she’s imprisoned the priest of St. Andral’s Church, forbidden most Vallakians from leaving the walls, and (if the players have previously befriended Blinsky) thrown the local toymaker, Gadof Blinsky into the stocks. * Two nights ago, a group of Vallakian guards went to Wachterhaus to protest Lady Wachter’s edicts. None returned. * Dozens of swarms of bats have taken up residence in Wachterhaus’s basement, swarming out every night to fill the streets of Vallaki, with many hanging from roofs or eavesdropping through windows. The bats are hostile to ravens, forcing Urwin’s raven spies to skirt the town’s walls instead of passing through. Danika can also share concerning news regarding the Wizard of Wines winery: * Two nights ago, the witch of Berez, Baba Lysaga, attacked the Wizard of Wines atop a living hut, which shattered the winery’s upper walls in the dead of night. * Claudiu, Stefenia and Dag’s eldest teenage son, escaped alone, and is staying in N2n. Private Guest Room (p. 102). The rest of the Martikov clan was captured and spirited away—presumably to Berez. * Claudiu brought with him the Winery’s final enchanted gem, which Urwin and Danika took for safekeeping. (The gem is hidden in the locked chest in N2h. Ravens’ Loft (p. 101). If Izek Strazni previously found the chest in [[Arc G - The Strazni Siblings]], the Martikovs have relocated it to N2q. Secret Attic (p. 103).) * Urwin’s raven spies have been working to track the Martikovs into Berez. Urwin hopes to have more information when he returns in an hour. * Last night, Claudiu tried to sneak out of the Blue Water Inn to fly to Berez. Urwin stopped him, and brought him back to the inn. (Danika and Urwin agree that fifteen-year-old Claudiu is too young and inexperienced to be allowed to take field missions for the Keepers of the Feather, and that Baba Lysaga would surely capture or slaughter him if she found him there.) > [!abstract]+ **Where’s Muriel?** > If the players ask for the location of Muriel Vinshaw, Danika can share that Muriel has been dispatched to the eastern Svalich Wood on an assignment to recruit flocks of ravens to aid the Keepers of the Feather. “Urwin thinks a storm is coming," Danika says softly. “I don’t doubt that he’s right." ***Speaking with Claudiu.*** If the players seek to speak with Claudiu, they can find him sitting on the bed in N2n. Private Guest Room (p. 102) and staring silently out the southern window. Claudiu, who is shocked and despondent following Baba Lysaga’s attack, can share the following information if asked: * Two nights ago, he and his brothers, Martin and Viggo, were asleep in their beds in W19. Sleeping Quarters (p. 179) at the Wizard of Wines winery, when a pair of enormous living tree roots broke through the wall and grabbed Martin and Viggo. * When “Uncle Adrian," “Uncle Elvir," “Mom" (Stefania), “Dad" (Dag), and “Grandpa Davian" joined the fight, a pair of giant scarecrow-like birds—**strix**—filled them with silver needles, preventing them from transforming, while a marching platoon of **scarecrows** used their leering glares to paralyze them from below. * The roots belonged to an enormous living tree stump, upon which sat a run-down hut. The hut, the birds, and the scarecrows were commanded by a cackling old woman—the witch Baba Lysaga—who oversaw the fight from a flying giant’s skull that she rode through the air. * During the attack, Claudiu saw a familiar green light seeping from the hut’s doorway—a light he recognized as belonging to one of the Winery’s stolen enchanted gems. (If asked, Claudiu shares his belief that the stolen gem is hidden somewhere within the hut.) * Claudiu escaped with the Winery’s final enchanted gem in the chaos, but all of his family members were captured. “I ran away," he growls, stifling a hiccuping sob as his hands curl into trembling fists. “They were in trouble, and all I could think of was *running away*." (Claudiu doesn’t know where his family was taken, but believes them to be in Berez.) * Claudiu has begged Danika and Urwin to allow him to travel to Berez to rescue his family. However, when he attempted to leave in secret last night, Urwin and a **swarm of ravens** met him in the southern Svalich Wood and ordered him to return to the Blue Water Inn. (Frustrated, and loathing himself for his cowardice and passivity, Claudiu obeyed.) Claudiu demands that the players rescue his family—and, more quietly, asks that they take him with them when they do. “I ran away once," he says fiercely. “I can’t run away again." (If pressed, Claudiu reluctantly admits that he hasn’t been officially inducted into the Keepers of the Feather, that he’s only fifteen years old, and that although his father Dag has been training him in the use of a shortsword and crossbow, he’s yet to master either.) ***Urwin’s Return.*** Urwin returns within an hour of the players’ arrival, entering through the small southern window in N2q. Secret Attic (p. 103) in raven form, then assuming human form and descending through N2p. Master Bedroom (p. 103) to N2c. Taproom (p. 100). Urwin is grimly pleased to see the players, but clearly frustrated. He can share the following information if asked: * None of his ravens have been able to catch a glimpse of Berez, which has been swallowed up by an enormous hedge-like structure of vines and thorns hundreds of feet in height. * Dozens of swarms of bats have taken up residence in Arasek Stockyard, swarming out every night to fill the streets of Vallaki, with many hanging from roofs or eavesdropping through windows. The bats, which often visit Wachterhaus, are hostile to ravens, forcing Urwin’s raven spies to skirt the town’s walls instead of passing through. (If asked, Urwin can share that the bats appear to sleep in the warehouse to the immediate left of N6. Coffin Maker’s Shop (p. 116).) * However, last night, one of Urwin’s flocks caught a glimpse of a strange, cloaked individual exiting Wachterhaus from the rear entrance, then vanishing into the town’s alleyways. This individual didn’t match any known descriptions of the Wachter family or its servants, and Urwin isn’t certain who it could be. (Due to the bats’ presence, the ravens weren’t able to see whether the cloaked figure ever returned.) Urwin is upset at his family’s capture by Baba Lysaga, and frustrated with himself for his inability to help them from Vallaki. “A spymaster with no spies," he growls quietly. “I’m useless to them here—but what more can I do?" Urwin apologizes for asking the players to aid his familyonce again, but asks them to rescue them from Baba Lysaga’s clutches. If the players depart for Berez, proceed to [[#T3. The Witch of Berez]]. > [!abstract]+ **Urwin Joins the Party** Urwin is surprised if the players invite him to travel to Berez with them, and asks to confer with Danika before doing so. Following a brief, private conversation, he agrees to join the players to rescue his family, then retrieves a shortsword, a heavy crossbow and bolts, and a set of studded leather armor from a chest beneath the bed in N2p. Master Bedroom (p. 103). <div class="statblock"> <h2>Urwin Martikov</h2> Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), lawful good <hr> Armor Class 15 (studded leather armor) Hit Points 63 (14d8) Speed 30 ft. (fly 50 ft. in raven and hybrid forms) <hr> <table class="ability-table"> <thead> <tr> <th>STR</th> <th>DEX</th> <th>CON</th> <th>INT</th> <th>WIS</th> <th>CHA</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>10 (+0)</td> <td>16 (+3)</td> <td>11 (+0)</td> <td>13 (+1)</td> <td>15 (+2)</td> <td>14 (+2)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> Skills Insight +4, Perception +6 Senses passive Perception 16 Languages Common (can't speak in raven form) Challenge Rating 2 Proficiency Bonus +2 <hr> Regeneration. Urwin regains 10 hit points at the start of his turn if he hasn't taken necrotic damage or bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage from a silvered weapon since his last turn. He dies only if he starts his turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate. Mimic. Urwin can mimic simple sounds he has heard, such as a person whispering, a baby crying, or an animal chittering. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check. <h3>Actions</h3> Multiattack. Urwin makes two weapon attacks, one of which can be with his heavy crossbow. Shortsword. (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only) Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage. Hand Crossbow. (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only) Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 100/400 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) piercing damage. Beak. (Raven or Hybrid Form Only) Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage in raven form, or 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage in hybrid form. If the target is humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with wereraven lycanthropy. <h3>Bonus Actions</h3> Shapechange. Urwin polymorphs into a raven-humanoid hybrid or into a raven, or back into his human form. His statistics, other than his size, are the same in each form. Any equipment he is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. He reverts back to his human form if she dies. <h3>Reactions</h3> </div> > [!abstract]+ **The Third Gem** > If the players show Urwin the gem they obtained from [[#T1d. The Roc’s Nest]], he assumes that the players recovered it from Berez and asks, awed, how they managed to do so. If the players inform him that this is the third enchanted gem, which was stolen from the winery ten years ago, Urwin is struck speechless and asks, raggedly, to hold and see it. (“Ten years since I left," he mumbles, turning it over in his hands. “Did you know that my sons have never met their grandfather? All for *this*.") > > Urwin pleads with the players to share the gem’s location—and thief, if they know its identity. He is shocked to learn that the gem was hidden at the peak of Mt. Ghakis—but begins laughing with a deep, disbelieving chuckle upon learning that it was taken by the roc of Mt. Ghakis. “Madness," he croaks in bewildered delight, wiping a tear from his eye. “Everything else in the world has gone insane. Why not this?" ### Vallakovich Manor If the players visit N3. Burgomaster’s Mansion (p. 103), Victor Vallakovich greets them at the door and ushers them to N3t. Victor’s Workroom (p. 109) to “talk in private," hissing that “*her* spies could be listening" (referring to Lady Wachter). (If Vargas Vallakovich died in [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain]], Victor leads the players to N3l. Library (p. 107), which he has adopted as his own study since his father’s death.) > [!abstract]+ **Vargas’s Death** > If Vargas Vallakovich died in [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain]], both Victor and Vargas’s wife, Lydia Petrovna, have struggled to adapt to his death. Although Victor stands to inherit Vargas’s lands and titles when he comes of age—thereby preserving the family’s wealth and status—both Victor and his mother have found it difficult to accustom themselves to a world without Vargas in it. > > Though Victor bore no great love for his father, and despised him in many respects, Vargas was a constant in his life; “without Father," he can share quietly, “this place feels . . . empty." Meanwhile, Lydia—who once loved Vargas, and did her best to love him as he grew ever-more despotic and permissive of Izek’s cruelty—has largely withdrawn to N3p. Bridal Gown (p. 108), reflecting upon the man she married and the monster he became. Victor can share the following information with the players: * He hasn’t seen Stella in several days. * When he tried to visit Wachterhaus to see her, Lady Wachter’s manservant turned him away. * He’s deeply concerned for Stella’s safety, and fears Lady Wachter may have sold her children to Strahd—or worse. (“My father always said she was in league with the Devil," he says darkly. “It looks like he was right.") Victor is glad to join the players in their efforts to confront Lady Wachter and find Stella if invited. ### The Town Square If the players visit N8. Town Square (p. 119), read: <div class="description"> Proclamations are posted all around the town square. At the north end of the square, the row of stocks holds a reedy, balding man wearing a fisherman’s vest. Two guards holding spears stand beside the stocks. </div> If the players previously befriended the toymaker Gadof Blinsky, instead read: <div class="description"> Proclamations are posted all around the town square. At the north end of the square, the row of stocks hold two figures: a reedy, balding man wearing a fisherman’s vest, and a stocky, miserable-looking man wearing a jester’s cap and costume. Two guards holding spears stand beside the stocks. </div> The balding man is the fisherman Bluto Krogarov. The stocky man is Gadof Blinsky. > [!lore]+ **The Prisoners in the Stocks** > If the players previously befriended him, Gadof Blinsky—who has few other acquaintances—regards them as treasured friends. When Lady Wachter first issued her proclamations warning of the players two days ago, a horrified Blinsky marched to Wachterhaus and pleaded for her to remove them. When Lady Wachter solemnly shared that the players had been banned from Vallaki, Blinsky grew agitated, and was subsequently arrested and placed in the stocks for “trespassing and contempt." (Lady Wachter, who would have preferred to let Blinsky go free, felt the punishment was necessary to prevent Strahd’s emissary from making a meal of him instead.) > > When Lady Wachter issued her edict forbidding most Vallakians from venturing outside of the town walls, Bluto marched to the North Gate and demanded that he be allowed to pass in order to continue his livelihood at Lake Zarovich. A brief struggle ensued, after which Bluto was locked in the stocks for “insubordination and disorderly conduct." Each proclamation reads “BEWARE: ARMED AND DANGEROUS. REPORT ANY SIGHTINGS TO THE BURGOMISTRESS," and features a rough sketch and description of the players. The two **guards** watching the stocks have no personal enmity toward Blinsky and Bluto, and no great loyalty to Lady Wachter. However, both are reluctant to be disciplined or removed from the guard. More significantly, both fear the rumors they’ve heard of Lady Wachter’s newest guest, who is said amongst the town guard to be an emissary sent from Castle Ravenloft itself. If the players attempt to openly free Blinsky or Bluto from the stocks, the guards protest and ready their arms. The players can convince the guards to stand down on a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check or a DC 10 Charisma (Intimidation) check, made with advantage if the players reference Lady Wachter’s proclamations that they are “ARMED AND DANGEORUS." Otherwise, if the players disregard their orders to stand down, the guards attack any character who attempts to free either man from the stocks, seeking to knock them unconscious and bring them to Wachterhaus for questioning. If one guard is knocked unconscious or killed, the surviving guard surrenders or flees, respectively. ### Wachterhaus If the players visit Wachterhaus, proceed to [[#T5. Dreams of Dawn]]. ## T2c. The Tyrant’s Final Trial The first night the players spend away from Mt. Ghakis after completing [[Arc S - A Sword of Sunlight]], Strahd scries or tracks them as described in [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain#R3b. The Tyrant’s First Trial|Arc R - Trials of the Mountain]]. Upon locating them, he dismisses Beucephalus into the Ethereal Plane, then attempts to drive the players into the open or obtain an invitation into their resting place, as described in [[#Arc R - Trials of the Mountain#Strahd’s Greeting|The Tyrant’s First Trial]]. If he successfully does so, Strahd congratulates the players for avoiding him during their stay on Mt. Ghakis (e.g., due to Soldav’s protective enchantments and the roc’s protection). “Nevertheless," he says coldly, “such cowardice violated the rules of our game—and so I have come to collect your penalty." Strahd informs the players that, for each night they escaped his “game," he will claim one of them as a vampire spawn—tonight. (For example, if the players spent two nights in Soldav and were protected by the roc of Mt. Ghakis for an additional night, Strahd intends to claim three players as vampire spawn tonight.) Strahd then attempts to repeat the voting game described in [[Arc R - Trials of the Mountain#Strahd’s Game|Arc R - Trials of the Mountain]], with one change: Each player must vote for a number of victims equal to those Strahd will claim. (For example, if Strahd intends to claim three players as vampire spawn, Strahd commands the players to “pick three among you to join my court this night.") If the players attack, refuse to play his game, or refuse to allow Strahd to drink from the chosen targets, Strahd attacks, intending to knock the entire party unconscious, then take his chosen targets back to Ravenloft to be turned into vampire spawn. In combat, Strahd begins in his **Vampire** phase, rather than his Mage phase, but assumes his Mage phase automatically if his **Vampire** phase is reduced to 155 hit points or less. If the players reveal the *Sunsword*’s hilt to Strahd, he bares his teeth in a cold, mirthless smile. “I see you’ve found half of my brother’s old sword," he says. “I had thought it destroyed long ago, but no matter. Do you mean to enchant me with nostalgia for the past, or do you truly believe that this trinket poses some threat to me?" If the players activate the *Sunsword*’s radiant blade, Strahd bares his teeth in a snarl, his teeth gritted. “A quaint, if futile gesture. Perhaps it is time I taught you a lesson I should have long ago." If Strahd takes 30 or more damage from the *Sunsword* in a single turn, or if he takes 80 or more damage from the *Sunsword* across three consecutive rounds, he snarls with pain and fury. He then uses his movement and reactions to retreat. Read: <div class="description"> Strahd’s body trembles with rage. His batlike nostrils flare, his crimson eyes flashing as scorched burns and wounds across his body struggle to knit back together. "You may think that this toy will save you," he hisses. “But as you sleep tonight, do not forget: Your souls are mine—and I shall claim them when I choose." </div> On his next turn, Strahd uses his ***shapechange*** feature to assume the form of a **bat**. He then retreats into the sky, returning to Castle Ravenloft. (Strahd also flees if the players reduce his second form to 155 hit points or fewer.) ## T2d. Exethanter’s Warning Forty-eight hours after the players leave the *Tome of Strahd* with Exethanter’s spirit in [[Arc S - A Sword of Sunlight]], he contacts them simultaneously using a continuous, multi-target _sending_ spell to convey the following information: * The *Tome* describes Strahd’s plan to use a giant crystalline heart to conduct the energy from three leyline crossings in Barovia (i.e., points where two leylines intersect). * Strahd intends to control this raw, unfettered power using a “token of divinity" that is “like, but not of," the magic that dwells in the three leylines. * Using the leylines’ power, and the power stored in the heart’s vast reserves, Strahd will surround the crystalline heart with a shell of thousands of living human souls, each infused with apathy, fear, and despair. This process will tear the souls from their owners’ bodies, leaving the original hosts undead husks obedient to Strahd’s commands. * Strahd has determined that the Mists surrounding Barovia are impenetrable—except for one thirteen-day period every thirteen centuries, when the planes and stars align to form a Grand Conjunction. When the Grand Conjunction reaches its zenith, and the boundaries between worlds grow thinnest, Strahd intends to use the fortified heart as a battering ram to break through the Mists and free Barovia from its prison—consuming every soul in the process. * The Grand Conjunction begins in one day’s time, and will reach its zenith in three—and if even a single leyline remains under Strahd’s control on that date, every living soul in the valley may be lost. Exethanter, who is clearly horrified, agitated, and somewhat impressed by the audacity of Strahd’s plans, urges the players to do whatever they can to thwart Strahd’s plans before the Grand Conjunction begins. > [!info]+ **The Grand Conjunction** > At dusk on the first night of the Grand Conjunction, and on each night thereafter, the skies split to reveal glimpses of other worlds. Read: > > --- > > *As the grey daylight fades, and the Moon begins to rise above the trees, the stars follow it into the sky—but they are no longer alone.* > > *Strange, alien constellations join them from behind, forming a bright, shimmering tapestry that hangs across the sky. Other moons, too, float amidst the darkness, their orbiting shadows falling across the surfaces of great, distant planets. In the void beyond, sparkling nebulae drift across unfathomable vacuums, their light crossing windows into other realms—a sea of endless fire, a bloodstained expanse, a mount that rings with celestial hymns.* > > *These sights amidst the heavens are obscured only by a thin sphere of mist, from which Barovia’s false stars twinkle like patches on a blanket. Beyond them, in the center of it all, stand thirteen bright stars in near-perfect alignment, forming a line that cuts across the night sky like a bloody wound.