Curse of Strahd

The ceiling here is 30 feet high and flat. The statue in Pile 4
the northern alcove is an amber golem (use the stat A pile of iron ingots (worth 250 gp total and weighing
block for the stone golem in the Monster Manual). It at­ 2,500 pounds)
tacks any creature that disturbs the treasure. The golem Thirty holy symbols (worth 5 gp each) of gods from
can leave the room but can't leave the Amber Temple. various worlds
A set of twelve copper chalices with silver filigree
See area X41 for a description of the cracks in the (worth 25 gp each)
south wall. A gilded skull with red garnets in its eye sockets
(worth 250 gp)
TREASURE Eight warhammers and six war picks
Six piles of treasure are numbered on the map.
Pile 5
Pile 1
9,000 sp (loose)
17,500 cp (loose) Six nonmagical crystal balls (worth 20 gp each)
Thirty 50 gp gemstones A bronze crown with tiny gem-eyed dragons for spires
Three rusted suits of plate armor (worthless) (worth 750 gp)
Nine rusted shields (worthless) A life-sized wooden pony (worth 25 gp)
A child-sized sarcophagus made of black wood inlaid Six marble vases (worth 100 gp each and weighing
with gold (worth 250 gp) 100 pounds apiece)

Pile 2 Pile 6

12,000 sp (loose) 7,000 wooden coins painted gold (worthless)
Five rusted suits of ring mail and six rusted breast­ 15,000 cp in fifteen iron pots
plates (worthless) An obsidian scepter with gold filigree (worth 2,500 gp)
A silvered rapier with a pink glass hilt Eleven rusted helms (worthless)
Four rusted greatswords (worthless) Fifteen thin, leather-bound tomes, all of them signed
A gilded chariot (worth 750 gp) copies of a storybook called Snow Dwarfand the
Seven Wights, by Nitch Rackmay.
Pile 3
6,600 ep (loose), each coin stamped with the profiled FORTUNES OF RAVEN LOFT
visage of Strahd If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it's
Seventy-five empty bottles buried in a random pile of treasure (roll a d6).
A trunk filled with six fine dresses and gowns (worth
25 gp each) X41. FISSURE
Ten pieces of jewelry (worth 250 gp each) and 500 gp
in a rotted wooden chest An earth tremor split the rock between areas X40 and
Eight painted ceramic statues of saints (worth 250 gp X42, creating two natural openings that are virtually
each and weighing 50 pounds each) side by side. The openings are 3 feet wide, 8 feet high,
and 10 feet deep.

X42. AMBER VAULT

/.\MBER GOLEM A golden marble staircase with a black marble railing
hugs the north wall as it spirals gently up a thirty-foot­
wide shaft. Lying in the middle of the room are six rotting
wooden crates.

The amber-covered walls are sculpted to look like
tentacles that entwine around marble bas-reliefs of
kings, queens, pharaohs, and sultans attended by myr­
iad slaves.

The west, south, and east walls contain alcoves, and
standing in each alcove is a tall, rough block of amber.
Two wide cracks have opened up in the south wall, spill­
ing rubble and shattered pieces of amber onto the floor
in the southeast corner of the room.

The spiral staircase climbs 30 feet to area X30.
See area X41 for a description of the cracks in the
south wall.

