Page 157 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

time. The dressmakers are quick to point out that Bar­ Ireena hears a gentle voice calling to her. It leads her
oness Lydia Petrovna, the wife ofVallaki's burgomaster, to the edge of the blessed pool (area S4). If the charac­
owns a beautiful white bridal gown (see chapter 5, area ters follow her, read:
N3p). The baroness, eager to please, is willing to give up
her dress for a good cause, although her husband won't
allow it and could care less about Krezk's problems. As lreena reaches the pool's edge, an image appears in
If the characters don't accompany Anna on her quest, its sparkling blue waters: a handsome youth of kind and
her expedition falls prey to the perils of the wilderness noble visage. The sadness in his eyes turns to sudden joy.
and never returns. Krezkov sends more villagers to find "Tatyana!" he says. "It has been so long! Come, my
them, and these villagers are also lost. Unwilling to risk love. Let us be together at last."
any more lives, Krezkov visits the abbey for the first
time in his life and makes a desperate plea to the Abbot, lreena gasps and puts a hand on her heart. "My be­
who ignores the plea. Characters can escort the burgo­ loved Sergei! In life, you were a prince and a man of faith.
master to the abbey or eavesdrop on the burgomaster's We were to be married long ago. Has this blessed pool
conversation with the Abbot. If they do, they hear the called your spirit to me?" She reaches toward the water's
Abbot promise "divine retribution" as punishment. surface as a hand of water rises up to take hers.
The evening after the burgomaster's visit, the Abbot
releases all the mongrelfolk in the abbey's madhouse
(area S15) and sets them on the village. They steal pigs, If the characters intervene, pulling Ireena away from the
chickens, and anything else that's edible. None of the water's grasp, the hand sinks back into the pool, Sergei's
villagers are harmed, but their food supplies are de­ image fades, and she cries as she screams his name.
pleted, and 2d6 mongrelfolk are killed. The surviving If the characters allow her to take the hand, read:
mongrelfolk return to the abbey with their plunder. The
burgomaster is so distraught that he hangs himself from
the rafters of his cottage a few days later. lreena is pulled into the pool and embraces Sergei be­
The characters can stop all this from happening by neath the rippling water. You have never seen a happier
delivering the dress to the Abbot. They can also stop couple as they both begin to fade from view.
the mayhem by halting the mongrel folk as they descend
from the abbey or by killing the Abbot beforehand.
The spirit of Sergei takes Ireena to a place where
DEVELOPMENT Strahd can't harm her. She is safe with him.
If Lydia Petrovna's bridal gown is delivered to the Abbot, Whether or not Sergei takes Ireena, Strahd senses
he honors whatever deal he made with the characters. that the two have found each other. He reacts as follows:
If the characters resort to magical trickery (for example,
creating an illusory dress), the Abbot becomes hostile
toward them once the deception is revealed. A peal of thunder shakes the land, and the dark clouds
coalesce into a terrible visage. A deep, dark voice from
SOMETHING BLUE beyond the mountains cries out, "She is mine!" A terrible
This encounter occurs if the characters bring Ire­ crack resounds as blue lightning splits the sky and strikes
ena Kolyana to Krezk, as the priest Donavich sug­ the pool.
gested (see chapter 3, area E5f).
Each creature within 15 feet of the pool must make a
successful DC 17 Dexterity check or be knocked prone.
The blast knocks down the old gazebo as well. A crea­
BARON KRE"lKOV ture in the water when the lightning strikes must make
a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 44 (8d10)
lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much dam­
age on a successful one.
Strahd's wrath destroys the blessing on the poql,.ren­
dering its waters nonmagical and pre�enting the spirit
of Sergei from manifesting in.therjtagain.
DEVELOPMENT
If Sergei and Ireena are brought together, Ireeri.a is
no longer within Strahd's grasp. Str<!hd blames the
characters for his loss and seeks to destroy them from
this moment on. Not long afterward, he has one of his
servants deliver a letter to the characters, inviting them
to Castle Raven loft. If the characters open and read the
letter, show the players "Strahd's Invitation" in appendix
F. If the characters head toward the castle, they have no
threatening random encounters on the way.
BARONESS KRE"lKOVA
156 CHAPTER 8 I THE VILLAGE OF KREZK
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