* > > --- > > The thirteen stars grow increasingly aligned each night, reaching perfect alignment on the third night following Exethanter’s message. # T3. The Witch of Berez ## T3a. Berez Outskirts The players’ approach to Berez is largely as described in Approaching the Ruins (p. 161). However, revise this area’s description as follows: <div class="description"> The trail hugs the river for several miles. The dirt and grass soon turn to marsh as the trail dissolves into spongy earth pockmarked with stands of tall reeds and pools of stagnant water. A thick shroud of fog covers all. Past the trail’s end, an enormous shadow rises within the fog: a mass of vines, thorns, and branches more than two hundred feet in height. The structure sprawls a half-mile wide and a half-mile deep, its southeastern edge hugging the river as it flows sluggishly through the basin. A tall, gaping hole thirty feet wide and thirty feet tall stands at its northeastern corner, the trail vanishing into its darkened depths. </div> The structure is a giant hedge maze created by Baba Lysaga’s _mirage arcane_. To prepare for the players’ arrival, Baba Lysaga has overlaid the swamp with six identical _mirage arcane_ spells. (A player must successfully cast _dispel magic_ six consecutive times to dispel all six _mirage arcane_ spells.) Baba Lysaga has also placed a _programmed illusion_ spell covering the thirty-foot hole that serves as the maze’s entrance. The first time the players enter the maze, the _programmed illusion_ activates, echoing across all of Berez. Read: <div class="description"> A bright flash of sickly green light fills the air, casting harsh shadows across the thorny walls. As it does, a woman’s deep cackle rings through the air, echoing like thunder through the fog. "Welcome, brave heroes!" the woman’s voice jeers, her voice ringing across the swamp. “I’m so glad that you’ve decided to play my little game. The rules are simple: You have one hour to find me. Each time an hour passes, I’ll rip the wings off of one of your feathered friends. Don’t worry, though; to ensure the little dears don’t bleed out, I’ll make sure to cauterize their wounds—with molten silver." Another cackle rings through the air, seeming to come from every direction at once. “Your time begins—now. </div> Beyond the entrance, the hedge maze splits into two corridors: one that runs east, and one that runs south. * The eastern passage leads to [[#T3b. Northern Cottages]] * The southern passage leads to [[#T3c. Southern Cottages]].) ![[Berez_Dungeon.png]] > [!info]+ **The Hedge Maze** > The hedge maze has ten “rooms," as shown on the map above: > > * [[#T3b. Town Green]], comprising the town green between U1. Abandoned Cottages (p. 162) (north cottages) and U1. Abandoned Cottages (p. 162) (south cottages)) > * [[#T3c. Northern Cottages]], comprising U1. Abandoned Cottages (p. 162) (north cottages) > * [[#T3d. Southern Cottages]], comprising U1. Abandoned Cottages (p. 162) (south cottages) > * [[#T3e. Churchyard]], comprising U4. Churchyard (p. 164) > * [[#T3f. Marina’s Monument]], comprising U5. Marina’s Monument (p. 164) > * [[#T3h. Goat Pen]], comprising U2. Ulrich Mansion (p. 162) (goat pen only) > * [[#T3g. Manor Cellar]], comprising U2. Ulrich Mansion (p. 162) (cellar only) > * [[#T3i. Garden]], comprising U2. Ulrich Mansion (p. 162) (garden only) > * [[#T3j. Ulrich Manor]], comprising U2. Ulrich Mansion (p. 162) (mansion only) > * [[#T3k. Baba Lysaga’s Hut]], comprising U3. Baba Lysaga’s Hut (p. 163) > > The hedge maze’s walls and ceilings are each one hundred feet thick, and each room is one hundred feet high. Each five-foot-square segment of a wall or ceiling has AC 15, 20 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. > > All corridors through the maze are ten feet wide, winding their way through the walls to break lines of sight. > [!info]+ **Light in the Maze** > Except in [[#T3k. Baba Lysaga’s Hut]], no natural or artificial light illuminates the interior of the hedge maze, leaving all rooms in darkness unless illuminated by the players. ## Tbc. Northern Cottages This area is largely as described in U1. Abandoned Cottages (p. 162) (north cottages). However, two **greater strix** hang from the ceiling above the cottages. When the players enter, the strix descend upon the players and attack, releasing a pair of shrill, piercing shrieks. Three ten-foot-wide passages lead from this chamber: * One to the northeast, which leads to [[#T3a. Berez Outskirts]] * One along the southeast wall, which leads to [[#T3b. Town Green]] * One to the southwest, which leads to [[#T3e. Churchyard]] ## T3c. Southern Cottages This area is largely as described in U1. Abandoned Cottages (p. 162) (south cottages). However, if they weren’t killed in [[Arc Q - A Shining Beacon]], two **Barovian hexwitches** and two **Barovian bogwitches**, as described in [[Arc P - Ravenloft Heist#P9c. Cauldron Room|Arc P - Ravenloft Heist]], lurk in four cottages flanking the road. If she’s still alive, Wensencia and her undead **dire wolf**, as described in [[Arc M - The Dragon’s Manor#The Witch’s Harvest|Arc M - The Dragon’s Manor]], lurk in a fifth cottage. The witches emerge and attack any players who pass between or enter the cottages. ## T3d. Town Green When the players enter this area, read: <div class="description"> A dark, gloomy fen stretches hundreds of feet into the darkness. </div> This room is filled by a marsh of stagnant water two feet deep. The water is difficult terrain. Seven bloated, distended human corpses float in the darkened mire, with six spread in a circle around the edges of the room and a seventh placed in the room’s center. One corpse lies fifty feet from the corridor leading to [[#T3c. Northern Cottages]], while another lies fifty feet from the corridor leading to [[#T3d. Southern Cottages]]. If the players’ light source or darkvision illuminates one of these corpses, read: <div class="description"> Fifty feet away, something floats in the fetid water. </div> If the players approach any of the corpses, read: <div class="description"> Just beneath the water’s surface floats a human corpse, its stomach bloated and gray flesh distended. Its glassy eyes stare unblinkingly through the still water. </div> Each **walking corpse** is largely as described in U5. Marina’s Monument, Fortunes of Ravenloft (p. 165). However, rather than a **commoner**’s ***club*** action, each corpse gains the following action: * ***Slam.*** *Melee Attack Roll:* +2, reach 5 ft. *Hit:* 1 bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled. A walking corpse rises from the mire and attacks if touched, or if the players attempt to move past it. In combat, a walking corpse first attempts to grapple a target using its ***slam***, then attempts to drown the grappled target by shoving it prone beneath the swamp’s waters. The sounds of combat awaken any other walking corpses within the room. Once awakened, each walking corpse arises and lurches toward the players, converging on the players’ location by sound five rounds later. When they do, read the text described in U5. Marina’s Monument, Fortunes of Ravenloft (p. 165). Two ten-foot-wide passages lead from this chamber: * One to the northwest, which leads to [[#T3c. Northern Cottages]] * One to the southeast, which leads to [[#T3c. Southern Cottages]] ## T3e. Churchyard This area is largely as described in U4. Churchyard. However, add the following to the end of this area’s description: <div class="description"> Three flickering lights bob between the graves. </div> The three lights are **will-o’-wisps**. A player who scrutinizes the lights from a distance and succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check discerns that the lights aren’t being carried, but are hovering in the air. If the wisps detect the players, they turn invisible using their ***invisibility*** feature, take the Hide action, and attack when the players seem most vulnerable (but before the players depart this area). The players can attempt to sneak past the wisps, succeeding with a successful group DC 13 Dexterity (Stealth) check. Three ten-foot-wide passages lead from this chamber: * One to the north, which leads to [[#T3c. Northern Cottages]] * One to the south, which leads to [[#T3g. Manor Cellar]] * One to the southwest, which leads to [[#T3f. Marina’s Monument]]. (A faint golden glow emanates from this passage.) ## T3f. Marina’s Monument This area is largely as described in U5. Marina’s Monument (p. 164). However, modify this area’s description as follows: <div class="description"> Hidden by the fog and elevated a few feet above the surrounding marsh is a raised plot of land, barely ten feet on a side, enclosed by a disintegrating iron fence. In the center of the plot is a stone monument. An ethereal, golden figure kneels before the monument. </div> The golden figure is the spirit of Sergei von Zarovich (use the statistics of a **phantom warrior**). > [!lore]+ **Sergei’s Spirit** > When Strahd killed him at his wedding nearly four centuries ago, Sergei’s ghost awoke to find itself entrapped within the Mists, unable to pass on to the afterlife. As the Mists’ first ghost, Sergei has learned how to avoid the cycles of reincarnation that return Barovia’s souls to their next lives. Although Strahd has long searched for his soul, Sergei has also learned how to hide himself away from his brother’s eyes, too fearful—and ashamed—to allow Strahd to find him. > > Sergei fears what Strahd has become—but, more importantly, loathes himself for his failure to see the darkness growing in Strahd’s heart, as well as his own failure to protect Tatyana from Strahd’s assault. He blames himself for Strahd’s fall from grace and for Tatyana’s death at Strahd’s hands; had he not taunted Strahd with their romance, or even departed his position as Moste High Priest of the Morninglord’s Church, Sergei believes, all this tragedy may have been avoided. > > When Tatyana first reincarnated as Marina in the village of Berez, Sergei believed that she offered him a chance at redemption. It was Sergei, unknowingly guided by the Dark Powers’ whispers, who visited Burgomaster Lazlo Ulrich and Brother Grigor in their dreams to warn them of Strahd’s nightly visits. Unfortunately for Sergei, Lazlo and Grigo slew Marina as described in Chapter 10: The Ruins of Berez (p. 161), rather than spiriting her away as Sergei had hoped. > > Today, Sergei generally conceals himself near the border of the Deep Ethereal, so as to avoid the watchful eyes of Strahd’s **nightmare** and ghostly servants. However, he occasionally dares to visit Marina’s Monument, where he pays his respects to the woman he failed to save, and the woman his actions condemned. Sergei dreads the day that he might encounter Tatyana’s soul again—and hopes fervently that day will never come. ### Sergei’s Surprise If the players draw Sergei’s attention, or otherwise fail to conceal their entry to this area, read: <div class="description"> The golden figure turns, revealing the familiar face of Strahd von Zarovich—but softer, younger, and worn with grief. </div> If Ireena is present, add: <div class="description"> The figure’s eyes fall upon Ireena’s face, and his eyes widen. With a quiet, terrified gasp, he whirls away—and vanishes from sight. </div> If Ireena is not present, instead add: <div class="description"> The figure rocks to his feet, his face paling. With a startled gasp, he steps back—and vanishes from sight. </div> Sergei, who has used his ***etherealness*** feature to escape into the Ethereal Plane, lingers in the Border Ethereal to watch the players. The players can convince Sergei to return to the Material Plane by succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, made with advantage if the players call him by name. The check succeeds automatically if Ireena calls for Sergei, or if the players show Sergei the hilt of the *Sunsword*. > [!abstract]+ **Sergei’s Aid** > If he sees Ireena depart this area, Sergei follows her in the Ethereal Plane while she remains in Berez, yearning to hear her voice but terrified of revealing himself to her. (Sergei doesn’t follow Ireena if she leaves Berez.) > > If Sergei believes Ireena to be in danger while she remains in Berez, he uses his ***etherealness*** feature to enter the Material Plane and aid her. Once Ireena is safe, he moves to return to the Ethereal Plane unless the players convince him to stay, as described above. If the players approach Marina’s Monument, read: <div class="description"> The stone monument is carved in the likeness of a kneeling peasant girl clutching a rose. Although her features are gray and weatherworn, she bears a striking resemblance to Ireena Kolyana. Carved into the monument's base is an epitaph: Marina, Taken by the Mists. </div> ### Speaking with Sergei If the players successfully convince Sergei to return to the Material Plane, read: <div class="description"> Motes of golden light glimmer in the air—then resolve once more into the figure’s form. When he speaks, his voice is soft and gentle, though choked with quiet grief. “Hello," he says. </div> > [!info]+ **Sergei’s Grief** > While Ireena is present, Sergei does his best to avoid meeting her eyes, cringing away every time he does so. A player who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check discerns that Sergei feels a deep sense of shame toward her—one bordering on terror. Upon returning to the Material Plane, Sergei is willing to share the following information with the players: * He is Sergei von Zarovich, the younger brother of Strahd von Zarovich. * The monument, which is called Marina’s Monument, was erected by Strahd three-and-a-half centuries ago, shortly after the destruction of Berez in a terrible flood. * Strahd raised the monument to honor the memory of a woman named Marina Ulrich, the daughter of the local burgomaster. * Marina was slain by her father, Burgomaster Lazlo Ulrich, and a priest of the Morninglord called Brother Grigor, as described in Chapter 10: The Ruins of Berez (p. 161). (A player with a passive Wisdom (Insight) score of 13 or more notices that Sergei’s spirit seems to bite his tongue before speaking further, and that he seems ashamed to speak further on the matter.) The players can convince Sergei to elaborate on his role in Marina’s death by succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, made with advantage if the players point out that he clearly feels guilty for her death. The check succeeds automatically if Ireena assists the players in doing so. On a success, a miserable Sergei can share the following additional information: * When Strahd paid his first nocturnal visit to Marina, Sergei immediately feared for her life. When Strahd departed, Sergei visited the dreams of Burgomaster Ulrich and Brother Grigor, whispering to them that Marina had been preyed upon by the lord of the land, and that her life was in grave danger. (“I had hoped," Sergei says, swallowing, “that they would do what I could not, and take her away to safety.") * The following morning, Burgomaster Ulrich and Brother Grigor inspected Marina’s neck and found the marks of Strahd’s fangs upon her neck. Rather than spirit her away, as Sergei had hoped, a mournful Ulrich and stoic Grigor killed her instead, intent on keeping Strahd from claiming her soul as a vampire. (“I had meant to save her," Sergei says bitterly. “But instead, I had killed her once again.") If the players ask Sergei how he could have killed Marina “again," mention Tatyana, or ask how he died, Sergei winces and begs the players not to “open old wounds." If the players persist, Sergei sighs, and can share the following additional information if asked: * His father, King Barov von Zarovich II, was determined to resurrect the old Zarovich dynasty, and the legacy of Old Zarovia. To this end, he waged endless wars against their family’s enemies—and trained Strahd to follow in his footsteps, raising him to be a soldier, a general, and a king. * King Barov was already approaching his elder years when Sergei was born. Nearly thirty years Strahd’s younger, and not expected to claim the throne, Sergei was spared the bloodshed of his father and brother’s wars. Instead, his mother, Queen Ravenovia, joined by Prefect Ciril Romulich of the Church of the Morninglord, raised him to be a priest of the Morninglord’s church. (“Not once did I meet the man I called brother," Sergei says mournfully. “My studies kept me at home, while his duties kept him at the war front.") * When Sergei was twenty-two, King Barov died of illness. Strahd inherited his father’s throne—and his wars—while Sergei, still kept at home, inherited his father’s *Brightblade*: a radiant sword whose crystal blade shone like the sun. (“I never learned why Strahd had the *Brightblade* sent to me," Sergei says softly. “Perhaps he wanted to carve his own path. Or perhaps a small part of him feared its light, even then.") * Not long after King Barov’s death, St. Andral’s successor—Moste High Priest Kir of the Morninglord’s church—raised Sergei to be a High Priest of the church. Four years later, Strahd summoned Sergei and Queen Ravenovia to the seat of his empire: a valley he had named “Barovia," in their father’s honor. * Queen Ravenovia, Sergei’s mother, fell gravely ill and died on the journey—and Sergei arrived at Castle Ravenloft alone. There, he met his elder brother, Strahd—who was now well-into middle age himself—for the first time in both of their lives. (“It was strange," Sergei recalls. “Neither of us knew how to speak with the other—me, who had never known war, and he, who had never known peace. We circled each other like cats: fearful of making a wrong move, yet too curious to step away.") * Sergei, joined by Ciril Romulich, informed Strahd that Kir had died before Castle Ravenloft was finished, leaving the position of Moste High Priest vacant—a position that the council of high priests had chosen Sergei to fill. (“Kir had withdrawn from daily life in the year before his death," Sergei recalls, if prompted. “When I and Ciril entered his chambers to speak with him, we found him slumped over on his desk, unmoving—and with a platinum sunburst lying in his hands, its center set with a ruby that shone like the sun. His notes called it the *Sigil of the Sun*, and claimed that it would be needed one day when the Morninglord’s faithful did battle with a great enemy." Sergei recognizes the *Holy Symbol of Ravenkind* as the *Sigil of the Sun* if shown, and expresses great interest in its recent history.) * Shortly after Sergei’s arrival in Barovia, an army of undead began to wage war against Strahd and his armies, ravaging the valley’s defenses and stockpiles. When Strahd departed from the castle to lead the fight, Sergei took over his brother’s ministerial duties, visiting the settlements of the valley to oversee their development. * It was on one such visit to the village of Barovia that Sergei first met Tatyana Federovna—a peasant girl working as a barmaid at the *Blood of the Vine Tavern*. Sergei was instantly smitten, and visited her daily to pursue her affections. (“She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen," Sergei reminisces, “both inside and out. She was kind and gentle, but brilliant and *fierce*." He chuckles sadly, lost in memories. “She was also the most stubborn woman I had ever known—but I was determined to be even moreso. It was the happiest day of my life when she accepted my request to court her.") * When their courtship began, Tatyana visited Sergei in Castle Ravenloft near-daily, often spending nights—if not weeks—in the castle’s bright halls. Each time she did, Strahd welcomed her fondly, and Tatyana came to greet him warmly as well. (“Each time he saw her, I recognized the lust in his eyes," Sergei confesses, “yet I denied it to myself, unwilling to accept the darkness I saw in his heart. My denial only grew, even as that lust grew to envy, nurturing the monster that stirred in his chest.") * Sergei’s dalliances with Tatyana soon began to impede his duties as Moste High Priest to the Morninglord’s church. Not long after, Strahd gave him an ultimatum: end his relationship with Tatyana, or abdicate his position as Moste High Priest. (“I imagine he expected me to choose the former," Sergei muses. “He had never known anything but duty, and the Morninglord’s church had always been mine. But I chose Tatyana—when she agreed to marry me, I forswore my vows, for no light of the Morninglord could shine brighter than hers.") * Preparations for the royal wedding proceeded furiously over the next several months—until, finally, on his wedding day, Sergei stood in his castle chambers and prepared himself to become a married man. When a knock came at the door, Sergei went to answer it—and Strahd fell upon him with a dagger, slitting Sergei’s throat and drinking his blood as he died. (“He whispered three words to me as I died," Sergei recalls: “*She. Is. Mine.