Curse of Strahd

Y5. WALL OF FOG (area Y4) has been reduced to O hit points, the ritual
won't work. Druids who realize that the tree has been
Yester Hill gets its name from a strange phenomenon destroyed know enough not to attempt the ritual.
that can be observed by anyone who looks into the mists
from the hilltop or the western hillside: Strahd observes the proceedings, defending the dru­
ids if they are attacked and retreating if outmatched.
As you look west into the curtain of fog, you see a white
fortress on a hill above a great city. The city appears DEVELOPMENT
quite distant, maybe a mile away. The fog obscures all If the characters are present when the druids complete
detail, but you can hear what sounds like the echo of a the ritual, read:
church bell.
A thirty-foot-tall plant creature bursts out of the statue,
The Dark Powers have created a false image of Strahd's sending twigs and earth flying. The creature resembles a
ancestral home within the fog, just beyond reach. dead treant with green light seeping out of it.
Strahd comes to the hill on occasion to gaze upon the
city, even though he knows it can't be real. The image The creature that erupts from the wooden statue is a
tantalizes him. tree blight (see appendix D) that the druids call Win­
tersplinter. The green light comes from the magic gem
Any creature that enters the deadly fog is subject embedded in its "heart." The gem can be removed only
to its effects (see the "Mists of Ravenloft" section in when Wintersplinter is dead.
chapter 2).
The druids command Wintersplinter to travel north
If the characters ask an NPC spellcaster about this and lay waste to the Wizard of Wines vineyard (chapter
part of the wall of fog, that person might relate an an­ 12). Although the characters might not understand what
cient legend about it. According to the mountain folk the druids are up to, they will no doubt wonder where
of Barovia, there was always a wall of mist near Yester the druids are sending the tree blight. As Wintersplinter
Hill, even before the deadly mists entrapped all of Baro­ travels north, its destination should become clear to
via. The ancient folk called the mist the Whispering characters who have previously visited the winery and
Wall, for within it they could hear the whisper of voices the vineyard. Whether they try to halt its advance is
from the past and the future. They believed that an up to them.
ancient god gave up his divinity to preserve the world
from destruction and that his last exhalation as a god Once the tree blight departs, Strahd commands the
produced this mist. Within it were all his memories of druids and berserkers to leave the hill so that he can be
the world and all his visions of its possible futures, and alone. As they flee into the woods, he gazes longingly
with proper preparation, a seeker could go on a vision at the image of his ancestral homeland to the west
quest within it. Some students of the arcane contend (see area Y5).
that the Dark Powers took a bit of that fog and twisted it
to create the mists of Barovia, and that perhaps Strahd's BLOOD SPEAR OF KAVAN
domain is just a dark memory in the Whispering Wall. The spirit ofKavan, a long-dead barbarian chieftain,
reaches out to one of the characters, preferably a barbar­
SPECIAL EVENTS ian, a druid, or a ranger. Read the following text to that
character's player:
You can use one or both of the following special events
while the characters explore Yester Hill. You hear a whisper, a deep voice carried on the wind.
"Long have I waited," it says, "for one who is worthy.
DRUIDS' RITUAL My spear hungers for blood. Retrieve it, and rule these
mountains in my stead, just like the mighty warriors from
You can allow this event to unfold regardless of whether the early days of the Whispering Wall."
the characters have visited Yester Hill. Even if the char­
acters don't experience this event as it happens, they The character feels drawn to one of the cairns on the
can still deal with the aftermath. (see "Wintersplinter hillside (see area Y2). When the character approaches
Attacks" in the "Special Events" section in chapter 12). within 30 feet of it, the presence ofKavan's magic spear
(see "Treasure" below) under the rocks is felt.
Strahd travels to Yester Hill, arriving astride his
nightmare, Beucephalus (assuming the characters TREASURE
didn't kill it in the catacombs· of Castie Ravenloft), or The rocks of the cairn are heavy but can be rolled aside,
in bat form. revealing a blood spear (see appendix C) lying amid
Kavan's moldy bones. Any creature can wield the spear,
Strahd's arrival prompts the druids in area Y3 to rise but only the character chosen byKavan to wield it gains
from their "graves" and begin their ritual. When the a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this
ritual begins, the druids use their actions to chant and magic weapon.
dance about. To complete the ritual, the druids must
chant for 10 consecutive rounds, with at least one of ' /'
them chanting each round. If a round goes by and none '- V
of the druids are able to chant on their turn, the ritual ",(.
is ruined and must be started anew. If the Gulthias tree