CHAPTER 13 1 THE AM BER TEMPLE 195

�----

Inside the wooden crates, buried in earth, are six is identical to that of the resurrection spell, except that
vampire spawn created by Strahd from a dead party of it works regardless of how long the creature has been
adventurers. As soon as they hear intruders in the room, dead. After it has been used once, the dark gift vanishes.
the vampire spawn burst out of their crates and attack,
fighting until destroyed. The beneficiary of this dark gift takes on a corpselike
appearance and is easily mistaken for an undead.
TELEPORT DESTINATION
Characters who teleport to this location from area SPECIAL EVENTS
K78 in Castle Ravenloft arrive at the point marked T
on the map. Two dusk elves are drawn to the Amber Temple for dif­
ferent reasons. You can use one or both of the following
AMBER SARCOPHAGI special events while the characters explore the temple.
Characters who touch the amber sarcophagi are offered
dark gifts by the evil vestiges contained within them (see RAHADIN'S PRAYER
the "Amber Sarcophagi" sidebar earlier in this chapter).
Kasimir will know when he touches the east sarcopha­ Strahd's loyal chamberlain, Rahadin (see appendix D),
gus in this area that he has found the dark gift he seeks. believes that his master forged a pact with the nameless
god of secrets to whom the Amber Temple is dedicated.
West Sarcophagus. The vestige within this sarcopha­ The dusk elf comes to the temple on occasion to petition
gus offers "the dark gift of the Vampyr" to any humanoid the dark god into releasing his master from his torment.
creature of evil alignment that touches it. The Vampyr's
gift is the immortality of undeath. If the dark gift is Rahadin rides a phantom steed along Tsolenka Pass
accepted, its effect doesn't occur until the following con­ to the Amber Temple and kneels before the great statue
ditions are met, in the order given below. The creature in area XS. (The arcanaloth that guards the temple
becomes aware of the conditions only after accepting knows Rahadin and doesn't harm him. The arcanaloth
the dark gift. and the flameskulls don't attack other visitors until Ra­
hadin is killed or leaves.) Rahadin then pulls out a live
The beneficiary slays another humanoid that loves or toad, swallows it whole as a sacrifice, and offers a ges­
reveres him or her, then drinks the dead humanoid's ture of supplication to the secret god.
blood within 1 hour of slaying it.
The beneficiary dies a violent death at the hands of DEVELOPMENT
one or more creatures that hate it. Rahadin knows that Strahd will deal with the charac­
ters when he sees fit. If the characters confront the dusk
When the conditions are met, the beneficiary instantly elf, he defends himself but won't cause them any perma­
becomes a vampire under the Dungeon Master's con­ nent harm. Strahd's chamberlain would sooner die than
trol (use the stat block in the Monster Manual). allow himself to be captured. Rahadin doesn't divulge
his reason for visiting the temple, or even who is he or
After receiving the dark gift, the beneficiary gains the what role he serves. Left to his own devices, he rides
following flaw: "I am surrounded by hidden enemies back to Castle Ravenloft.
that seek to destroy me. I can't trust anyone."
KASIMIR's DARK GIFT
South Sarcophagus. The vestige within this sarcoph­
agus offers "the dark gift of Tenebrous" to any humanoid If Kasimir Velikov (see appendix D and chapter 5, area
creature of evil alignment that can cast 9th-level wizard N9a) finds his way to area X42 and accepts the dark gift
spells. Tenebrous's gift is the secret of lichdom. This ofZhudun, he then asks the characters to accompany
dark gift grants its beneficiary the knowledge needed to him to the catacombs of Castle Ravenloft so that he can
perform the following tasks: restore the life of his centuries-dead sister, Patrina Ve­
likovna (see chapter 4, area K84, crypt 21).
Craft a phylactery and imbue it with the power to con­
tain the beneficiary's soul DEVELOPMENT
Concoct a potion of transformation that turns the If Kasimir succeeds in his quest, the newly resurrected
beneficiary into a lich Patrina (NE female dusk elf archmage) feigns repen­
tance until she regains her strength and her spells,
Construction of the phylactery takes 10 days. Concoct­ whereupon she travels to Castle Ravenloft and attempts
ing the potion takes 3 days. The two items can't be to return to Strahd, seeking to become his vampire
crafted concurrently. When the beneficiary drinks the bride at last. The mutilation of her brother at the hands
potion, he or she instantly transforms into a Heh under of Rahadin, Strahd's chamberlain, doesn't sit well with
the Dungeon Master's control (use the stat.block in her. She hopes to avenge her bro_ther and distract the
the Monster Manual, altering the Lich's prepared spells characters by setting them on a path. to kil_ling Rahadin,
as desired). who has long opposed her l1}arriage to S�ahd.