*") * Sergei’s spirit, terrified for Tatyana’s safety, rose as a ghost soon thereafter—but arrived too late to stop Strahd from chasing her to K6. Overlook (p. 54). There, Sergei watched with horror as Tatyana leapt from the balcony to escape Strahd’s bloody clutches—falling to her death in the mists far below. (“At each step," Sergei says hollowly, “I failed to save her. I failed to see the darkness growing in my brother’s soul. I failed to choose duty over love. I failed to stop my own death. And when she needed me most, I failed to save my beloved from hers.") If prompted to continue, Sergei can also share the following information: * After Tatyana’s death, Sergei withdrew to the realm of spirits, too fearful of what his brother had become, and too ashamed of his own failures, to return to the Material Plane. “I searched long for Tatyana’s spirit in the Ethereal Plane," Sergei mourns. “Eventually, I gave up the search—but perhaps I gave up too soon.") * Forty years after Tatyana’s death, Sergei learned that Strahd had discovered a new woman to prey upon: Marina Ulrich, the daughter of Berez’s burgomaster. “She was like Tatyana come to life again," Sergei recalls wistfully. “Her face, her voice—even her eyes matched Tatyana’s perfectly." * Both Strahd and Sergei came to believe that Marina *was* Tatyana born anew—but where Strahd sought to conquer what he had once lost, Sergei wanted only to rescue the woman he had once failed to save. (“These Mists entrap our souls," Sergei shares. “Bereft of any place to receive us, and without any place to draw new souls from, I have seen many old spirits drawn into newborn infants, reincarnated through the centuries to live again through fresh eyes.") If confronted or pressed, Sergei can reluctantly share the following additional information: * He feels that he failed to prevent Tatyana’s death, and feels personally responsible for Marina’s death. He feels deep shame and self-loathing for both, and believes his spirit is beyond redemption. * If he has previously met Ireena Kolyana, he believes her to be the third incarnation of Tatyana’s spirit. (Sergei won’t admit this willingly, and will, at most, admit it by muted silence if the players suggest it, his eyes downcast). > [!info]+ **Ireena’s Response** > If informed that Sergei believes her to be Tatyana’s reincarnation, Ireena pales, her face growing stony. She then steps away from the party to wrestle with Sergei’s words. (If she still possesses it, she retrieves [[Arc B - Welcome to Barovia#B5j. Lugdana’s Knoll|Tatyana’s bracelet]] from her belongings and turns it over in her hands, staring silently at the inscription engraved inside it.) > > If approached, Ireena, who is grateful for any insights, reassurance, and guidance the players can provide, can share that she is struggling with the implications of Sergei’s tale. “If my soul is Tatyana’s," she whispers, fists clenched, “am I even *me*? Has my life just been a cosmic play—some paler imitation of a woman who came before me, who *meant* more than me? Has anything I’ve ever done even *meant* anything?" > > As the conversation unfolds, Ireena laughs bitterly. “Strahd and Sergei think me Tatyana," she says. “Izek thought me Ireena Strazni. I’ve only ever wanted to be *me*—Ireena Kolyana—but it seems I’m the only one who thinks I *am*." > > Ireena ultimately shares that she is grateful to “finally know the truth"—as bitter as it might taste. “At least now I know," she concludes. ### Seeking Sergei’s Aid If the players ask Sergei to empower the hilt of the *Sunsword*, or otherwise ask him to aid them in their battle against Strahd, read: <div class="description"> Sergei’s eyes widen, and he takes a step backward. As he does, a tendril of mist drifts lazily past his ear—and he tilts his head unconsciously, as if listening. A beat later, his gaze meets yours again. “I can’t," he says apologetically. “I’ve failed everyone else I’ve tried to aid. My soul is damned—you should leave me to my fate, and spare me no further thoughts. </div> If the players attempt to counter Sergei’s argument, his eyes flash, and he asks “what they hope to accomplish" by “tormenting the remnants of a soul that has lingered long past its time." As he rebuts the players’ argument, if any player has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or greater, add: <div class="description"> As Sergei speaks, faint shadows twist within the tendrils of mist that drift behind him. For an instant, within the mist, you glimpse an assembly of countless amorphous, indistinct silhouettes, their cold, hollow voices whispering into his ears. </div> A player who asks Sergei or succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check learns that Sergei neither perceives the silhouettes nor realizes that they’re there. A player who approaches Sergei or succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check can make out a few words and phrases from the cacophony of whispers: * “You’ve killed her twice before. You’ll kill her again." * “They don’t know what you are—how weak, soft, and naive you are." * “This is your penance. You can never return to the light." > [!lore]+ **Dark Whispers** > The whispering shadows are a manifestation of the Dark Powers. Eager to keep Ireena Kolyana isolated, and hoping to deprive the players of Sergei’s aid, they have reached out to embrace Sergei’s spirit in order to prevent him from helping them. The players can again attempt to persuade Sergei to aid them by making any reasonable argument and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check. The players make the check with advantage if their arguments directly rebut the Dark Powers’ whispers, and succeed automatically if they help Ireena reconcile her identity and recruit her aid in convincing Sergei. On a success, if the players previously asked Sergei to empower the *Sunsword*, he solemnly agrees to do so. If the players otherwise successfully convince Sergei to aid in the battle against Strahd, he agrees to join them in their fight against Baba Lysaga. (“Afterward," he muses, “we shall see.") > [!abstract]+ **Sergei’s Gift** > If the players persuade Sergei to aid them in any capacity, he invites each player to approach him and gain “the blessing of the Morninglord" before departing this area. (“Much time has passed since I invoked His name," Sergei says wryly, “but perhaps he favors me still, despite how far as I have fallen.") > > If the players accept, Sergei lays his hands upon each of them in turn. Each time he does so, that player immediately gains the benefits of a short rest. (Sergei can do this once per character.) > [!abstract]+ **Sergei’s Choice** > Even if the players convince him to join the fight against Strahd, Sergei won’t accompany the players beyond the ruins of Berez. “Strange things are stirring in the Ethereal Plane," he shares, “and the borders of the Deep Ethereal are growing thin. It may be that the people of this valley—*my* people—need my help more than you. If that is so, I won’t fail them again." (If asked about Ireena’s safety, Sergei shares that Ireena has grown strong in the players’ company, and that he doesn’t believe Ireena needs his protection anymore. “Perhaps she never did," he reflects softly.) ## T3g. Manor Cellar When the players first enter this area, read: <div class="description"> This small chamber is fifteen feet across. Along the eastern wall, a set of rotted cellar doors hangs askew above a debris-strewn stone staircase, which descends into darkness below. "Hello?" a child’s voice—strained and weak—calls from the darkness. “Is someone there? Please, help us! </div> Two rounds later, add: <div class="description"> "We—" The child’s voice cuts off, then shrieks in terror. </div> A player who has previously met Viggo Martikov in [[Arc J - The Stolen Gem]] recognizes the child’s voice as Viggo’s. > [!info]+ **The Child** > The child’s voice is a *programmed illusion* prepared by Baba Lysaga. It activates the first time any of the players enter this chamber. > [!info]+ **Thin Walls** > The eastern hedge wall separating this chamber from [[#T3j. Ulrich Manor]] are only five feet thick. A player who inspects the eastern wall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check observes the faint outline of a fog-filled chamber on the far side of the thorny hedge. Two ten-foot-wide passages lead from this chamber: * One to the south, which leads to [[#T3i. Garden]]. * One to the north, which leads to [[#T3e. Churchyard]]. ### Descending the Stairs If the players descend the stairs, read: <div class="description"> The stairs descend to a ruined, fog-filled wine cellar. Rotted, hollow casks stand silently against the walls, a trio of forgotten dolls lying scattered beneath them. On the far side of the room, part of the ceiling has collapsed, burying the chamber beneath rubble and debris. </div> The three dolls, which were crafted and left here by Baba Lysaga, have the statistics of carrionettes (Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, p. 231), but with the following changes: * Each carrionette has vulnerability to fire damage. * Each carrionette has +6 to Deception rolls. * A creature that fails its saving throw against a carrionette's ***silver needle*** attack isn’t cursed. Instead, that creature automatically suffers the effects of the carionette’s ***soul swap*** action without making an additional saving throw. * A creature affected by a carrionette's ***soul swap*** action doesn’t fall unconscious. Instead, both the carrionette and its target fall unconscious until the start of the carrionette's next turn. (While unconscious, a carrionette appears to be dead.) The carrionette then gains control of the target’s body, and the target gains control of the carrionette's body. (While in this state, the target can’t speak.) The dolls attack if the players approach them or otherwise pass the midpoint of the cellar. > [!info]+ **Roleplaying a Carionette** > If a carionnette successfully gains control of a player’s body, provide that player the following information: > > --- > > You have swapped souls with a carionnette. Your soul now resides in the carionnette’s body, and the carionnette’s soul resides in yours. > > While your body is possessed, you should roleplay the carionnette’s soul as follows: > > * You want to deceive your companions into believing that your soul hasn’t been swapped. > * You can’t easily control your childlike behavior, such as giggles at inopportune moments, a deep fascination with interesting objects, and a simple, black-and-white “morality." > * If your deception fails, you attempt to flee. > * If captured and interrogated, you claim that your ***soul swap*** is irreversible, and that no act or magic can restore the target’s soul to its body. (While doing so, you then glance nervously toward the carionnette’s physical body—and, if present, its silver needle. A player who inspects the collapsed ceiling and succeeds on a DC 8 Intelligence (Investigation) check discerns that the ceiling collapsed long ago—likely centuries before the players arrived. ## T3h. Goat Pen This area is largely as described in U2. Ulrich Mansion (p. 162). However, Baba Lysaga has transformed the nine **goats** here into hulking carnivorous beasts (use the statistics of a **giant hyena** with the additional ***gore*** attack of a **rhinoceros**). The goats attack any player who enters their pen. Two ten-foot-wide passages lead from this chamber, whose walls are flush with the edges of the goat pen: * One to the east, which leads to [[#T3d. Southern Cottages]] * One to the southwest, which leads to [[#T3i. Garden]] ## T3i. Garden This area is largely as described in U2. Ulrich Mansion (p. 162). However, six **scarecrows** are interspersed among the stone sculptures throughout the garden. The scarecrows and **giant poisonous snakes** attack characters who venture more than 20 feet inside the garden. Three ten-foot-wide passages lead from this chamber: * One to the southwest, which leads to [[#T3g. Manor Cellar]] * One to the northwest, which leads to [[#T3j. Ulrich Manor]] * One to the northeast, which leads to [[#T3h. Goat Pen]] ## T3j. Ulrich Manor When the players first enter this area, read: <div class="description"> A ruined mansion stands here, reduced to piles of stone and rotting timber. Empty, arched windows stare at you, and the rotted remains of furniture and decor lie against the broken walls and floor. Thick coils of fog roll through the mansion’s husk, drifting lazily through the air. </div> Two ten-foot-wide passages lead from this chamber, whose walls are flush with the edges of the ruins: * One to the south, which leads to [[#T3i. Garden]]. * One to the north, which leads to [[#T3k. Baba Lysaga’s Hut]]. In addition, when the players first move across the mansion, the **ghost** of Burgomaster Lazlo Ulrich appears before them. When he does so, read: <div class="description"> The fog stirs—then forms into a silhouette: a giant of a man with a thick, drooping mustache, his shadow dark against the mist. As his form resolves, so too do his features: his face and torso are mutilated, with his entrails hanging out like frayed rope. "So you are the ones who have her," he rasps. “You are the ones who have my daughter." </div> > [!lore]+ **Lazlo’s Fall** > When Burgomaster Lazlo Ulrich saw the marks on Marina’s neck and confirmed what his dreams had told him—that Strahd had visited his daughter, Marina, in the night—Lazlo felt fear strike deep in his heart. For an instant, he considered fleeing with Marina from the village—to Vallaki’s high walls, or to Krezk to the west—or even confronting the Devil himself, suicide that he knew it to be. > > Yet the Dark Powers’ voices came to him, whispering sweetly that further struggle would be pointless. Marina was already dead, they told him, for there was nowhere in Barovia that Strahd could not pursue her. If he did, they murmured, she would be lost forever, for she would become a vampire, and her soul would surely be damned. Although Lazlo did not recognize the voices for what they were, he knew in his heart that there was only one way to save her: to carry out the deed himself, so that she could flee where Strahd could not follow. > > To kill Marina, Lazlo first recruited Brother Grigor’s aid to drug her, using the poison _essence of ether_. Lazlo then slit Marina’s throat, draining the blood from her neck so that Strahd could no longer feed upon her. He disposed of her blood in the Luna River—the very river that drowned his village mere hours later. > > When Lazlo died as described in Chapter 10: The Ruins of Berez (p. 161), he did so with a single twisted regret: that he would never know whether Marina appreciated what he had done for her. Since then, his ghost has haunted the ruins of Ulrich Manor, hoping that her spirit will one day return and forgive him his crimes against her—for, as Lazlo fervently believes, his actions were for Marina’s own good. > [!info]+ **What Lazlo Wants** > Lazlo wants most to resolve his unfinished business: to reunite with Marina and obtain her forgiveness. Baba Lysaga, hoping to use him as a weapon against the players, has told him that Marina’s soul dwells within Ireena Kolyana—and that only through Ireena’s death can Marina be reunited with him. > > Blinded by his own desperation, Lazlo believes that Ireena is either a hollow shell for Marina’s soul or Marina herself bereft of her memories, and that Ireena’s death will return his beloved daughter to him once again. > [!abstract]+ **Lazlo Meets Ireena** > If Lazlo sees Ireena, read: > > --- > *The ghost’s eyes widen, and shimmering tears gather at the corners of his eyes.* > > *“Marina—my little girl," he chokes out. He holds his arms out, as if expecting an embrace. “Your Papa has waited so long for you to come home."* > > --- > > If the players intervene first, Lazlo angrily commands them to be silent, then swiftly turns his attention to Ireena again, whom he pleadingly asks: “Don’t you recognize me?" > > Ireena is highly disturbed by Lazlo’s reaction to her, and heatedly denies being “Marina." (If she previously learned of Marina’s history from Sergei von Zarovich at [[#T3f. Marina’s Monument]], Ireena’s denial is somber, not heated.) > > If Ireena denies being Marina, read: > > --- > *The ghost reels back through the air, then settles, his face despondent.* > > *"The witch spoke true, then," he says mournfully. “You do not remember me."* Lazlo can share the following information with the players if asked: * In life, he was Lazlo Ulrich, last Burgomaster of Berez. * He knows that the players travel with “the one that calls herself Ireena Kolyana." (If Ireena is present, Lazlo addresses her as “Marina," then greets her as described above.) * He believes that Ireena contains the soul of his daughter, Marina, who died long ago. He wishes to reunite with Marina’s spirit, so that her soul may finally “come home"—and so be at rest. (A player who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check identifies a cringing light in Lazlo’s eyes, and discerns that Lazlo has ulterior motives in wanting to return Marina’s spirit “home.") > [!abstract]+ **Lazlo’s Confession** > Lazlo won’t admit how Marina died if asked, insisting only that “the Count of Castle Ravenloft" visited her in the night and drank her blood. > > If the players suggest Lazlo’s role in Marina’s death (such as by deducing that Strahd could *not* have killed her, or else she would have become a vampire spawn), Lazlo angrily retorts that he did not kill her, but *saved* her. “I saw it in the mists," he rasps. “She was already dead in the Devil’s hands. If not for my actions, her soul would have followed." > > Once he has confessed, Lazlo can share the following additional information: > * In his dreams, a man resembling Strahd von Zarovich visited him and warned him that the Count had preyed upon Marina in the night and drank her blood. > * The following day, after seeing the marks upon Marina’s neck with his own eyes, Lazlo considered taking her away from Berez—but when he saw Strahd and Marina’s images in a cloud of fog, he knew it to be a sign that wherever she might go, the Count would follow. > * Lazlo resolved to take Marina’s life himself, so that she would neither suffer nor lose her soul to damnation as Strahd’s vampiric thrall. He recruited the aid of Brother Grigor, a monk of the Morninglord, who brewed him a dose of _essence of ether_ and slipped it into Marina’s tea. (“When she fell asleep," Lazlo says, his hands curling into fists, “I did what had to be done.") > * That night, Strahd returned to Berez—then responded to Marina’s death as described in Chapter 10: The Ruins of Berez (p. 161). (“I do not know how he commanded the river’s banks to rise," Lazlo rumbles. “But if he held such power over the land, I do not doubt that he could have done far worse to Marina, had I allowed him to.") Lazlo will not allow the players to pass through the mansion unless they agree to leave Ireena with him, so that he may help her “escape her shell" and reunite with him. (If confronted, Lazlo freely admits that he intends to kill Ireena, who he insists is “only a vessel" for his daughter’s soul. “Do you not see?" he asks sadly, his eyes haunted and mad. “She withers and suffers within this false flesh. I freed her once—must I not free her again?") The players can convince Lazlo that Ireena is more than merely the container for Marina’s soul by succeeding on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check, made with advantage if they share that Marina herself was the reincarnation of Tatyana Federovna. In addition: * If the players previously spoke with Sergei in [[#T3f. Marina’s Monument]] and share the full tales of Tatyana’s tragedy and Sergei’s role in Marina’s death, reduce the DC by 5. * If the players solved Meda’s riddle in [[Arc S - A Sword of Sunlight]] and tell Lazlo that the Dark Powers created the apparition Lazlo saw in the Mists, reduce the DC by 5. > [!info]+ **Putting Lazlo to Rest** > The players can put Lazlo’s ghost to rest in one of two ways: > > * Deceiving him into believing that Ireena is Marina, and that “Marina" understands and forgives him for his crimes against her; or > * Convincing him that Ireena is not Marina, that Ireena is her own person, and that Marina’s spirit is lost forever in the cycle of reincarnation, as described above. If the players anger Lazlo or attempt to bypass him, read: <div class="description"> Several objects—a candelabra, a wrought-iron bookstand, a cracked stone bust, and the shards of a broken pewter mirror—rise into the air, shimmering with silver light. The ghost’s eyes glint madly, and two rusted sabers rise to join them from the wreckage of a ruined mantel. "I would not recommend that," he rumbles. </div> The candelabra, bookstand, and stone bust each have the statistics of an **animated minor object**. The shards have the statistics of a **swarm of insects** (fly speed), but deal slashing damage rather than piercing damage, can use their actions to attack twice rather than once. The swords each have the statistics of an **animated flying sword**, but can use their actions to attack twice, rather than once. If the players continue to defy Lazlo, or attack him, he and the animated objects attack. ## T3k. Baba Lysaga’s Hut This area is largely as described in U3. Baba Lysaga’s Hut (p. 163). However, if more than 10 minutes have passed since Baba Lysaga’s _programmed illusion_ activated in [[#T3a. Berez Outskirts]], revise this area’s description as follows: <div class="description"> A small, grassy hill rises from the mire here. A ramshackle wooden hut rests on a stump atop the hill. The stump’s rotting roots thrust down toward the mire, like the legs of a gigantic spider. An open doorway is visible on one side of the hut, the interior concealed behind a curtain of beaded strings. Flanking the hut’s doorway are two empty iron cages that dangle like hideous ornaments from the eaves. </div> > [!info]+ **Lysaga’s Final Trick** > Upon hearing her _programmed illusion_ echo from [[#T3a. Berez Outskirts]], Baba Lysaga spent 10 minutes casting _mirage arcane_ an additional time. The spell made a single change: It concealed her, her flying skull, and her **creeping hut** beneath a false “hill" and “hut." (The “hill" is hollow, and the “hut" is empty.) If the players enter the false hut, read: <div class="description"> The hut’s interior is fifteen feet on a side. No furniture stands here, save for a single iron cage that hangs from the far wall. Before it, green light seeps up through cracks beneath the rotting floorboards. A lone raven lies in the cage. Some of its feathers are missing, leaving bare patches of raw flesh beneath. Those feathers that remain are bent, broken, or matted with blood. Its wings drag along the bottom of its cage, and a bloody, crusted gash cuts beneath one eye. As you enter, the raven flutters to its feet and coos excitedly, flapping its wings against the cage’s iron bars. </div> An iron padlock locks the cage. > [!info]+ **The Green Light** The green light and raven are the products of a _programmed illusion_ cast by Baba Lysaga. The illusion activates each time a creature enters the hut. Once activated, it lasts for 5 minutes, then vanishes. Due to its illusory nature, the raven doesn’t respond to the players’ attempts to interact with it, instead continuing its “performance." Similarly, the cavity beneath the floorboards is empty, and doesn’t contain a magic gem. If the players, after investigating the hut, learn that the raven is an illusion, learn that the cavity beneath the floorboards is empty, or otherwise decide that the hut is a trap, Baba Lysaga reveals herself. Read: <div class="description"> The hut pitches and shifts, its walls and floorboards splintering and bursting. Below it, the earth groans, sending geysers of soil into the air as the very hill begins to tear itself apart. Mighty, black roots, like a spider’s swollen legs, pierce the hillside from within, then rip it away like a fragile shell. </div> Each creature within the hut must immediately succeed on a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw or be grappled by Baba Lysaga’s **creeping hut**. Continue: <div clas="description"> The shreds of the hill and ruined hut fall away—revealing, beneath them, a thatched roof, a ramshackle wooden hut, and an enormous tree stump whose roots thrust into the air and mire. Twin iron cages hang from its eaves, filled with scores of shrieking, screaming ravens entrapped within. Floating beside the hut, standing in an upside-down, hollowed-out giant’s skull, is an old, gnarled woman. Her white hair stands twin horns upon her head, then falls down into multiple iron-tipped braids that dangle like daggers across her chest. Her dark eyes burn from the depths of her wrinkled, sunken face, her long, yellowed nails curling like claws before her chest. "You’ve had your fun, my dears," Baba Lysaga rasps. “Now, I believe it is time for mine.." </div> Baba