CHAPTER M I YESTER HILL
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CHAPTER 15: WEREWOLF DEN

EST OF LAKE BARATOK IS A CAVE Toranescu. She knows she can't slay Kiri] on her own,
and after what happened to Emil, the rest of the pack is
complex that the werewolves of Barovia unwilling to challenge Kiril's authority and face Strahd's
use as a den. Characters who interro­ wrath. KiriI won't let Zuleika hunt, so she's more or less
gate captured werewolves can learn confined to the den.
the den's location. Most of the werewolf
pack is out hunting when the characters TRAVEL THROUCH THE MISTS
first arrive, including the pack's leader, The werewolves serve Strahd out of fear, believing that
Kiril Stoyanovich. Mother Night has blessed him with godlike powers and
The werewolves call themselves the Children of eternal life. Although he can't leave Barovia, Strahd can al­
Mother Night, because they all worship that deity. Re­ low certain creatures to come and go, such as the Vistani.
cently, a schism formed within the pack as the result of He periodically allows the werewolves to slip past the
a challenge to Kiril's leadership. The rift began when misty borders as well, so that they can bring or lure others
another werewolf, Emil Toranescu, questioned the treat­ into his domain. Unlike the Vistani, however, the were­
ment of children kidnapped by the pack. wolves can't come and go as they please.
KiriI would arm the children with weapons and force
them to fight each other to the death until only one child APPROACHING THE DEN
was left standing. The winner would then be turned into
a werewolf, ensuring what Kiril called "the strength and When the characters first approach the werewolf
purity of the pack." Emil advocated keeping all the chil­ den, read:
dren alive and turning them into werewolves, thus in­
creasing the pack's size. Emil believed that a larger pack Above the tree line, carved into the side of a rocky moun­
would ensure the werewolves' survival, whereas Kiril tain spur, is a wide, torchlit cave that looks like the gap­
saw a larger pack as too difficult to control and feed. ing maw of a great wolf.
This ideological divide couldn't be reconciled and led
to many disagreements. The other werewolves were One hundred feet above the cave mouth (area Zl), far­
split between the two camps, and it seemed likely that ther up the sloping mountainside and not visible from
either KiriI or Emil would die before the conflict could the cave mouth or its vicinity, is a rocky ledge (area 28).
be resolved. A character can scale the slope to reach the ledge with­
Then KiriI disappeared for several days, causing the out the need for a climber's kit or ability checks.
other werewolves to wonder whether he had fled or had
been quietly disposed of by Emil and his allies. When
Kiril returned, he was accompanied by a pack of several
dozen dire wolves loyal to Strahd, and he brought word
from Castle Ravenloft that Strahd was not pleased with
Emil's attempt to fracture the pack. The dire wolves took
Emil back to Castle Ravenloft to f�ce punishment, and·
he was never seen again.
Kiril reestablished his dominance, but his ideas and
tactics didn't sit well with the pack'� older �emb�rs,
and they certainly didn't please Emil's mate, Zuleika

THE WOLVES BEGAN TO HOwt.

They knew me. All the wolves of
Barovia did.

-Strahd von Zarovich
in J, Strahd: The Memoirs ofa Vampire

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202 CHAPTER 15 I WEREWOLF DEN

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