The beneficiary of this dark gift gains the following Strahd has lost interest in Patrina as a·consort. Given
flaw: "All I care about is acquiring new magic and ar­ the chance, he turns her into a vampire spawn and puts
cane knowledge." her back in her crypt-a fate she would do everything
in her power to prevent. Her attraction to Strahd is out­
East Sarcophagus. The vestige within this sarcopha­ matched by a desire to increase her own power. She is
gus offers the dark gift ofZhudun, the Corpse Star.Zhu­ no one's plaything.
dun's gift is the power to raise the ancient dead. As an
action, the beneficiary of this dark gift can touch the re­
mains of a dead creature and restore it to life. The effect

--=-=-1 ---=�196 1 CHAPTER 13 I THEAMBE�TEMPLE
,(- '\,J/..l__ - '\ .\\! /'
·,:·

CHAPTER 14: YESTER HILL

HE DRUIDS WHO WORSHIP STRAHD AS These burial mounds predate the arrival of Strahd
and the druids. They have remained undisturbed for
lord of the land and master of the weather centuries. Buried under the rocks are the moldy bones
convene here, atopYester Hill, on the very of an ancient tribe of berserkers that once lived in the
edge of Strahd's domain. This hill is also mountains. (See "Blood Spear of Kavan" in the "Special
where the evil blights that walk the Svalich Events" section below.)
Woods are born, and where Strahd comes
on occasion to glimpse his ancestral home. Y3. DRUIDS' CIRCLE

AREAS OF THE HILL Atop the hill is a wide ring of black boulders and smaller
rocks that collectively form a makeshift wall enclosing a
The following locations correspond to labels on the map field of dead grass. Lightning strikes the edge of the ring
ofYester Hill on page 199. from time to time, illuminating a ghastly, fifty-foot-tall
statue made of tightly woven twigs and packed with black
Yl. TRAIL earth. The statue resembles a towering, cloaked man
with fangs.
The trail through the thick woods leads to a hill covered
with dead grass and cairns of black rock. Dark, ominous The ring of boulders that surrounds the field is 250
clouds gather high above, and a single bolt of lightning feet in diameter and ranges from 5 to 10 feet high. Any
strikes the hilltop. West of the hill, the land, the woods, creature that climbs over the black boulders has a 10
and the sky vanish behind a towering wall of fog. percent chance of being struck by lightning, taking
44 (8d10) lightning damage. Characters can avoid
The trail splits as it climbs the hillside, forming two con­ the damage by sticking to the two trails that pass
centric rings (areaY2). The trail also leads to the hilltop through the ring.
(areasY3 andY4). The wall of fog (areaYS) marks the
edge of Strahd's domain.

Y2. BERSERKER CAIRNS

Dirt trails run along two concentric rings of cairns that
encircle the hillside. Each cairn is a ten-foot-high mound
of slimy black rocks.

BY DAY OR NIGHT, STRETCHING UP •

to the limits of vision, the edges ofmy --- _J 197
realm are marked by a great wall of �.2' 1.,\\-
mist. I was there at its birth.