Lysaga then attacks. > [!info]+ **The Ravens** > Each cage is locked as described in U3. Baba Lysaga’s Hut (p. 163), with the password: “Death to Ravenovia." In addition to the **swarms of ravens**, each cage contains the following prisoners: > > * Left Cage: Adrian, Dag, Stefania, Davian, and Elvir Martikov (in raven form) > * Right Cage: Martin and Viggo Martikov (in raven form); Yolanda Martikov (polymorphed into a **raven**). > > Each wereraven has 1 hit point and 2 levels of exhaustion. > > A single loop of *silverthorn chain* (see below) lashes the wereravens in the left cage to the bars of the cage, its thorned links impaling each raven’s torso. (Baba Lysaga healed the wounds to ensure the wereravens wouldn’t bleed out and die.) > > A player attempting to remove the chain from a wereravens’ chest without first severing it must succeed on a DC 20 Dexterity (Medicine) check. On a failure, the chain is pulled free, and the wereraven can regenerate again. On a failure, the chain is pulled free, but a silver thorn breaks off and is embedded in the wereraven’s flesh, reducing the wereraven to 0 hit points and disabling its regeneration. When reduced to 0 hit points in this way, a wereraven begins dying until it receives magical healing or a player succeeds on a DC 10 Dexterity (Medicine) check to remove the thorn, restoring its regeneration. > [!info]+ **Silverthorn Chain** > A length of *silverthorn chain* is lined with tiny silver thorns. A lycanthrope touching *silverthorn chain* can’t regenerate or transform. > > A single *silverthorn chain* link has AC 20, 20 hit points, vulnerability to radiant damage, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. In addition, on initiative count 0 of each round, a length of *silverthorn chain* takes 5 radiant damage if it’s in sunlight. <div class="statblock"> <h2>Baba Lysaga, Witch Mother</h2> Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), chaotic evil <hr> Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 135 (18d8 + 54) Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (while in her flying skull) <hr> <table class="ability-table"> <thead> <tr> <th>STR</th> <th>DEX</th> <th>CON</th> <th>INT</th> <th>WIS</th> <th>CHA</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>18 (+4)</td> <td>10 (+0)</td> <td>16 (+3)</td> <td>20 (+5)</td> <td>17 (+3)</td> <td>13 (+1)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +7 Skills Arcana +13, Religion +13 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Dwarvish, Giant Challenge 10 Proficiency Bonus. +4 <hr> Blessing of Mother Night. Baba Lysaga is shielded against divination magic, as though protected by a nondetection spell. Skilled Casting. Baba Lysaga can concentrate on up to three spells at a time. If she would lose concentration on one, she loses concentration on all of them. Flying Skull. While riding her flying giant’s skull, Baba Lysaga gains a fly speed of 30 ft. and has half cover. The skull shares Baba Lysaga’s Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores and saving throws, and is otherwise as described in U3. Baba Lysaga’s Hut (p. 163). Swallowed by the Swamp. When Baba Lysaga is reduced to 0 hit points, she plunges or sinks into the swamp of Berez. She then resurfaces, riding atop a tower of swamp vines coiled around her lower body. Her statistics are instantly replaced by those of her second form. Her initiative count doesn’t change, excess damage doesn’t carry over, and she retains none of the conditions she had in her previous form. <h3>Actions</h3> Multiattack. Baba Lysaga uses Hair Blade twice, or uses Spellcasting to cast acid splash twice. Hair Blades. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) slashing plus 4 (1d8) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 17Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute or until it receives magical healing. A creature poisoned in this way must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns. Each time it fails, it becomes slowed if it is currently poisoned, or becomes paralyzed if it is currently slowed. Each time it succeeds, it becomes slowed if it is currently paralyzed, becomes poisoned if it is currently slowed, or is no longer poisoned if it is currently poisoned. If the creature rolls a natural 20, it’s no longer poisoned. Spellcasting. Baba Lysaga casts one of the following spells, using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks): At will: acid splash (3d6 damage), mage hand, detect magic, magic missile (level 2 version), sleep (level 2 version), lightning bolt 3/day each: Evard’s black tentacles, polymorph 1/day each: scrying, programmed illusion, mirage arcane Devouring Flies. Swarming flies fill a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on a point Baba Lysaga can see within 60 feet. Each creature within the sphere must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 11 (2d10) piercing damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. Whether a creature succeeds or fails its Constitution saving throw, any spells of 3rd level or lower on that creature end. If a creature is concentrating on a spell that would be dispelled in this way, it can use its reaction to spend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. If it does, the spell doesn’t end. <h3>Bonus Actions</h3> Swarm. Baba Lysaga magically polymorphs into a swarm of insects (flies), flies up to 30 ft., then resumes her true form. Anything she is wearing or carrying transforms with her. While transformed, melee weapon attacks against her have disadvantage. <h3>Reactions</h3> Baba Lysaga can take up to five reactions per round, but only one per turn. If Baba Lysaga would lose her reactions, she loses one reaction instead. Indomitable. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn. Effect: Baba Lysaga can repeat the saving throw against one effect or condition currently affecting her. (This reaction has no effect if the effect or condition didn’t originally require her to fail a saving throw.) Parry. Trigger: Baba Lysaga is hit by a melee attack roll. Effect: Baba Lysaga’s bladed hair braids attempt to block the attack, forcing the attacker to reroll the attack. (The attacker must use the new attack roll.) If the new attack roll is a critical miss, Baba Lysaga can immediately use her Hair Blades against the attacker. This reaction has no effect if the first attack was a critical hit. Swarm. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn or Baba Lysaga takes damage from falling. Effect: Baba Lysaga uses her Swarm. If she would take damage from her fall, she takes no damage instead. Hair Blades. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn after attacking Baba Lysaga with a melee attack. Effect: Baba Lysaga uses her Hair Blades against that creature. Insect Shield (1/round). Trigger: Baba Lysaga takes damage from a spell shaped in a cone or line, or from a ranged spell attack roll. Effect: Baba Lysaga forces the spell’s caster to make a DC 17 saving throw using their spellcasting ability. On a failure, Baba Lysaga takes no damage from that spell this turn. Lightning Bolt (1/round). Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn. Effect: Baba Lysaga uses her Spellcasting to cast lightning bolt. </div> <div class="statblock"> <h2>Baba Lysaga, Of the Swamp</h2> Large humanoid (human, shapechanger), chaotic evil <hr> Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 135 (18d8 + 54) Speed 30 ft. <hr> <table class="ability-table"> <thead> <tr> <th>STR</th> <th>DEX</th> <th>CON</th> <th>INT</th> <th>WIS</th> <th>CHA</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>18 (+4)</td> <td>10 (+0)</td> <td>16 (+3)</td> <td>20 (+5)</td> <td>17 (+3)</td> <td>13 (+1)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +7 Skills Arcana +13, Religion +13 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Dwarvish, Giant Challenge 10 Proficiency Bonus. +4 <hr> Blessing of Mother Night. Baba Lysaga is shielded against divination magic, as though protected by a nondetection spell. Skilled Casting. Baba Lysaga can concentrate on up to three spells at a time. If she would lose concentration on one, she loses concentration on all of them. <h3>Actions</h3> Spellcasting. Baba Lysaga casts one of the following spells, using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks): At will: acid splash (3d6 damage), control water 1/day each: giant insect (centipede), wall of thorns Grasping Vine. Baba Lysaga casts or attacks with grasping vine, using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit). When cast in this way, she must use an action to repeat the attack on her later turns. <h3>Bonus Actions</h3> Swampwalk. If Baba Lysaga is in Berez, she submerges herself in the water or earth beneath her, then exits from a 5-foot-square patch of water or earth within 30 feet. <h3>Reactions</h3> Baba Lysaga can take up to five reactions per round, but only one per turn. If Baba Lysaga would lose her reactions, she loses one reaction instead. Indomitable. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn. Effect: Baba Lysaga can repeat the saving throw against one effect or condition currently affecting her. (This reaction has no effect if the effect or condition didn’t originally require her to fail a saving throw.) Parry. Trigger: Baba Lysaga is hit by an attack roll. Effect: Baba Lysaga casts and attempts to parry the attack with grasping vine, forcing the attacker to reroll the attack. (She can’t attack with the vine this turn, and the attacker must use the new attack roll.) If the new attack roll is a critical miss, Baba Lysaga can immediately use the grasping vine to attack the attacker. This reaction has no effect if the first attack was a critical hit. Swampwalk (1/round). Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn. Effect: Baba Lysaga uses her Swampwalk. Grasping Vine. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn. Effect: Baba Lysaga uses her Grasping Vine against that creature. </div> > [!info]+ **Grasping Vine** > Baba Lysaga’s *grasping vine* spell uses the base statistics provided in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, rather than those provided in the 2014 *Player’s Handbook*. <div class="statblock"> <h2>Creeping Hut</h2> Gargantuan construct, unaligned <hr> Armor Class 16 (natural armor) Hit Points 263 (17d20 + 85) Speed 30 ft. <hr> <table class="ability-table"> <thead> <tr> <th>STR</th> <th>DEX</th> <th>CON</th> <th>INT</th> <th>WIS</th> <th>CHA</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>26 (+8)</td> <td>7 (−2)</td> <td>20 (+5)</td> <td>1 (−5)</td> <td>3 (−4)</td> <td>3 (−4)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> Saving Throws Str +12 Damage Resistances bludgeoning, cold, piercing Damage Immunities poison, psychic Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, prone Senses blindsight 120 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 6 Languages — Challenge 15 (8,400 XP) Proficiency Bonus. +4 <hr> Immutable Form. The hut is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form. Siege Monster. The hut deals double damage to objects and structures. Stolen Gem. The hut is animated by a magic gem shaped like a viridian pinecone embedded in the stump beneath its floorboards, held in place by a black root (AC 15, 10 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to poison and psychic damage). A player who removes the hut’s floorboards as described in U3. Baba Lysaga’s Hut (p. 163) exposes the gem, and can remove the gem by destroying the root or succeeding on a DC 15 Strength check. The hut dies if the gem is removed. <h3>Actions</h3> Root. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 24 (3d10 + 8) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone or pushed up to 10 feet away. If the save fails by 10 or more, the hut can grapple the target instead of pushing it or knocking it prone (escape DC 20). Throw. A creature grappled by the hut must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be thrown 60 feet away. A creature thrown in this way falls twenty feet and lands prone. Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage. <h3>Reactions</h3> The hut can take up to three reactions per round, but only one per turn. If the hut would lose its reactions, it loses one reaction instead. Indomitable. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn. Effect: The hut can repeat the saving throw against one effect or condition currently affecting it. (This reaction has no effect if the effect or condition didn’t originally require it to fail a saving throw.) Root. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn within 20 feet of the hut. Effect: The hut attacks that creature with its Root. Bite. Trigger: A creature attempts to retrieve the gem from the hut’s stump. Effect: The hut attempts to bite the creature’s arm or body with its floorboards, forcing that creature to succeed on a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw or take 9 (2d8) piercing damage and be grappled (escape DC 20). While grappled in this way, a creature has disadvantage on checks made to retrieve the gem. </div> ## T3l. The Feuding Ravens If rescued, the captured Martikovs, though traumatized and shaken by their imprisonment, are deeply grateful to the players for saving them. (Immediately after being freed, Stefania and Dag rush to find and comfort Martin, Viggo, and Yolanda. Although permanently polymorphed into a raven by Baba Lysaga’s magic, Yolanda uses her ***shapechange*** feature—for the first time in her life—and resumes her human form shortly after being rescued.) > [!abstract]+ **Davian & Urwin** > If Urwin Martikov is present when the Martikovs are freed, Davian Martikov regards him with distaste and asks the players why they brought his “wastrel of a son" along to Berez, adding his “sincere apologies" if Urwin “slowed them down." (Urwin is irritated by Davian’s insults, but urges the players to ignore the “old bird’s ramblings.") If told of the players’ visions in [[#T1c. The Cavern of Lights]], or if the players otherwise share that the three gems must be buried to reconsecrate the Fanes, Davian solemnly shares that the Martikovs’ ancestors—servants of one of the valley’s “old gods"—hid the gems away to “keep them safe." “We knew that one day, we’d be called upon to return them," he adds gruffly. “Didn’t expect it to happen in my lifetime, but a man doesn’t choose when the gods call his name." (Davian knows that, without the gems, the Wizard of Wines can’t keep growing grapes like it currently does. “Still," he adds, if the subject is mentioned, “we always knew this day might come—and we’re more than capable of working the land ourselves, with or without magic.") Davian and Urwin (if present, or if summoned from or met at the Blue Water Inn) are individually honored to help the players reconsecrate the Swamp Fane by burying the Weaver’s viridian gem at its center. However, both men grow unhappy if told that they must bury the gem together. (If the players share their visions from [[#T1c. The Cavern of Lights]], Davian and Urwin insist that they must have misinterpreted what they saw.) > [!abstract]+ **The Bitter Feud** Even if the players haven’t yet helped them reconcile, Davian and Urwin won’t refuse to bury the gem at the Swamp Fane if pressed. However, both men continue to snark, grump, and insult each other as they do, and burying the gem has no real or apparent impact while their feud remains. In such a case, once the gem is buried, Davian snorts at the players, loudly and obnoxiously insisting that they misinterpreted the prophecy. (Although Urwin tries to avoid offending the players, he also shares that, “to his irritation," he agrees with his father.) To reconsecrate the Swamp Fane, the players must help Davian and Urwin resolve their feud and reconcile, then help the two men bury the Weaver’s viridian gem at the center of the Swamp Fane. If asked, Davian and Urwin can explain their feud as follows: * Ten years ago, shortly before Urwin and Danika’s wedding, the Wizard of Wines’ third gem vanished as described in Chapter 12: Wizard of Wines (p. 173). * According to Urwin, when the gem was stolen, he saw a silhouette in the fog and a raven carrying the gem away into the night. Although Urwin gave chase, the raven vanished into the mists, and he never saw it or the gem again. * According to Davian, Urwin shirked his watch to spend time with Danika. (Davian doesn’t believe Urwin’s “raven" story because he’s convinced that the Keepers of the Feather know and direct every raven in the valley, and the Keepers have never been able to confirm Urwin’s story.) The players can convince Davian and Urwin to reconcile as follows. * **Davian.** To convince Davian, the players must make a reasonable argument that (a) Urwin wasn’t to blame for the gem’s theft, or (b) their feud has hurt them and their family more than the gem’s theft itself. The players can automatically convince Davian that Urwin wasn’t to blame for the gem’s theft by showing him the Seeker’s ash-green gem from [[#T1d. The Roc’s Nest]], and explaining the Roc and Seeker’s roles in stealing it. * **Urwin.** To convince Urwin, the players must either (a) convince Davian to apologize to him for blaming him for the gem’s theft, or (b) make a reasonable argument that Davian is worth reconciling with. ## T3mj. The Swamp Fane As the players approach U6. Standing Stones (p. 165), read: <div class="description"> A circle of stout, smooth megaliths stands amidst thick mud at the center of a copse of gnarled trees not far from the river's edge. The trees and standing stones are choked with a thick shroud of bluish-white webs, whose thick cords seem to shimmer with an ethereal quality. </div> The area within the stones is obscured by the cover provided by the webs, which are described in Webs (Dungeon Master's Guide, p. 105). If the players begin cutting or moving through the webs, their presence draws the attention of one **phase spider**, which uses its ***ethereal jaunt*** to briefly flicker into (then out of) the Material Plane. The following round, the first phase spider repeats the process, now joined by five additional **phase spiders**, before all return to the Ethereal Plane. If the players remain within the webs, all of the spiders attack the following round. > [!info]+ **Fear of Sunlight** > The **phase spiders** that haunt the Swamp Fane fear sunlight, and flee permanently into the Ethereal Plane if they fall into the *Sunsword*’s light. If Urwin and Davian bury the Weaver’s viridian gem within the circle after reconciling, read: <div class="description"> Threads of viridian light flicker weakly between the trees, running down into the dark, loamy circle at the center of the circle. There, a bloated, crimson vein of darkness as wide as a tree’s trunk thrusts into the gray sky above, arcing to the east before vanishing out of sight. As it pulses with malevolent intent, you feel the unmistakable presence of a cruel and ancient consciousness. For an instant, you perceive the burning scarlet eyes of Count Strahd von Zarovich, their hatred and rage boring into your very soul. The viridian threads shine ever-brighter, until their intensity consumes your vision. They begin to extend into the air, wrapping across the crimson vein’s surface. There, they spiral like snakes, constricting and binding it—until, with a thunderous snap, they sever it completely. For a moment, the clouded skies roil far above. Then, as the red vein dissipates into shreds of darkness, the wind with a deep and peaceful warmth. As you watch, a shimmering green liquid begins to condense around the strands of pulsing light, flowing forth to the swampy soil below. Wherever the liquid touches the earth, it devours the gray mirk. In its place, the grass grows lush and green, red and brown-speckled toadstools sprouting in small, well-rooted colonies across the spongy, moss-covered soil. When the liquid reaches the outer menhirs, it flows not out, but up, covering each standing stone until the circle glimmers with ethereal fey light. As the shimmering liquid slowly evaporates, each menhir is left covered in lush, green vines that stretch from stone to stone, covering the air above the circle with a canopy of life. Dozens of small, beautiful spiders begin to emerge from the spaces between the vines, spinning silvery-gray threads until the circle glistens with dew that clings to the newborn webs. And at its center, a small sapling rises from the earth. A woman’s soft voice echoes through your minds: What once was stolen, I now give freely. Accept my boon, champions of the Swamp Fane.. Several spheres of glittering viridian light rise from the earth, then hang patiently in the air before you—as if waiting to be claimed. </div> Each sphere of light is a *boon of the Weaver.* There are enough boons for each character that helped defeat Baba Lysaga, including the players and their companions. A player can claim their *boon of the Weaver* by grasping or touching it. If they do, read: <div class="description"> A small, black tattoo in the shape of a spider appears in the palm of your hand. </div> > [!item]+ **Boon of the Weaver** > A character who claims the *boon of the Weaver* immediately regains all of their hit points and maximum hit points. In addition, while in Barovia, a character who possesses the *boon of the Weaver* can use their reaction to grant another creature within 30 feet advantage on a saving throw. > [!info]+ **The Sapling** > A player who succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies the sapling as a rowan tree. ***Milestone.*** Reconsecrating the Swamp Fane completes a story milestone. When the players claim the *boon of the Weaver*, award each player 5,500 XP. # T4. The Monster Hunter ## T4a. The Luna River Crossroads When the players first return to P. Luna River Crossroads (p. 40) after completing [[Arc S - A Sword of Sunlight]], read: <div class="description"> The southwestern bushes rustle, and a cloaked and hooded figure steps forth from the underbrush. They raise a hand, gesturing for you to approach. </div> The cloaked figure is the Vistani **bandit** Alexei, sent by Luvash to bring the players a secret message. If the players call out to him, he shakes his head urgently and gestures more frantically for them to approach. If the players ignore him, he hisses, “Please. I have a message for you" while nervously checking his surroundings for any eavesdroppers. If the players follow him into the trees, they can discern his features: a young man with close-cropped, chestnut-brown hair and the barest beginnings of a beard growing across his cheeks. Players who previously encountered him in [[Arc E - The Missing Vistana]] recognize him as Alexei. > [!lore]+ **The Vistani Guest** > Two days ago, Strahd von Zarovich learned from a Vistani spy of the connection between Arturi Radanavich and Dr. Rudolph van Richten. Reasoning that Arturi’s unique curse may be connected to Van Richten—who Strahd hopes to use as a sacrifice in the Grand Conjunction’s ritual—Strahd “invited" Arturi to Castle Ravenloft, where he delivered him into the care of a platoon of surviving castle **wights**. Arturi was made a mandatory guest in K32. Maid in Hell (p. 64), imprisoned so that Strahd could study his curse in greater detail. > > Last night, Arturi staged a daring escape, barely escaping with his life through the teleportation brazier in K78. Brazier Room (p. 82). Upon his arrival at Chapter 11: Van Richten’s Tower (p. 167), Arturi swiftly made his way to N9. Vistani Camp (p. 119), where he sought refuge with the Vallakian Vistani. Since then, Luvash and Arrigal have concealed Arturi within N9i. Vistani Treasure Wagon (p. 123), tended to his wounds, and sent covert messengers to P. Luna River Crossroads (p. 40) in the hopes of securing the players’ aid. > > Arturi knows he can’t stay at the Vistani encampment past nightfall, knowing that his curse will inevitably lure a horde of undead to kill the innocents that dwell there. Arturi, however, fears that Strahd will soon use his *scrying* materials to track him down—and, using Arturi’s cursed connection to Van Richten, track down and capture the doctor as well. With Van Richten dead or turned, Arturi fears that there may be no way to lift his curse, leaving him hunted by undead for the remainder of his life. > [!abstract]+ **The Players Delay** > If the players fail to visit Arturi by nightfall on the day they receive Alexei’s message, he flees into the Svalich Woods, hoping to spare the other Vistani the dangers of his curse. Arrigal can subsequently escort the players to Arturi’s hiding place: a small cavern beneath the roots of an oak tree. Alexei, who refuses to lower his hood and constantly glances at his surroundings for eavesdroppers, greets the players with a trembling voice, and asks for them by name. If they identify themselves or ask Alexei the reason for his visit, he swallows and informs them that a “guest" at the Vallakian Vistani camp wishes to speak with them about an urgent matter. “Please," he adds, his eyes fearful. (Alexei doesn’t know the guest’s identity—only that this individual is a guest of Luvash’s.) If the players ask Alexei the reason for his fear, he laughs nervously, then mumbles that he’s heard the “Lord of Castle Ravenloft" is hunting them, and that any who provide them shelter will suffer alongside them. (Alexei can confirm that this is why Luvash ordered him to deliver this message covertly.) If the players express an interest in meeting Luvash’s “guest," Alexei directs the players to speak with Luvash in N9c. Vistani Tent (p. 121). Before departing, Alexei warns the players not to approach the Vistani camp openly, and to conceal their presence from any watchful spies. “I cannot return with you," he says, his voice trembling. “If our people are seen with you, it could mean calamity for us—or worse." Alexei then turns and vanishes into the Svalich Wood, making his way back to the Vistani camp by another way. ## T4b. The Vistani Encampment N9. Vistani Camp (p. 199) is largely as described in [[Arc E - The Missing Vistana]]. However, if the players approach openly or are otherwise recognized, read: <div class="description"> Each Vistani that sees your face flinches. Several faces watch fearfully from wagon windows, while parents usher their children away at your approach. </div> ### Escher’s Inquiry When the players enter N9c. Vistani Tent (p. 121), read: <div class="description"> A familiar broad-shouldered man with a thick beard and sideburns sits atop a tall wooden crate on the far side of the tent. His chin rests upon his fist, his thick brow furrowed, with a dark frown across his face. A slender man with a pointed goatee stands beside him, his face stony. </div> The sitting man is Luvash. The slender man beside him is Arrigal. The tent contains no other Vistani. If he still lives, the vampire spawn Escher is present. Add: <div class="description"> A pale, blond-faced man wearing aristocratic finery stands before Luvash, his long-tipped claws twitching. Two pale figures stand beside him. </div> The two pale figures are **vampire spawn**. Escher is a **vampire spawn** with the following additional bonus action: * ***Shapechange.*** If Escher isn’t in sunlight or running water, he shape-shifts into a Tiny bat or returns to his vampire form. Anything he’s wearing transforms with him. While in bat form, Escher can’t speak. His game statistics, other than his Strength, Constitution, size, speed, and actions, are unchanged. If the players don’t intervene or call attention to themselves, the conversation continues as follows: * Escher continues, speaking to Luvash: “As I’m sure you are away, his Grace can be a powerful friend—and an even more dangerous enemy. Should you hear word of him, Ravenloft would be in your debt. The activities of such a traitor can be dangerous, and my Lord wishes to see this man swiftly returned to custody, lest his dark nature endanger more of Barovia. I am sure you understand." * Luvash considers Escher’s words, then nods. “We are grateful for Count von Zarovich’s trust in our people. I assure you that I will look into this matter." * Escher smiles thinly. “You may be able to look into it sooner than you might think?" (Luvash raises an eyebrow, and Escher continues.) “We have a report," Escher says softly, “that a cloaked individual was recently seen entering one of your wagons." He pauses. “It is, unfortunately, all too common for our friends to undertake dangerous activities under our noses. Should you cooperate fully in this investigation, I assure you that you will be rewarded, and no harm will come to you or your community." If the players reveal their identities and confront him, Escher stumbles from them in fear. “You can’t touch me," he stammers. “I’m here on official business from the Count himself. I-if you hurt me, he’ll crush you, and everyone here." Escher fears Strahd more than he fears the players. If the players attempt to intimidate or attack him, Escher commands his two **vampire spawn** to attack, then retreats out of the players’ reach. If the players defeat his two vampire spawn, reduce him to 41 hit points or fewer, or ignite the *Sunsword*, Escher uses his ***shapechange*** to assume the form of a bat, then flees for Castle Ravenloft to the east. (If unable to do so because he’s in the sunlight created by the *Sunsword*, Escher flees first on foot instead, sobbing in terror and pain.) > [!abstract]+ **Hiding Arturi** > Players who depart the tent alone in search of Arturi can attempt to convince a nearby Vistani to show them Arturi’s hiding place by succeeding on a DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) check. On a success, the Vistani silently points them toward N9i. Vistani Treasure Wagon (p. 123). > > If the players enter N9i. Vistani Treasure Wagon (p. 123), read: > > --- > > *This wagon contains a pair of chests, an onyx jewelry box, a rolled-up rug, and a wooden throne with gold inlay and decorative stones. Upon the throne sits a man, his head bowed. His hair is dark, with small streaks of gray beginning to touch his temples. His right torso is wrapped heavily with blood-stained bandages, and more bandages wrap around the top of his head.* > > --- > > If the players make themselves known, add: > > --- > > *Arturi Radanavich looks up at you, his olive-green eyes cutting through the wagon’s dim interior. “You came," he croaks. “Thank you."* > > --- > > If informed of Escher’s presence, Arturi is glad to accompany the players away from Escher’s sight. To do so, Arturi and any players accompanying him must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity (Stealth) check, succeeding automatically if the players disguise him, conceal him (e.g., by making him invisible), or create a sufficient distraction. > > If Escher notices Arturi, he demands that Arturi surrender and return with him to Castle Ravenloft. Escher otherwise acts as described above. ### Luvash’s Guest Once Escher has been dispatched or driven away, or otherwise departed, Luvash and Arrigal thank the players for answering their summons and ask to know their recent activities across the valley. “It seems the world has gone mad," Arrigal hisses. “Rumors of the Count’s brides, dead; of the castle, raided; and of the Count himself visiting his wrath upon the denizens of the valley. I do not wish to know more than I need to, but tell us—are we in danger? Are our people in danger?" Luvash and Arrigal won’t share information regarding Arturi’s presence in the open. Instead, when the players have answered his questions to his satisfaction, Arrigal conceals himself beneath his hooded cloak and instructs the players to do the same, so that he may lead them to their “guest." “He has asked for you anxiously since he arrived," Arrigal says quietly. “I know not why the Count seeks him, but he seems to believe you may hold the key to his freedom." Arrigal guides the players to N9i. Vistani Treasure Wagon (p. 123). After carefully checking that he is not being watched, Arrigal carefully unlocks the door to the wagon and gestures for the players to enter. He then swiftly departs. If the players enter the treasure wagon, read: <div class="description"> This wagon contains a pair of chests, an onyx jewelry box, a rolled-up rug, and a wooden throne with gold inlay and decorative stones. Upon the throne sits a man, his head bowed. His hair is dark, with small streaks of gray beginning to touch his temples. His right torso is wrapped heavily with blood-stained bandages, and more bandages wrap around the top of his head. </div> If the players make themselves known, add: <div class="description"> Arturi Radanavich looks up at you, his olive-green eyes cutting through the wagon’s dim interior. “You came," he croaks. “Thank you." </div> Arturi is deeply grateful for the players’ presence. He can share the following information: * Since he and the players first met in [[#C4c. Vistani Hospitality]], he has continued his efforts to search the valley for Dr. Rudolph van Richten, hoping that "the good doctor" may hold the secret to curing what ails him. (Arturi’s mouth twists as he says the phrase “the good doctor.") * If asked, Arturi shares that his "ailment" is a curse: that the undead pursue him wherever he goes, and that they have haunted him each night for the past eighteen years. "Luvash and Arrigal have taken on a terrible danger in sheltering me," he says, wincing. “No matter the outcome of our meeting, I must be gone from their wagons before nightfall." * Arturi prefers not to share the cause of his "ailment" before meeting Dr. Van Richten. However, a player who succeeds on a DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) check can convince Arturi to share that "a man once vowed that undead shall take me." Arturi chuckles weakly. "Although they have not yet succeeded, they have never failed to try." He then coughs, adding, "Please, I must see Dr. Van Richten. His life may be in urgent danger, as well as mine." A player can convince Arturi to share the cause of his “ailment" or the reason for his unique interest in Dr. Van Richten by succeeding on a DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion) check, succeeding automatically if they threaten to withhold knowledge of Van Richten’s location or otherwise make a reasonable argument. If they do, Arturi can share the following additional information: * Twenty years ago, when Arturi was only seventeen, several members of his extended family amongst the Radanavich caravan invited him on a “hunting trip." Awkward, lonesome, and desperate for connection, Arturi accepted their invitation gratefully. * It wasn’t long, however, before Arturi learned the true nature of their hunt. His aunt, Madame Irene Radanavich and the leader of the caravan, had recently seen her son, Radu, gravely injured in a fight with bandits on the road. When the Vistani’s treatments proved fruitless, Madame Radanavich had taken Radu to a healer in a nearby village—a doctor named Rudolph van Richten. Radu died under Van Richten’s care, and a vengeful and grieving Madame Radanavich sought to visit this pain upon Van Richten in turn. * Arturi felt bewildered and afraid—but each time he thought to open his mouth, he imagined the insults and jeers of his cousins or “Auntie Irene’s" smoldering glare. And so, Arturi watched silently as his family kidnapped Van Richten’s fourteen-year-old son, Erasmus, spirited him away to a darkened keep, and sold him to the vampire lord Baron Metus. The Radanaviches then fled through the Mists, to Barovia, hoping to escape the reach of Van Richten and Metus alike. In doing so, they parted ways with the d’Avenirs—a Vistani husband and wife who had accompanied the Radanaviches with their young daughter, Ezmerelda. (Arturi doesn’t know what became of the Radanaviches, nor does he recognize Ezmerelda unless reintroduced.) * Three years later, Van Richten returned, grim-faced and surrounded by a swarm of ravenous undead. He declared that his son Erasmus had died—transformed by Baron Metus into a vampire spawn and killed by Van Richten’s own hand. Torn by fury and grief, Van Richten released the undead horde upon the Radanavich caravan, howling, “Undead take you as you have taken my son!" * Arturi alone survived the assault, hiding himself away in his grandmother’s magical trunk. When he finally emerged, hours later, he found the encampment shattered and his family slaughtered—and Van Richten nowhere to be found. * Arturi soon learned, however, that Van Richten’s vengeful words had taken on a life of their own, haunting him like a curse. “Undead take you," Van Richten had promised—and so they did, pursuing Arturi wherever he went. The Vistani banished him from their camps after dusk, naming him *mortu*, or “outcast," a word that can also be more directly translated as “living dead." No village gave Arturi sanctuary, and no town’s walls would protect him; no matter where he slept, the dead would rise and find him. * For eighteen years, Arturi evaded his eternal pursuers, even as he desperately searched for a way to escape the clutches of his curse. Finally, three months ago, he returned to Barovia to seek the counsel of the Vistana seer Madam Eva. "The past must burn," she told him. “Find the man who forged your fetters. His final breath will set you free." * Arturi has ranged across Barovia several times since then in search of Van Richten. On one occasion, he even recovered a supply cache hidden in a hollow near Lake Baratok, which contained a half-written manuscript on werewolves and a small assortment of weapons. He has been unable, however, to locate the doctor himself. * Two days ago, Strahd kidnapped Arturi and brought him to Castle Ravenloft. Strahd appeared intrigued by the nature of Arturi’s curse, studying its magic and extracting his blood for his own experimentation. Strahd appears to believe that Arturi's curse, which bonds him to Dr. Van Richten, will allow him to finally hunt Van Richten down—and so end the tale that began with Barovia’s recent rebellion. “Should that happen," Arturi says, “I fear I will never be rid of this curse—or that it shall eventually grow to consume and swallow me, leaving nothing left." He adds: “But if my curse is lifted, I shall be useless to him—and he will have no means to track Doctor Van Richten through me." Arturi believes it clear that Madam Eva’s first words —the “man who forged his fetters"—refer to Dr. Van Richten. He isn’t sure how to interpret “His final breath will set you free," but—although he conceals this from the players—grimly believes that he may need to personally kill Van Richten to free himself of his curse. Arturi asks the players to take him to Van Richten, believing that they, following their travels through the valley, may have knowledge of his location. "I heard what you did at the vampire's castle," he adds, a touch of desperation to his voice. “No others in this valley have the strength or courage to defy him. Please help me—I beg of you." > [!abstract]+ **The Sparrows and the Fox** > If asked, Arturi grimly confirms that his tale of the sparrows and the fox from [[Arc C - Into the Valley#Arturi’s Tale|Arc C - Into the Valley]] was a symbolic retelling of his and Van Richten’s tale, with the Radanaviches as the sparrows, Van Richten as the fox, and the undead as the rats. “All stories have a grain of truth within them," he coughs. “This one simply had more than most." > [!info]+ **Finding Van Richten** > Unless the players’ actions have caused him to relocate, Rudolph van Richten remains wherever the players left him at the conclusion of [[Arc E - The Missing Vistana]]. If he’s not in or near Vallaki, the players can convince him to travel to them by sending a message with sufficient details to verify their identity. (If the players don’t think to do so, Ezmerelda urges them to include such details in their letter, preferably in vague or coded form, so that the ever-paranoid Van Richten knows to trust their words.) > > If the players send such a message to Van Richten, Arturi asks them not to mention his identity. Arturi fears that Strahd or his minions may intercept the message, and, more significantly, that Van Richten may not come if he knows Arturi’s identity. (Arturi is reluctant to disclose the latter reason, but does so if pressed.) > [!abstract]+ **Ezmerelda’s Response** > If Ezmerelda hears Arturi’s accusations against Van Richten, a player with a passive Wisdom (Insight) score of 13 or greater notices her stiffen at Arturi’s words, her hands curling into fists. While Ezmerelda won’t discuss the matter further in Arturi’s presence, a player who later approaches her can convince her to share her disbelief that Dr. Rudolph van Richten—"a man of science, her mentor, and the man who spared her parents"—could commit such a terrible crime. > > “I know that Dr. Van Richten has suffered great tragedies in his life," Ezmerelda says soberly, "but there must be some explanation for what became of the Radanaviches. Perhaps Van Richten suffered some curse or enchantment, or was controlled by a demon. Perhaps his presence was simply an illusion, and he was never there at all. Or perhaps—" (Ezmerelda abruptly falls silent, but, if pushed, reluctantly suggests that Arturi may be lying.) > > Unless she hears it from Van Richten directly, Ezmerelda won’t entertain the notion that Van Richten may have willingly murdered the Radanavich clan, and grows angry if the players press the issue. ### The Hunter & the Hunted If the players reunite with Van Richten, he notes that he has heard talk of their exploits across the valley. Upon hearing Arturi’s surname, “Radanavich," read: <div class="description"> Van Richten's jaw drops, and he staggers a half-step backward. His face pales as though he had seen a ghost. </div> If Arturi is present, their conversation unfolds as follows unless the players intervene: * "Yes," Arturi says gravely, "the same. I am the sole survivor of that terrible night so long ago, when you gave my people to the undead, though I was only a child then." * Van Richten draws a sharp breath, his eyes widening. "I thought no one had survived." * Arturi shakes his head. "I hid in my Nana's *vardo*, in a chest of magical clothing. The monsters would not touch it." * Van Richten's grip stiffens around the head of his cane, and he turns to the players. "Have you brought this man here to kill me, then?" Regardless of the players’ response, the conversation continues as follows, unless the players intervene: * Arturi meets Van Richten’s gaze. "You are cursed by my tribe, Dr. Rudolph van Richten—to live forever among monsters and see all whom you love die by them." * "Yes," Van Richten replies through clenched teeth. "I know." (If she is present, a player with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 14 or greater notices Ezmerelda’s eyes widen in shock.) * Arturi continues: "But I, too, am cursed—by you." * Van Richten winces, as though struck. "By . . . *me*?" * "Do you not recall?" Arturi says softly. "No sooner did Nana lay her curse upon you than you returned a deadly curse of your own. I will never forget the sound of your voice as you cried: '*Undead take you as you have taken my son!*'" * Arturi continues: "Yes, I have been pursued these eighteen years by the walking dead. They follow me wherever I go, like a golem tracking its creator, and they make me an outcast. No tribe will grant me asylum. No Vistana or *giorgio* will take pity upon me. Nothing removes the taint you have put upon the name of Radanavich." * Van Richten's lip curls into a sudden snarl. "Can you blame me?" he says, incensed. "You stole my child, and sold him to a vampire!" * Arturi nods, his face grave. "Yes. We are linked, in this way, by the sins of our pasts. And that is why I have come—to lift the curse you placed upon me, as the seer Madam Eva bade me." * Van Richten's eyes widen. "Madam Eva?" * Arturi nods. "Indeed. She spake thus: *The past must burn. Find the man who forged your fetters. His final breath shall set you free.