-Strahd van Zarovich
in I, Strahd: The Memoirs ofa Vampire

�'\ I

WOODEN STATUE Y4. GULTHIAS TREE

The giant statue bears an eerie resemblance to Strahd At the south end of the hilltop is a sickly copse, a grove of
von Zarovich. Close inspection reveals roots sprouting
from the ground around its base. These roots are part dead trees and shrubs with a huge, misshapen tree at its
of the Gulthias tree in area Y4. They wrap around the
statue, providing added support and durability. The core. Blood oozes like sap from its twisted trunk. Skulk­
roots not only prevent the statue from being toppled but
also allow the effigy to serve as a component in a ritual ing around the tree are six gangly' humanoid creatures
to create a tree blight (see "Druids' Ritual" in the "Spe­ covered with needles. Embedded in the tree is a shiny
cial Events" section below). Planted in the "heart" of this
wooden effigy is a magic gem stolen from the Wizard of battleaxe, beneath which lies a humanoid skeleton.
Wines vineyard (chapter 12).
The tree is a Gulthias tree (see the blights entry in the
The statue has AC 10, 50 hit points, and immunity to Monster Manual), the roots of which extend deep be­
poison and psychic damage. If the statue takes fire dam­ neath the hill. Lurking among the dead trees and shrubs
age after being splashed with oil, it catches fire, taking are three vine blights, six needle blights, and twelve
2d6 fire damage each round. If the statue is reduced to 0 twig blights. The needle blights are plainly visible, but
hit points, it collapses, and the magic gem tumbles onto the False Appearance feature of the vine blights and
the field, glowing with a bright green light. the twig blights allows them to hide in plain sight. The
blights attack anyone who harms the Gulthias tree,
HIDDEN GRAVES which has no actions or effective attacks of its own.
Hidden throughout the field inside the boulders are six
druids (CE male and female humans) and six berserk­ The Gulthias tree has AC 15, 250 hit points, and im­
ers (CE male and female humans), all descendants of munity to bludgeoning, piercing, and psychic damage. If
the ancient mountain tribe whose members are buried it is reduced to O hit points, it seems to be destroyed but
on this hill and all covered head to toe in bluish-gray isn't truly dead; it regains 1 hit point every month until
mud. They have long, tangled hair and wild-looking it is fully healed. With a successful DC 15 Intelligence
eyes. To honor their dark "god," they sleep in earthen (Nature) check, a character can determine that the en­
graves hidden under covers made of sod and dead grass. tire stump must be uprooted for the tree to truly die. The
Characters entering the circle who have a passive Wis­ Gulthias tree withers and dies in 3d10 days if a hallow
dom (Perception) score of 16 or higher notice the dozen spell is cast in its area.
covered graves scattered throughout the field. The dru­
ids and the berserkers rise from their graves and attack The Gulthias tree creates blights from ordinary plants
if anyone approaches or damages the statue, or if they and is the only tree of its kind in Barovia. If the Gulth­
are discovered and attacked. ias tree is killed, no new blights can be created within
Strahd's domain. Award the party 1,500 XP for destroy­
The druids are waiting to begin a ritual to summon ing the Gulthias tree.
forth an enormous tree blight. Only one druid is needed
to complete the ritual, but the druids won't begin with­ The skeleton lying at the base of the Gulthias tree is
out Strahd's blessing. Thus, they are waiting for him all that remains of a human adventurer who was killed
to appear. The ritual can't be completed if the statue is by blights while trying to cut down the tree.
destroyed or the magic gem is removed.
TREASURE
If the characters discern or divine the gem's location The dead adventurer's tattered leather armor isn't sal­
with the aid of magic, they can try to dig the gem out vageable, but the axe embedded in the tree is a magic
of the statue's chest. Climbing up the statue is a sim- battleaxe. Its handle is carved with leaves and vines, and
ple matter, requiring no ability check, and a character the weapon weighs half as much as a normal battleaxe.
within reach of the chest cavity can use an action to dig When the axe hits a plant, whether an ordinary plant or
into it. Have that character's player roll a d20: on a result a plant creature, the target takes an extra ld8 slashing
of 13 or higher, the character unearths the gem and can damage. When a creature of non-good alignment wields
take it as part of his or her action. the axe, it sprouts thorns whenever its wielder makes an
attack with it. These thorns prick the wielder for 1 pierc­
DE VELOPMENT ing damage after the attack is made, and this damage is
If the druids and the berserkers are killed, their num­ considered magical.
bers are replenished as·otherfi ret'urn from forays into
the Svalich Woods. At the end·of eac\i day, at dusk, FORTUNES OF RAVENLOFT
ld4 - 1 druids and ld4 -;1 bers'er-kers arrive until there . If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it's
are six of each.
buried amid the roots of the Gulrhias tree, beneath the
skeleton of the dead adventurer. Characters who dig in
the ground under the skeleton automatically find it.

r9S t CHAPTER 14 I YESTER HILL

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�-----�- t'CHAPTER 14 I YESTER HILL r99

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