*" * "'Then you *have* come to kill me," Van Richten growls, his hand stiffening around his cane. * Arturi regards him steadily. "Perhaps," he says. "Unless you or your friends know another way to decipher the words of prophecy." > [!info]+ **Madam Eva’s Prophecy** > To fulfill Madam Eva’s prophecy, Arturi must find Dr. Rudolph van Richten and either kill him or convince him to leave his past behind, thereby “dying" and becoming a new man. To abandon his past, Dr. Van Richten must forgive himself for the Radanavich’s deaths, complete a Vistani blood rite to become a member of the Radanavich clan, and join Arturi in burning the wreckage of the Radanavich caravan. If the players suggest that Van Richten, the “fox," become a second “sparrow," as depicted by the Ladies in [[#T1c. The Cavern of Lights]], Arturi replies—looking surprised, yet thoughtful, that “there is a ritual: the blood rite—a mingling of blood that joins the two whose blood intermixes." Arturi explains that a *giorgio*—a non-Vistani—who completes the blood rite becomes *giogoto*—a friend to the Vistani—and a member of the tribe to which they joined, leaving their old life behind. If the players suggest that Arturi and Van Richten carry out the blood rite, so that Van Richten becomes a member of the Radanavich clan, both men object as follows: * Arturi protests that Van Richten killed his family. "How can I accept him as one of our own?" he asks. * Van Richten scowls. "Become a Radanavich?" he asks. "Take the name of those who delivered my son into death, and whose crimes led my wife to follow him into the grave? How can I dishonor their memories so?" Arturi and Van Richten can be convinced by any reasonable argument. (For example, the players might argue that completing the blood rite will allow them to dictate a new chapter of their lives, or redeem the Radanavich legacy.) If the players convince Arturi and Van Richten to complete the blood rite, Arturi softly insists that they do so at his family’s encampment, “where it all began." “The wreck of the Radanavich caravan is not far from here," he adds, telling Van Richten: “Look upon the graves of my family, and I will do this with you, beneath their eyes. And then, we will burn the husks that lie there, and put their old ghosts to rest." ### Ezmerelda’s Revelation If she hears Van Richten confirm his murder of the Radanaviches, a player with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or higher notices Ezmerelda quietly slip away on her own. A player who follows Ezmerelda finds her nearby. Read: <div class="description"> Ezmerelda sits on the ground, her knees hugged to her chest. Her face is flushed, and tears bead at the corners of her eyes. </div> If approached, Ezmerelda can share or recount the following information: * Years ago, when she was a young girl, she saw her parents, joined by members of the Radanavich clan, bring a struggling teenage boy to their camp. Not long after, the caravan visited a tall, foreboding castle, where her parents helped the same Radanaviches force the boy inside. Ezmerelda never saw the boy again. Ezmerelda’s parents split from the caravan soon afterward. * Days later, Dr. Rudolph van Richten found Ezmerelda’s parents and trapped them in a snare. He demanded to know what they had done to his son, Erasmus, and Ezmerelda was horrified to overhear that her parents had helped the Radanaviches sell him to the vampire lord Baron Metus. Although Ezmerelda feared Van Richten would kill her parents in vengeance, he spared them and allowed them to go free upon seeing their daughter. * "That sign of mercy stayed with me," Ezmerelda says quietly. "My parents . . . well, they struggled to stay on the right path. But I held onto that spark of goodness he had showed me, and as soon as I was old enough, I left to go find him and see if he needed my help. When I found him, he told me that his son had been killed by the vampire lord—but offered to accept me as his student." * Ezmerelda’s hands curl into fists. "When I crept up to his camp that night, he put a blade to my throat and demanded to know if I had come to kill him. I thought he was paranoid of monsters, or perhaps fearful of the vampire's servants—but I suppose he thought I was an ally of the Radanaviches, come to avenge them." She clenches her jaw. "He *knew* what he had done. He *knew* that they were all dead—not just the ones who had harmed him, but innocents and children. And he never told me. He just let me go on believing that they were still alive, somewhere in the world — and I never bothered. I all but _worshipped_ him. And he—he never _told_ me what he had done?" * Her shoulders tremble, and angry tears streak down her cheeks. "All this time, the man I thought I knew was nothing more than a shadow—a *lie*. I thought that, by following him, I could be better than my parents—but even the man I *chose* to follow turned out to be a murderer." She laughs bitterly, shaking her head. * "How do I go forward like this?" Ezmerelda asks the player. "How can I even *look* at him after this, let alone forgive him? How can I claim any right to stand against Strahd, knowing my skills, my training—all of it came from a man who murdered the children of my people?" Ezmerelda is grateful for any counsel the players might provide. > [!abstract]+ **Van Richten’s Response** > If Ezmerelda departs his presence, Van Richten approaches the players to ask their counsel after speaking with Arturi. “I’ve hurt her," he says, his eyes tired. “I never meant to lie to her, but a lie by omission is a lie all the same. I could not blame her if she never trusted me again; I do not need her forgiveness, nor do I deserve it. But please—you’ve come to know her as a friend. Is there anything I can do to make this right?" > > Van Richten is grateful for any counsel the players might provide. > [!abstract]+ **Van Richten’s Curse** > If the players ask Van Richten about his curse and family, he can share the following information: > > * When he was twenty-eight, he was a successful doctor and husband, married to his childhood sweetheart, Ingrid. Six years later, their son, Erasmus, was born. “Erasmus was a sweet and gentle boy," Van Richten recalls, his voice ragged with memories. > * When Erasmus was fourteen, the Radanavich caravan, led by Madam Irene Radanavich, brought Irene’s son, Radu, to Van Richten’s medical practice. Radu was badly wounded, and Van Richten was unable to save him. > * When Radovan died, Madame Radanavich kidnapped Erasmus, then sold him to the vampire Baron Metus. > * Rudolph tracked down and interrogated Ezmerelda's parents before departing to find his son, but was too late, losing not only Erasmus, but his wife Ingrid as well. (See Ezmerelda d'Avenir (p. 231) and Rictavio (p. 238).) Rudolph destroyed Metus in fury, and took up a life of hunting monsters—and vengeance against the Vistani. (See Journal of Rudolph van Richten (p. 254). > * For three years, Rudolph traveled in search of the Vistani who had wronged him. Having learned the Radanaviches' location from the d'Avenirs, Rudolph sought in vain for a means to traverse the Mists to Barovia. After obtaining a *mist talisman*—a platinum ring that had reportedly once belonged to a powerful wizard—from a fortuneteller, however, Rudolph followed the ring's pull to a mountain cave deep in the wilderness. > * The cave proved to be a portal to Barovia, leading to an underground catacomb beneath Mount Baratok built by the long-dead wizard. There, Rudolph used the wizard’s platinum ring to rouse the undead army to aid him in his quest for vengeance. When Rudolph finally came upon the Radanavich clan, he released the undead swarm upon them, declaring, "Undead take you as you have taken my son!" > * The leader of the Radanavich clan, the Vistana seer Madam Irene Radanavich, cursed Rudolph as she died, as described in Journal of Rudolph van Richten (p. 254). His vengeance complete, Rudolph contemplated taking his own life and following his family into death—until the Vistani seer Madam Eva gave him a new mist talisman capable of leading him out of the Mists once more. > [!abstract]+ **Mist Talismans** > If asked, Van Richten can share that a *mist talisman* is a special item from another world that, when carried, allows its carrier to traverse the Mists to the world where that item originated. (“Such an item is separate and apart from the power of the Vistani," Van Richten adds, clearing his throat, “who hold Strahd’s own blessing to come and go as they please.") > > Van Richten can further share that, according to Madam Eva, *mist talismans* function only when Strahd is dormant. “Since awakening," Van Richten says, “he has closed the borders. None can escape now without his say." ## T4c. The Radanavich Caravan Arturi and Van Richten can guide the players to the wreckage of the Radanavich caravan, which lies in a woodland clearing a mile southwest of the village of Krezk, along the banks of the Raven River. The journey from the Vistani encampment to the Radanavich caravan is seven miles long and takes two hours and twenty minutes. When the players arrive, read: <div class="description"> The trees part to reveal a small, wooded hollow along the rush of the Raven River. The broken remains of an old Vistani caravan lie here: a half-dozen barrel-topped wagons listing over rotted axles, their rounded roofs fallen in long ago. Once-bright coats of red and yellow paint slough off the spongy wood below, and stained-glass windows lie in tiny shards upon the ground. Those few windows that remain cling hopelessly to weather-worn sills, their glass caked with filth. Nearby, the barest remnants of an old campfire lie sunken amidst the sandy soil, shrouded by a thick layer of mist that crawls across the earth. </div> Upon arriving, Arturi and Van Richten gaze silently at the encampment: Arturi’s face solemn, and Van Richten’s shadowed. (A DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that Van Richten’s expression is one of grief and regret.) Soon after arriving, Arturi softly shares that he “still remembers" the camp as it was on that night long ago. If the players express an interest in Arturi’s memories, read: <div class="description"> Arturi closes his eyes, then takes a slow, deep breath. A wind whips through the air and, for a moment, the crawling mists seem to take forms amidst the wreckage—a merry fire flickering within the stones; a raven-haired girl gamboling to a spirited violin; a throng of Vistani clapping and singing, unmindful of their approaching doom—and then the wind blows again, and the fog recedes to crawl once more upon the ground. Arturi’s eyes open again. “It was home," he says, his voice ragged. </div> > [!info]+ **Completing the Blood Rite** > The blood rite requires two willing individuals—a Vistani and a non-Vistani—to cut open their palms, clasp their hands, and wrap a strip of cloth around their hands. It succeeds if the participants’ wounds fully heal upon its completion. > > To be “willing," a participant in the blood rite must be wholly willing—mind, heart, and soul—to undergo the rite. In particular, the Vistani participant must be wholly willing to adopt the recipient into their clan, while the non-Vistani participant must be wholly willing to adopt the clan’s name as their own. If a participant is unwilling, the blood rite fails. When this happens, the participants’ cut palms burn and cauterize when they come into contact, rather than heal. This process is painful, and produces black smoke. > > ***Arturi.*** Arturi is not a willing participant in the blood rite. Even though he wants to complete the blood rite in order to lift his curse, he has not yet forgiven Van Richten for his crimes against the Radanaviches. The players can convince Arturi to convince Van Richten by succeeding on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check, succeeding automatically if they provide helpful words of guidance and comfort to help him do so. > > ***Van Richten.*** Van Richten is, similarly, an unwilling participant in the blood rite. Even though he wants to complete the blood rite in order to lift Arturi’s curse, he has not forgiven himself for his crimes against the Radanaviches, his failure to tell Ezmerelda of those crimes, or his failures to defend others from his curse. As such, he does not believe he deserves to join the Radanavich clan, or for his own curse to be lifted. > > The players can convince Van Richten to forgive himself by succeeding on a DC 25 Charisma (Persuasion) check, made with advantage if they remind him that Erasmus’s spirit still loves him. The check succeeds automatically if the players help Ezmerelda reconcile with and forgive Van Richten, or if they otherwise provide helpful words of guidance and comfort to help Van Richten come to terms with his past. > > See below for an example of how this sequence might unfold. ### The Blood Rite When the players are ready to begin, Arturi and Van Richten begin the blood rite. Read: <div class="description"> Arturi draws a knife from his boot, an obsidian-black blade glinting dully in the light. He seizes Van Richten’s left wrist and shakes his hand until the fingers open—then exposes his own palm and opens it as well. With a sound clap, their hands clasp, Van Richten’s swinging to meet his. A heartbeat passes—and then both men pull away, hissing in pain as smoke billows from their hands. </div> Players who inspect either man’s hand find that the cut has cauterized to an angry burn. Shortly after the blood rite fails, Van Richten turns and stomps away, hoping to sit down and find refuge behind a nearby tree. (If asked why he’s departing, Van Richten growls: “To think.") #### Arturi’s Hatred Arturi, who is in shocked disbelief at the blood rite’s violent failure, can share the following reasons for the blood rite’s failure: * The Vistani blood rite is more than merely symbolic; an individual adopted into a Vistani clan through the rite becomes Vistani, in a way. * For this reason, the blood rite cannot adopt an unwilling heart. The recipient must be wholly willing to adopt the clan’s name—mind, heart, and soul. If they are not, the blood rite rejects them, just as they have rejected it. A player with a passive Wisdom (Insight) score of 10 or greater notices that Arturi also appears to be holding something back. If pressed, Arturi reluctantly shares the following additional information: * Just as the blood rite cannot adopt an unwilling heart, nor can it be given by one. The Vistani who performs the blood rite must be wholly willing to adopt the recipient into their clan—with all their heart. * Arturi had thought himself able to look past his old hatreds, but now questions whether he was right to do so. “I have spent half my life hating this man," he says somberly. “How can I forgive him now, when he took my family from me?" The players can convince Arturi to forgive Van Richten by succeeding on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check, succeeding automatically if they provide helpful words of guidance and comfort to help him do so. #### Van Richten’s Guilt If a player subsequently attempts to speak with Van Richten, he can share the following information through gritted teeth: * It is “easier said than done" for him to accept the name of those who kidnapped and sold his son. “Not only because the Radanaviches brought evil upon my family," he says. “When I first departed Barovia, I thought all Vistani to be evil. Ezmerelda lifted the veil from my eyes, and showed me the shame of the hatred I felt. I have not hated the Radanaviches in many years; in truth, there is little left to forgive." * He shakes his head. “No. It is not because of what the Radanaviches did, but because I . . . “ His voice trails off, uncertainly. If asked, Van Richten can confirm that it is difficult for him to accept the Radanavich name because he “brought evil upon them," and that he holds no ill will against Arturi, who Van Richten recognizes was “but a child at the time." * Van Richten’s students have often viewed him as a hero—but only he recognizes that he is no hero, but a failure. “I failed to control myself at the Radanavich caravan," he says, tiredly. “I failed to save my son, or my wife. I failed to recognize the curse upon myself before it had already taken several of those precious to me. I tried to save Ezmerelda, but I failed her as well." (Van Richten is referring to his decision to drive Ezmerelda away by manufacturing a rift between the two of them, so that she would be spared the consequences of his curse.) * Van Richten does not believe that he is worthy to complete the blood rite, because he is not worthy of forgiveness. “My soul is stained," he rasps, “black with hatred, and red with others’ blood. The Radanavich seer cursed me to walk always among monsters, but now I see how—for I am the one monster I can never escape." The players can convince Van Richten to forgive himself by succeeding on a DC 25 Charisma (Persuasion) check, made with advantage if they remind him that Erasmus’s spirit still loves him. The check succeeds automatically if the players help Ezmerelda reconcile with and forgive Van Richten, or if they otherwise provide helpful words of guidance and comfort to help Van Richten come to terms with his past. If the players successfully help Van Richten forgive himself for his past failures and crimes, he asks how he can complete the blood rite with Arturi, whose family he murdered. “Surely he cannot have forgiven me, either," he murmurs—"I, who brought such evil upon him and his family." #### The Final Rite If the players convince Van Richten to forgive himself, and Arturi to forgive Van Richten, the two men are willing to attempt the blood rite again. If they do, read: <div class="description"> Arturi and Van Richten face each other, their eyes meeting steadily. "Rudolph van Richten," Arturi says solemnly, his face holding both terror and apprehension, “do you forgive my people the wrongs they have done you?" "Master Radanavich," Van Richten says, bowing his head. “There is nothing to forgive—for I forgave those wrongs long ago." He releases a shuddering breath. “Can you forgive my crimes against the Radanavich family?" Arturi hesitates—then slowly nods. "We have allowed these ghosts to haunt us long enough," he says. “It is long past time we put them to rest." Van Richten nods, his face and voice determined. “Then let us try again." </div> When the players are ready to begin, Arturi and Van Richten attempt to complete the blood rite a second time. Read: <div class="description"> Once again, Arturi draws the obsidian-black blade and opens their palms—first Van Richten’s, then his own. Their hands clasp together—and although both men flinch, no smoke rises from their hands. Arturi sheaths the knife, pulls a clean, white scarf from his pocket, and turns to face you. “Will you do us the honor?" he asks, proffering the scarf. “Our flesh must be bound, if our blood is to mix." </div> If a player does so, continue: <div class="description"> Van Richten staggers, even as Arturi sways unsteadily—yet no drop of blood stains the scarf. Their eyes meet, and the sound of twin beating hearts, pounding in unison, seems to echo distantly through the hollow. Their eyes brim and spill over with tears, until smiles touch their faces, and they both nod together a single time. A single drop of blood, fused, falls between them, hissing as it strikes the dirt, like cold water upon a hot griddle. Dense mist billows up around it, the fog swirling around the hollow like a mob of voiceless ghosts; for a moment, as the fog blots out the surrounding landscape, time itself seems to hold its breath. And then—slowly, the mists begin to thin and blow away. Twin silhouettes flicker in the fog, and then resolve, as Arturi and Van Richten's forms return to view. Arturi slowly unwraps the scarf and releases Van Richten's hand. Van Richten holds his palm to the air, smeared and stained a deep red—but not a drop of blood falls from his flesh. "The cut has healed," he says gruffly. Tears spill from the corners of his eyes. "So it has," Arturi says in wonderment. "Then there remains one last thing to do." His gaze lands upon the old encampment, and he remains silent for a while. </div> As Arturi regards the wreckage, he shares that, as Madam Eva foretold, they must “burn it. Burn it to ashes."[^Sequence inspired by *Van Richten’s Guide to the Vistani* (TSR, Inc., 1995).] The wagons readily ignite if lit aflame, and soon blaze fiercely, with inky plumes of soot streaking the sky above. When they do, read: <div class="description"> Arturi’s gaze snaps toward the dark woods, his eyes widening. "The dead are coming," he says. "We must hold them off until we are done." </div> The wagons burn for one minute, or ten rounds. At the beginning of the third round, the first of the undead arrive. Read: <div class="description"> The woods rustle with approaching footsteps. Slowly, hunched, shambling shapes emerge from the darkness. </div> A new wave of undead appears at the beginning of the third round of combat, and at the beginning of each round thereafter, as follows: * **Round 3.** Thirteen **zombies** * **Round 4.** Six **ghouls** * **Round 5.** Eight **undead wolves** (use the statistics of a **wolf**, but with a **zombie**’s resistances and immunities) * **Round 6.** Four **ghasts** * **Round 7.** Six **wights** * **Round 8.** Thirteen **zombies** * **Round 9.** Thirteen **zombies** * **Round 10.** Thirteen **zombies** The undead focus their attacks on Arturi and Van Richten, attacking the players only if they have no other targets. <div class="statblock"> <h2>Rudolph Van Richten</h2> Medium humanoid (human), lawful good <hr> Armor Class 13 (leather armor) Hit Points 77 (14d8 + 14) Speed 30 ft. <hr> <table class="ability-table"> <thead> <tr> <th>STR</th> <th>DEX</th> <th>CON</th> <th>INT</th> <th>WIS</th> <th>CHA</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>9 (–1)</td> <td>14 (+2)</td> <td>13 (+1)</td> <td>19 (+4)</td> <td>18 (+4)</td> <td>16 (+3)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> Saving Throws Con +4, Wis +7 Skills Arcana +10, Insight +7, Medicine +10, Perception +7, Religion +7, Sleight of Hand +5 Senses passive Perception 17 Languages Abyssal, Common, Elvish, Infernal Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3 <hr> Special Equipment. Van Richten carries a hat of disguise and ring of mind shielding. Sneak Attack. Once per turn, Van Richten can deal an extra 17 (5d6) damage to one creature he hits with an attack if he has advantage on the attack roll. He doesn’t need advantage on the attack roll if the target is undead; or if at least one of his allies is within 5 feet of the target, the ally doesn’t have the incapacitated condition, and he doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll. <h3>Actions</h3> Multiattack. Van Richten makes two attacks with his silvered sword cane or silvered crossbow. Silvered Sword Cane. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage. Silvered Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage. Charm Bracelet.Van Richten uses his charm bracelet to cast one of the following spells, using Wisdom as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15):     1/day each blindness/deafness, death ward, freedom of movement Hat of Disguise.Van Richten uses his hat of disguise to cast disguise self. Lucid Lens.Van Richten uses his lucid lens to cast detect magic or detect evil and good (1/day each). <h3>Bonus Actions</h3> Cunning Action. Van Richten takes the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action. Master of Tactics (Help). Van Richten uses the Help action to aid an ally’s attack against a creature within 30 feet of him that can see or hear him. Insightful Fighting. Van Richten makes a Wisdom (Insight) check against a creature he can see that isn’t incapacitated, contested by the target’s Charisma (Deception). On a success, he has advantage to attack that creature and that creature has disadvantage to attack him for 1 minute. This benefit lasts for 1 minute or until he successfully uses this feature against a different target. <h3>Reactions</h3> Charm Bracelet. Trigger: A hostile creature attacks Van Richten or ends its turn. Effect: Van Richten casts a spell using his charm bracelet. Uncanny Dodge. Trigger: An attacker hits Van Richten with an attack roll. Effect: Van Richten halves the attack’s damage against him (rounding down). </div> > [!item]+ **Lucid Lens** > *Wondrous item, uncommon* > While wearing this monocle, you can use your action to cast *detect magic* or *detect evil and good*. (The spell ends if the monocle is removed.) Once you cast a spell in this way, you can’t cast that spell again until the next dawn. <div class="statblock"> <h2>Arturi Radanavich</h2> Medium humanoid, neutral good <hr> Armor Class 15 (studded leather) Hit Points 52 (8d8 + 16) Speed 30 ft. <hr> <table class="ability-table"> <thead> <tr> <th>STR</th> <th>DEX</th> <th>CON</th> <th>INT</th> <th>WIS</th> <th>CHA</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>12 (+1)</td> <td>16 (+3)</td> <td>14 (+2)</td> <td>13 (+1)</td> <td>14 (+2)</td> <td>14 (+2)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> Gear five daggers Skills Athletics +4 Senses passive Perception 12 Languages Common Challenge 2 (450 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2 <hr> <h3>Actions</h3> Multiattack. Arturi makes two attacks with his dagger. Dagger. Melee or Ranged Attack: +5, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage. <h3>Reactions</h3> Parry. When Arturi is hit by a melee attack while wielding a weapon, he adds 2 to his AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss. </div> ### After the Storm At initiative count 0 of the tenth round of combat, read: <div class="description"> The final wagon collapses into ruin, sending cinders swirling into the sky above. Around it, the wreckage begins to cool, each wagon falling into gray, smoldering ashes. “Go back!" Van Richten shouts at the dead, his voice hoarse. “There is nothing here for you anymore! Go back!" The forest seems to wait with baited breast—and then, the horde stills. One by one, the undead halt their advance, turn, and shuffle back to the cover of the deep forest beyond, where they vanish into the darkness and mist. </div> Shortly after the fight ends, read: <div class="description"> Somewhere nearby, a mourning dove coos heartily amidst the chill forest air—and Arturi and Van Richten begin to laugh, roaring like children until the woods fill with glee. </div> When their mirth has quelled, Arturi and Van Richten thank the players for their kindness and aid. “We owe you a debt that can never be repaid," Van Richten says. A player with a passive Wisdom (Insight) score of 12 or higher notices that his eyes are smiling, as though a great weight has been lifted off of his shoulders. If asked about his next intentions, Van Richtens considers the eastern mountains thoughtfully. “I do not know," he says at last. “But I feel that your accomplishments are rapidly pushing Von Zarovich to act. Arabelle’s prophecy still rings in my ears, as do Madam Eva’s final words to me. I shall remain by Vallaki, for now, if only to protect the Vistani there from harm. But when the day comes, I shall be ready." ### Erasmus’ Return With Van Richten’s curse lifted, Erasmus van Richten’s ghost is finally able to cross over into the Material Plane. Shortly after the undead horde retreats, read: <div class="description"> A pale, silvery light fills the hollow. A wisp of perlescent mist shimmers through the air—then slowly takes the form of a ghostly young man no older than fourteen years of age, his unkempt hair drifting lazily amidst the gloom. His eyes fall on Van Richten, and he swallows, his hands fidgeting with the translucent buttons on his ghostly coat. "Father?" he says, hesitantly. </div> Unless the players intervene, the conversation continues as follows: * Van Richten turns—then freezes, his eyes widening. As if spellbound, he takes a slow step toward the ghost—then another, and another, until they stand barely a foot away. * “Is it you?" Van Richten whispers, reaching out a hesitant hand. “Can it really be you?" * Erasmus looks up at him, and nods shyly. Van Richten drops to his knees, sobbing as tears run down his cheeks. * "Erasmus," Van Richten chokes out. “My son, my *boy*. I am so sorry for what I let them do to you—for what *I* did. I failed you, and your mother. I beg your forgiveness." * Erasmus’s eyes swell with ghostly tears, his face flushing. “Father, please," he says. “There is nothing to forgive. Please, stand up." * Van Richten slowly stands, wiping his eyes—and Erasmus takes him in a ghostly embrace, Van Richten’s arms tenderly wrapping around his son’s ethereal form. Van Richten is eternally grateful to the players for reuniting him and Erasmus, and thanks them profusely for doing so. > [!abstract]+ **Erasmus’s Unfinished Business** > If asked why his ghost persists, Erasmus shares that—beyond his entrapment in Barovia’s mists—he feels he cannot depart his father’s side until Van Richten has resolved his own unfinished business. “He has one more battle to fight," Erasmus says softly. “I need to be there by his side when he does." ## T4d. The Forest Fane The Forest Fane is located at the grove of the Gulthias Tree at Yester Hill. This area is largely as described in Y4. Gulthias Tree (p. 198). However, replace the last two sentences of the area description with the following text: <div class="description"> A circle of craggy, jagged megaliths stands hunkered down among the undergrowth, draped with rotted vines and overgrown by large brambles and dead shrubs. Each megalith bears a carving of a different animal. The air here is thick and unseasonably warm, and a sickly, putrid smell chokes the air. </div> A character who inspects the eight carved megaliths finds the following animals’ images carved into their stone surfaces, moving clockwise from the north: bear, owl, goat, wolf, hawk, elk, panther, and raven. If the players approach the Gulthias Tree, their presence draws the attention of four needle blights, which emerge from the undergrowth around the tree. The following round, the needle blights are joined by four additional needle blights, four vine blights, and four swarms of twig blights. If the players remain within the grove, all of the blights attack the following round. > [!info]+ **Fear of Sunlight** > The blights that guard the Gulthias Tree fear sunlight, and won’t attack if they fall into the *Sunsword*’s light. The blights die if the Gulthias Tree dies. If Van Richten and Ezmerelda bury the Huntress’s emerald gem within the circle after lifting Van Richten’s curse, read: <div class="description"> White mists rise from the edges of the circle, forming a thick cloud that rings the putrid grove. As the mist settles, eight ethereal beasts step forth from the clean, white fog. A sharp-eyed hawk perches atop a brawny cave bear’s back, joined by a majestic-looking elk, a watchful owl, a scruffy mountain goat, a dignified panther, a savage-looking wolf, and a dark-feathered raven with a glint in its eye. Each beast bears a striking resemblance to the stone carving it stands beside. One by one, each spirit lifts its head to the sky and lets out a cry of defiance: a mournful howl; a raging bellow; a piercing shriek. Though they speak no words, their meaning is unmistakable: Long have we waited, our homes darkened and our children fearful, as the False Beast hunted from his den of stone. Inky black slime begins to well up from the earth, its mass twisting and bubbling with aberrant, misshapen forms—a twisted muzzle; a bleeding eye; a serpentine tongue. The slime seems to writhe with pain beneath the pure, echoing sound of the spirits’ cries. Today, the spirits seem to say, his hunt has ended—and through you, ours begins. Walls of emerald fire burst from the circle’s edges, incinerating the gnarled, twisted flora that stands there. The spirits’ forms meld into the twisting flames; as the inferno rises, you can see within it the flash of a wing, the snarl of a muzzle, and the twist of a shining claw. The black slime rears up against it, forming the shape of a terrible, monstrous beast of leathery wings, elongated spines, and blood-red eyes. It shrieks in rage, its twisted, humanlike sound a mockery of the beasts around it. Through its voice, you can hear a familiar and malevolent intent; through its scarlet eyes, you see a vampiric fury and never-ending hunger. The burning emerald tide rises to a peak—and then crashes down with the sound of booming thunder. The abomination screams as the purifying flames devour its form—then, at long last, falls mercifully silent. The flames wreathe the Gulthias Tree’s massive trunk, then flare even brighter until the tree’s bark is entirely concealed beneath tongues of emerald flame. When the pillar of flame recedes, the black tree has vanished, with nothing left but ash and smoke—and a small sapling rising from the soil. Slowly, the flames fall to the earth, the twisting inferno losing momentum until only dancing embers line the edges of the stone ring—and then, even those vanish into the soil. A woman’s voice, fierce and strong, echoes in your ear: The False Beast’s pride is the hunter’s prize. Accept my boon, champions of the Forest Fane.. Several spheres of glittering emerald light rise from the earth, then hang patiently in the air before you—as if waiting to be claimed. </div> Each sphere of light is a *boon of the Huntress.* There are enough boons for each character that helped lift Van Richten’s curse, including the players and their companions. A player can claim their *boon of the Huntress* by grasping or touching it. If they do, read: <div class="description"> A small, black tattoo in the shape of a wolf’s head appears in the palm of your hand. </div> > [!item]+ **Boon of the Huntress** > A character who claims the *boon of the Huntress* immediately regains all of their hit points and maximum hit points. In addition, while in Barovia, each time a character who possesses the *boon of the Huntress* deals damage to an undead creature, they can reroll the lowest die rolled. > [!info]+ **The Sapling** > A player who succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies the sapling as an oak tree. > [!abstract]+ **The Spear of the Huntress** > If the players possess the *spear of the Huntress*, but failed to present it to her spirit in [[#T1c. The Cavern of Lights]], the Huntress’s power purifies the spear immediately after the Forest Fane is reconsecrated. Read: > > --- > > Green flames burst across the spear’s shaft and blade, though the wood and stone remain untouched. The crystals across the cavern hum in warm recognition, and the air fills with a sense of fierce, triumphant joy. Slowly, the flames recede, then eventually vanish—but the spear remains warm to the touch. > > --- > > The spear then loses the properties of a *blood spear* and becomes a +2 *spear of warning* with the following additional property: If you throw this spear as a ranged attack, it flies back to your hand at the end of your turn. In addition, the spear’s wielder can use a bonus action to cause emerald-green flames to wreathe the spear’s blade, or to extinguish those flames. While ignited in this way, the spear also gains the properties of a *mace of disruption*. ***Milestone.*** Reconsecrating the Forest Fane completes a story milestone. When the players claim the *boon of the Huntress*, award each player 5,500 XP. # T5. Dreams of Dawn > [!info]+ **Where’s Lucian?** > After arresting Father Lucian at the command of Strahd’s emissary, Lady Wachter shackled and imprisoned him in N4t. Cult Headquarters (p. 114), which is as described in [[Arc H - The Lost Soul#H8. The Ritual]]. (Although Strahd’s emissary would prefer to drink his blood, Lady Wachter has done her best to keep Lucian alive, insisting that she may need to show him in public to “pacify the faithful" and forestall thoughts of revolt.) > [!info]+ **The Bats** > Strahd sent six **swarms of bats** to Wachterhaus to help his emissary corral Lady Wachter and instill fear into Vallaki’s people. Those bats sleep on the ceiling of the warehouse of N5. Arasek Stockyard (p. 115) during the day, and fill the skies over Vallaki at night. ## T5a. Lady Wachter’s Dilemma ### Arrival at Wachterhaus If the players visit Wachterhaus after completing [[Arc S - A Sword of Sunlight]], they are answered at the door by Haliq, Lady Wachter’s manservant. Haliq is joined by a pair of white cats from N4p. Library (p. 113), who he hurriedly attempts to block from escaping through the front door. (The cats respond to Haliq and the players as described in N4p. Library (p. 113).) > [!info]+ **The Cats** > Strahd’s emissary has taken up residence in N4p. Library (p. 113), forcing Lady Wachter to allow her eight cats free reign of Wachterhaus. As a result, much of Haliq’s time over the past few days has been dominated by preventing the cats from damaging furniture, escaping the house, or otherwise causing trouble, leaving him several scratches along his face and arms to show for it. If he recognizes the players, Haliq is visibly uncomfortable at their presence and insists that Lady Wachter is unavailable. If asked the reason for his discomfort, Haliq merely claims that he has been “very busy" aiding Lady Wachter in her duties as Burgomaster, and that he has little time to entertain guests. The players can convince Haliq to allow them entry or share what he knows by succeeding on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) check. On a failure, Haliq bids them “good day" and attempts to close the door on them. On a success, Haliq can share the following information in hushed, fearful tones if asked: * Two days after the “silver beacon" lit in the west, “Count von Zarovich" sent an emissary from Castle Ravenloft to “advise" Lady Wachter in her duties. That emissary, a vampire spawn, has taken up residence in N4p. Library (p. 113), with their coffin placed in N4q. Storage Room (p. 114). (Haliq can share the emissary’s name if asked.) * Shortly after the emissary’s arrival, Lady Wachter began issuing strange, severe edicts—including a prohibition on the players’ entry into Vallaki or Wachterhaus. Haliq doesn’t know why she’s done so, and Lady Wachter won’t tell him. * The night of the emissary’s arrival, Karl, Nikolai, and Stella disappeared from Wachterhaus. Lady Wachter won’t tell him where they’ve gone. * Haliq has served Lady Wachter for the past seventeen years. “In that time," Haliq says mournfully, “I have come to know my lady well. Right now, I know that she is greatly distressed—yet she will not even confide in me." Once persuaded or intimidated, Haliq can lead the players to Lady Wachter in N4k. Den (p. 112). ### Meeting Lady Wachter When the players first enter Wachterhaus after completing [[Arc S - A Sword of Sunlight]], Lady Wachter is in N4k. Den (p. 112) communing with the goddess Ezra. If the players enter this area while Lady Wachter is communing, revise the final sentence of this area’s description to read as follows: <div class="description"> Across from the hearth, curtains have been drawn across this room’s tall, slender windows, plunging it into a quiet, shadowed darkness. Thirteen candles flicker in a line across the base of the cold hearth, which is filled not by flames, but a thick cloud of mist. The mist flows outward from the hearth, forming a shallow carpet of low, drifting grey that covers the floor around it. Lady Fiona Wachter kneels on the floor before the hearth, her eyes closed, holding a silver medallion to her forehead. Her lips move in silent prayer. </div> > [!info]+ **Lady Wachter’s Medallion** > Lady Wachter’s silver medallion is a holy symbol of the goddess Ezra, and is as described in Ezra, God of the Mists (p. 64). Lady Wachter is deep in prayer, and doesn’t notice the players’ entry unless they speak to her, approach her, or make significant amounts of noise. If the players don’t disturb her, and if any player has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or greater, add: <div class="description"> An assembly of shadows stirs across the mist within the hearth. The sound of a woman’s voice whispers faintly from the mist, though her voice lies over a cacophony of cold, hollow voices that echo every word. </div> The players can approach Lady Wachter without disturbing her by succeeding on a DC 9 Dexterity (Stealth) check. A player who does so, or who succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check, can make out a few words and phrases from the woman’s whispers: * “They are lost to you for now. Struggle cannot bring them home." * “Your fear and anger shall destroy them. Only your faith may save their lives." * “The oak breaks, but the willow bends, and so survives." If Lady Wachter becomes aware of the players’ presence, she pales and coldly commands them to “depart her home at once." A player who succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check discerns that Lady Wachter is terrified, and that her gaze frequently darts up to the second floor in evident anxiety. The players can calm Lady Wachter by succeeding on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check, made with advantage if they invoke their friendship with her, and succeeding automatically if they ignite the *Sunsword* or make any other reasonable argument. If calmed, or if the players confront her or ask where her children are, Lady Wachter can share or confirm the following information, respectively: * She was communing with Ezra, the Goddess of the Mists. * Two days after the “silver beacon" lit in the west, “Count von Zarovich" sent an emissary from Castle Ravenloft to “advise" Lady Wachter in her duties. That emissary, a vampire spawn, has taken up residence in N4p. Library (p. 113), with their coffin placed in N4q. Storage Room (p. 114). (Lady Wachter can share the emissary’s name if asked.) * That night, Lady Wachter’s children vanished from Wachterhaus. When Lady Wachter confronted the emissary the following morning, the emissary informed her that her children were “in a safe place"—and would remain so during her “good behavior." * Lady Wachter doesn’t know where her children have gone. Although she sent Ernst Larnak to investigate their disappearance as soon as Strahd’s emissary retired to her coffin, the emissary returned Ernst’s corpse to her the following morning—accompanied by Nikolai’s severed ear—and warned her against “meddling in Ravenloft’s affairs." * Lady Wachter knows that her children are now hostages. Accordingly, each time the emissary has provided her a new edict to issue, Lady Wachter has done so obediently, fearful that disobedience will lead to her children’s deaths—or worse. (“He has my sons," Lady Wachter says, her voice cracking as she puts her head in her hands. “He has my *daughter*.") Lady Wachter believes that no person can defeat Strahd’s forces, and believes that any attempt to defy the emissary will lead to her children’s deaths. As such, if the players suggest that she or they defy or attack the emissary, she pleads with them not to do so—threatening to obstruct them by force if need be. (“I would do *anything* for my children," she says, swallowing. “Do you think I would fear death if mine prevented theirs?") The players can convince Lady Wachter to defy Strahd and his emissary—such as by driving the emissary from Wachterhaus or burying the Seeker’s sage-green gem at the Mountain Fane—by succeeding on a DC 25 Charisma (Persuasion) check, succeeding automatically if they ignite the *Sunsword*. The first time Lady Wachter sees the *Sunsword*, read: <div class="description"> Lady Wachter’s eyes well with tears, her lower lip wobbling. She reaches a slow, hesitant hand toward it, as if scared it might burn her. "Is it . . . real?" she whispers. “It’s . . . beautiful." </div> > [!abstract]+ **The *Sunsword* and the Mists** > The first time the players ignite the *Sunsword* while the mists remain in Lady Wachter’s hearth, read: > > --- > > The mists writhe beneath the radiant light—then, with barely a whisper, burn and dissipate away. > [!abstract]+ **Lady Wachter’s Faith** > The players can convince Lady Wachter that “Ezra" is the Dark Powers or some other malevolent entity by succeeding on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check, made with advantage if they share a tale of Varushka, the Abbot, Sergei, or Burgomaster Lazlo Ulrich, and succeeding automatically if they share tales of three or more. > > If she loses her faith in Ezra, Lady Wachter laughs bitterly and asks “what god she can place her faith in, if not the only one she has ever known." If the players encourage her to follow the Morninglord, Lady Wachter seeks Father Lucian’s counsel after freeing him and seeking his forgiveness, and adopts the faith of the Morninglord thereafter. If the players encourage her to follow the Ladies Three, or if they make no suggestion, Lady Wachter retrieves the *stone crest* of the Ladies Three described in [[Arc P - Ravenloft Heist#P2a. Approaching the Crossroads]], seeking faith in the “old gods" that the Vistana Stanimir spoke of. > > Lady Wachter’s *spirit guardians* spell subsequently takes the following forms, depending on which faith she adopts: > > * **The Morninglord.** Rays of sunlight, reminiscent of the dawn. > * **The Ladies Three.** A dire wolf, a giant spider, and a giant raven. ## T5b. Lady Wachter’s Vizier During daylight hours, Castle Ravenloft’s emissary sleeps in a coffin in N4q. Storage Room (p. 114). During nighttime hours, the emissary murmurs directions and listens to reports from the six **swarms of bats** that haunt Vallaki’s nighttime skies. If confronted, Strahd’s emissary hisses that Lady Wachter and the players have made a “grave mistake," and attacks. If bloodied, or if caught in the light of the *Sunsword*, the emissary instead attempts to flee Wachterhaus for [[#T5c. Arasek Stockyard]]. If the players capture the emissary, they can convince her to share the hostages’ location by burning her with the *Sunsword* and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check. On a success, she can share the following information if asked: * Suspecting Lady Wachter’s sympathies might lie with the players, Strahd ordered the emissary to take command in Vallaki and “sow discord and fear" throughout the populace. * The emissary did so by taking Lady Wachter’s children hostage, whom she lured out of Wachterhaus using a potion brewed by the witch coven of Castle Ravenloft, which she fed to them while they slept. * Lady Wachter’s children are being kept in the back office of the warehouse at N5. Arasek Stockyard (p. 115), guarded by two **vampire spawn** and Strahd’s six **swarms of bats**. (A player who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check discerns that this is a half-truth. If pressed, the emissary confesses that the warehouse is guarded by three **vampire spawn** and two sleepless **wights**.) * The spawn have orders to kill Lady Wachter’s children if necessary to secure her compliance. If asked, the emissary denies trapping the warehouse. However, a player who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check discerns that this is a lie. If pressed, the emissary angrily confesses that the two doors into the warehouse have been trapped with bells, alerting the vampire spawn and wights when opened. A player who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check discerns that the emissary hasn’t revealed all she knows. If further pressed, the emissary spitefully (but reluctantly) shares the following additional information: * The vampire spawn and wights have dug pit traps just past both doors leading into the warehouse. * The warehouse office’s door is trapped with tripwires; if triggered, the tripwires activate snare traps tied to the warehouse’s central pulley mechanism. ## T5c. Arasek Stockyard This area is largely as described in N5. Arasek Stockyard (p. 115). The stockyard’s warehouse, which is forty feet long, sixty feet wide, and twenty feet tall, stands directly to the left of N6. Coffin Maker’s Shop (p. 116). It has the following features: * **Front Doors.** A set of tall double wooden doors at the front. An iron chain (AC 19, 10 hit points, and immunity to poison, psychic, and piercing damage) is tied and padlocked around the doors from the inside. In addition, wires tied to either door are connected to bells on the left and right side of the doors, which ring if the doors are opened. (A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals the bells, which can be disabled with a successful DC 12 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check.) * **Back Door.** A single wooden door at the back. The door is locked, requiring a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check to open. In addition, a wire tied to the door is connected to a bell just above the doors, which rings if the door is opened. (A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals the bell, which can be disabled with a successful DC 12 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check.) * **Boarded Windows.** Two boarded exterior windows looking into the warehouse’s back-right corner. The windows once looked into the warehouse’s back office. * **Pit Traps.** Just past the front and back doors, the vampire spawn have dug two ten-foot-wide Pit Traps (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, p. 114) 10-foot-deep pits beneath the floor, covered with weak, half-rotted floorboards that collapse beneath 100 pounds of weight or more. Each pit contains two hunting traps (Player’s Handbook, p. 152). * **Crates.** The warehouse is lined with rows of crates and barrels stacked five to fifteen feet high. The exsanguinated corpse of Gunther Arasek lies between the two westernmost rows. * **Pulley Crane.** A pulley system at the center of the warehouse, currently holding a heavy crate as a counterweight. * **Snare Traps.** Two tripwires running from a wooden pillar to either side of the back office’s wooden door. Each trip wire is three inches off the ground, and can be spotted with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check, made with disadvantage in dim light and automatically failing in darkness. Each trip wire can be disabled with a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check, triggering the trap on a failure. Otherwise, if a creature triggers a trip wire, each creature within five feet of the trip wires must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be hoisted into the air by a thick rope (AC 11, 5 hit points, immunity to poison and psychic damage), leaving it hanging upside down 10 feet above the floor. A creature is restrained while hoisted in this way. * **Back Office Door.** A single wooden door. The door has been boarded up from the inside. A creature can break through the door by succeeding on a DC 25 Strength check, or by destroying the door (AC 15, 15 hit points, immunity to poison, psychic, and piercing damage). * **Back Office.** A small, fifteen-by-ten-foot office in the warehouse’s back corner containing a wooden desk and chair, three coffins, and a filing cabinet containing an assortment of parchment scrolls. The exsanguinated corpse of Yelena Arasek lies slumped against the right-side wall. * **Crawl Holes.** Three five-foot-wide holes cut into the left and front walls of the back office, as well as the rear exterior wall of the warehouse, placed fifteen feet above the ground. (The vampire spawn use the holes to exit the back office into the main warehouse, and to exit the main warehouse onto the roof.) When the players arrive at the warehouse, two **wights** are patrolling the warehouse interior, while Karl, Nikolai, and Stella Wachter are gagged, blindfolded, and restrained by rope in the center of the back office. If the players arrive during the day, six **swarms of bats** slumber on the ceiling and three **vampire spawn** sleep in the coffins in the back office. If the players arrive at night, no swarms of bats remain within the warehouse, two of the vampire spawn patrol the ceilings of the main warehouse, and the third vampire spawn guards the Wachter children in the back office. > [!abstract]+ **The Emissary’s Warning** > If Strahd’s emissary successfully escapes Wachterhaus, she returns to the warehouse and awakens the bats and vampire spawn to guard the warehouse as described above. The bats and vampires awaken if the bell traps ring, if combat erupts, or if the players otherwise fail to conceal their presence. If combat breaks out, two vampire spawn engage the players in the main warehouse while the third guards the Wachter children. If the players successfully breach the back office, the third vampire spawn takes Stella Wachter hostage and readies an action to use its ***claws*** multiattack against her if the players attack. (The vampire intends to use Stella’s life to bargain for its own, hoping to escape through the crawl holes with Stella to safety, bringing her to the Svalich Woods before draining her blood and fleeing on foot.) > [!abstract]+ **Lady Wachter’s Stand** > If the vampire spawn recognize Lady Wachter with the players, they command her to “stand down, unless she wants her children’s corpses to be laid at her feet." If confident in the players’ capabilities, Lady Wachter retorts that, “since she became head of House Wachter, she has lived in one, long night, and never the future." “For most of my life," she adds, her voice steely with quiet determination, “I felt the best I could do was survive until dawn, and then do it all again. But now I have *seen* the dawn, and I know for certain—your master’s night will last no longer." If reunited with her children, Lady Wachter is deeply grateful to the players, and vows to repeal every edict Strahd’s emissary made her sign. “Vallaki is forever in your debt," she says, bowing deeply before them. ## T5d. The Mountain Fane As the players approach The Megaliths (p. 128), read: <div class="description"> A circle of tall, slender megaliths stands shrouded amidst thick clouds of fog at the forest's edge below, with only the stones’ jagged tops visible as they poke through the mist. </div> The area within the cloud of fog is heavily obscured. If the players enter the fog, their presence draws the attention of four **vampiric mists** (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, p. 250). The mists swirl about the players lazily for three rounds, after which one mist attempts to use a single life drain attack on the nearest player, like a shark inquisitively nipping its prey. If the players remain within the fog, all of the vampiric mists attack the following round. > [!info]+ **Fear of Sunlight** > The **vampiric mists** that haunt the Mountain Fane fear sunlight, and flee permanently into the Ethereal Plane if they fall into the *Sunsword*’s light. ### Rahadin’s Vengeance When the players enter the center of the circle, if Rahadin is still alive, read: <div class="description"> A cloaked man sits cross-legged at the circle’s center—but his body is twisted and warped, his ashen skin seeming more shadow than flesh. A line of jagged black spikes grows along his spine, and two skeletal wings of pale, white bone sprout from his shoulder blades. As his eyes slowly open, they glow a bright, sickly yellow that illuminates the fog around him. Above them, three shards of amber stone sit embedded in the flesh of his forehead, glinting eerily in the dim light. </div> After a moment, the players recognize the man as Rahadin, Strahd’s chamberlain. If the players approach him or otherwise make themselves known, Rahadin stands and greets them coldly, noting that he “expected them to come here, sooner or later." He can share the following information if asked: * Following his “disgrace" in [[Arc P - Ravenloft Heist]] (i.e., his failure to capture or defeat the players), his “master" was “gracious enough" to permit him a second chance to prove himself. * Rahadin realized that, unlike his “lord," Strahd, his flesh was weak—even as an elf, he had _aged_ across the past four centuries, growing old and feeble. He resolved to address his “weakness"—and did so by visiting the Amber Temple, where he claimed the vestiges’ gifts for his own. Rahadin has little interest in conversation, and attacks the players in self-defense, if the players reveal the sage-green gem of the Seeker, or at another time of his choosing. If he recognizes Lady Wachter, he promises to make her watch the players’ “slow and painful deaths" before executing her as a traitor himself. <div class="statblock"> <h2>Rahadin, Amber-Touched</h2> Medium humanoid (elf), lawful evil <hr> Armor Class 18 (studded leather) Hit Points 180 (24d8 + 72) Speed 35 ft., fly 35 ft. <hr> <table class="ability-table"> <thead> <tr> <th>STR</th> <th>DEX</th> <th>CON</th> <th>INT</th> <th>WIS</th> <th>CHA</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>14 (+2)</td> <td>22 (+6)</td> <td>17 (+3)</td> <td>15 (+2)</td> <td>16 (+3)</td> <td>18 (+4)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> Saving Throws Dex +12, Wis +9 Skills Acrobatics +12, Deception +10, Insight +9, Intimidation +15, Perception +15, Stealth +18 Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 23 Languages Common, Elvish Challenge 19 Proficiency +6 <hr> Screams of the Dead. Any creature within 20 feet of Rahadin that isn't protected by a mind blank spell hears in its mind the screams of the thousands of people Rahadin has killed. Fey Ancestry. Rahadin has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put him to sleep. Mask of the Wild. Rahadin can attempt to hide even when he is only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena. Amber Corruption. When Rahadin is reduced to 0 hit points, his spine sprouts a long, bony tail tipped with a stinger; his fingers grow long, bony claws; his wings double in size; his mouth becomes a fanged maw; and his flesh becomes translucent and clouded with shadow. His statistics are then instantly replaced by those of his second form. His initiative count doesn’t change, excess damage doesn’t carry over, and he retains none of the conditions he had in his previous form. <h3>Actions</h3> Multiattack. Rahadin makes three attacks with his scimitars Thorn and/or Chain. He can replace one attack with his haunt feature. Thorn. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 6) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage, and Rahadin can force the target to make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or bleed for the next 1 minute. (A bleeding target must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw at the start of each of its turns or take an additional 1d6 slashing damage. On a success or upon receiving magical healing, the target is no longer bleeding.) Chain. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 6) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage, and Rahadin can force the target to make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn. If the target fails by 5 or more, it also falls prone. Haunt. Rahadin forces a creature he can see within 30 feet to succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or take 14 (4d6) psychic damage and be frightened and deafened by shrieking souls until the start of his next turn. <h3>Bonus Actions</h3> Deathly Choir. Each creature within 20 feet of Rahadin that isn't protected by a mind blank spell must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) psychic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. If a creature fails the saving throw by 5 or more, it is also frightened until the start of Rahadin's next turn. Swift Step. Rahadin takes the Dash or Disengage action. <h3>Reactions</h3> Rahadin can take up to three reactions per round, though no more than one per turn. If Rahadin would lose his reactions and isn't incapacitated, he loses one reaction instead. Indomitable. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn. Effect: Rahadin can repeat the saving throw against one effect or condition currently affecting him. (This reaction has no effect if the effect or condition didn’t originally require it to fail a saving throw.) Parry. Trigger: Rahadin is hit by a melee or ranged attack, fails a Dexterity saving throw, or takes damage from magic missile. Effect: Rahadin adds +6 to his Armor Class against that attack or to the result of his saving throw, or takes no damage from magic missile this turn. If he causes a melee attack to miss in this way, he can then immediately use an additional reaction, if available, to use his Riposte against the attacker. Riposte. Trigger: An enemy misses Rahadin with a melee attack. Effect: Rahadin moves up to his speed to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of that enemy without triggering opportunity attacks. He can then immediately make an attack with Thorn or Chain attack against that enemy with advantage. </div> <div class="statblock"> <h2>Rahadin, the Corrupted</h2> Medium humanoid (elf), lawful evil <hr> Armor Class 18 (studded leather) Hit Points 225 (30d8 + 90) Speed 35 ft., fly 60 ft. <hr> <table class="ability-table"> <thead> <tr> <th>STR</th> <th>DEX</th> <th>CON</th> <th>INT</th> <th>WIS</th> <th>CHA</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>18 (+4)</td> <td>22 (+6)</td> <td>17 (+3)</td> <td>15 (+2)</td> <td>16 (+3)</td> <td>18 (+4)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> Saving Throws Dex +12, Wis +9 Skills Acrobatics +12, Deception +10, Insight +9, Intimidation +15, Perception +15, Stealth +18 Resistances bludgeoning, cold, fire, lightning, piercing, and slashing damage Immunities poison, charmed, frightened, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 23 Languages Common, Elvish Challenge 19 Proficiency +6 <hr> Screams of the Dead. Any creature within 20 feet of Rahadin that isn't protected by a mind blank spell hears in its mind the screams of the thousands of people Rahadin has killed. Fey Ancestry. Rahadin has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put him to sleep. Magic Resistance. Rahadin has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Devil’s Sight. Magical darkness doesn’t impede Rahadin’s darkvision. <h3>Actions</h3> Multiattack. Rahadin makes one attack with his tail stinger, one attack with his necrotic slam, and two attacks with his claws. Tail Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned until the start of Rahadin’s next turn. While poisoned, the target can’t regain hit points. Necrotic Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 9 (2d8) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, its hit point maximum decreases by an amount equal to the damage taken. Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage. <h3>Bonus Actions</h3> Shrieking Resonance. Rahadin’s screams of the dead release a shriek that resonates with all *amber shards* in a sixty-foot radius. Each creature in that area carrying an *amber shard* must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be dazed until the start of Rahadin’s next turn. If a creature’s saving throw fails by 10 or more, it’s stunned until the start of Rahadin’s next turn instead. Corrupted Command. Each creature Rahadin has damaged this turn must succeed on a DC 18 Charisma saving throw or suffer the effects of a crown of madness spell until the start of Rahadin’s next turn. While a creature is charmed in this way, Rahadin can cause it to move up to half its speed before attacking. Finger of Death (1/day) Rahadin casts finger of death. <h3>Reactions</h3> Rahadin can take up to five reactions per round, though no more than one per turn. If Rahadin would lose his reactions and isn't incapacitated, he loses one reaction instead. Indomitable. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn. Effect: Rahadin can repeat the saving throw against one effect or condition currently affecting him. (This reaction has no effect if the effect or condition didn’t originally require it to fail a saving throw.) Claws. Trigger: A hostile creature ends its turn within 5 feet of Rahadin. Effect: Rahadin attacks that creature with his claws. Rampage. Trigger: Rahadin reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack. Effect: Rahadin can move up to half his speed and make one attack. ### Reconsecrating the Fane If Lady Wachter buries the Seeker’s sage-green gem within the circle after defying Strahd’s emissary, read: <div class="description"> A pale green light glimmers within the fog, then deepens. The earth itself seems to thrum beneath your feet, even as a sliver of green light stretches across the circle from one side to the other. Slowly, trembling, the sliver begins to widen along its narrowest axis, spiralling patterns filling the space between its ends. It’s an eye—a Titan’s eye, widening and searing with unbridled power. The mists dance and swirl as the eye reaches its widest point. From its edges bursts a pillar of viridian luminescence, shimmering with light and stretching into the heavens. Beneath its light, you can see the roots of the mountains—of Mount Ghakis to the South and Mount Baratok to the north—entwining leagues beneath the soil, choked with darkness and ichor. You can feel the dark, hateful thing constricting them: an ash-grey root forged of corruption and baleful pride, now writhing beneath the light of the eye and bleeding black, poisonous ichor as it dies. The root runs through the earth for miles and miles—until it reaches a mighty fortress of black stone, of tower spires that pierce the stormy sky, and a pair of familiar burning crimson eyes that bore into your soul. And then—the eye blinks, and the root is severed from the mountains. A distant cry of rage and fury echoes in your ears, and the roots of the mountain breathe like a living thing, the miasma within their veins burning away beneath the eye’s unblinking gaze. Overhead, the sky crackles with thunder, and a clean, cool rain begins to fall upon the hilltop. As the fog melts away, small, colorful stems and petals push from the ash-grey muck: wildflowers, colored purple and yellow and blue and red, taking their first breaths from between the cracks of the ancient stone circle. For a moment, in the sky far above, the clouds pull back like a veil, the rain pausing as a sky of purest blue gazes down at the hilltop below. With a thunderclap, the rain stops, and the grey sky returns. But the air is cool and clean, and a gentle breeze whispers across the hilltop. The standing stones glint with an ethereal, mineral shine, and a sense of warmth and peace pervades the circle. At its center, a small sapling grows, its thin branches swaying in the wind. You hear the sound of a distant cackle—an old woman’s voice, gleeful and joyous—and several spheres of glittering pale-green light rise from the earth, then hang patiently in the air before you—as if waiting to be claimed. </div> Each sphere of light is a *boon of the Seeker.* There are enough boons for each character that helped defeat Rahadin, including the players and their companions. A player can claim their *boon of the Seeker* by grasping or touching it. If they do, read: <div class="description"> A small, black tattoo in the shape of a raven’s eye appears in the palm of your hand. </div> > [!item]+ **Boon of the Seeker** > A character who claims the *boon of the Seeker* immediately regains all of their hit points and maximum hit points. In addition, while in Barovia, a character who possesses the *boon of the Seeker* can use their reaction to reroll an attack roll, saving throw, or skill check. Once a character has used this boon three times, it vanishes. > [!info]+ **The Sapling** > A player who succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies the sapling as an ash tree. ***Milestone.*** Reconsecrating the Mountain Fane completes a story milestone. When the players claim the *boon of the Seeker*, award each player 5,500 XP. > [!tip] You've Reached the End of the Mists > You’ve reached the end of the current public release of the *Curse of Strahd: Reloaded* guide. > > To get a sneak peek at drafts for ***Arc U - The Curse of Strahd***, support the guide by joining the author’s [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/DragnaCarta)!