Page 166 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

• Berez was abandoned long ago after the river rose and
Hidden by the fog and elevated a few feet above the sur­ flooded the village.
rounding marsh is a raised plot of land, barely ten feet • An ancient and powerful hag named Baba Lysaga
on a side, enclosed by a disintegrating iron fence. In the lives in a hut in the middle of the village. When not in
center of the plot is a life-sized stone monument carved her hut, Baba Lysaga flies around in a giant skull.
in the likeness of a kneeling peasant girl clutching a rose. • The scarecrows of Berez are murderous creatures
under the hag's control. They surround Baba Lysaga's
Although her features are gray and weatherworn, she hut and serve as an early warning system.
bears a striking resemblance to lreena Kolyana. Carved Baba Lysaga periodically sends her scarecrows to at­
into the monument's base is an epitaph. tack the Wizard of Wines, a winery and vineyard west
of Berez. She's made enemies of the Martikov family,
which owns and operates the winery and vineyard.
The epitaph reads as follows: Marina, Taken by • The hag has trapped several mountain goats in a pen
the Mists. near the ruins of an old mansion. (Muriel assumes
that Baba Lysaga feeds on these animals.)
FORTUNES OF RAVENLOFT Muriel avoids combat and flees if attacked. She conceals
If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is her lycanthropic nature for as long as possible, and she
hidden in a cavity underneath the monument, which can doesn't willingly identify other wereravens with whom
be tipped over or moved aside by someone who makes a she's acquainted. She can't be persuaded to accompany
successful DC 15 Strength check. the characters if they decide to confront Baba Lysaga.
If the characters disturb the monument, read: However, Muriel knows Barovia well enough to point
out other nearby locations that might interest the adven­
The croaking frogs and chirping crickets fall silent, and turers, including the ruined mansion of Argynvostholt
the stench of decay grows strong. You hear the trudge of (see chapter 7) and the ancient burial ground known
as Yester Hill (see chapter 14). Muriel grew up hearing
heavy footsteps through mud and water as bloated gray stories about the druids ofYester Hill, specifically how
shapes shamble out of the fog. they turned away from their ancient beliefs to worship
the devil Strahd. Muriel knows that the druids visit the
Seven distended human corpses have risen from the circle of standing stones from time to time, and she does
mire west of the monument. These walking corpses are her best to avoid them.
60 feet away when first seen. Use the commoner sta­ CIRCLE OF STANDING STONES
tistics for the corpses, but reduce their walking speed This ring of menhirs is one of the oldest structures in
to 20 feet and give them immunity to the charmed and the Balinok Mountains-older than the Amber Temple,
frightened conditions. When a corpse is reduced to O hit and much older than Castle Ravenloft and the various
points, it splits open, disgorging a swarm of poisonous Barovian settlements scattered throughout the valley.
snakes. The snakes are hungry and fight until slain. The menhirs were raised by the same ancient folk who
Characters can take the treasure and flee, easily out­ carved the megaliths near Old Bonegrinder (see chapter
pacing the snake-swollen corpses. 6). Characters who have seen those megaliths can, with
a successful QC 10 Intelligence check, discern rudimen­
U6. STANDING STONES tary similarities between those stones and the menhirs
arranged here.
The circle is 100 feet across, and the menhirs are
A dozen moss-covered menhirs form a near-perfect circle spaced apart at regular intervals. The stones located to
in the spongy earth. These weathered stones range in the north, west, south, and east are taller than the other
height from 15 to 18 feet. A couple of them lean inward eight stones, which have weatherworn glyphs carved
as if to share some great secret with their inscrutable into them that represent different animals. Characters
neighbors. A wary-looking peasant woman lurks behind who inspect the smaller menhirs can discern the follow­
the tallest stone, a rusty lantern clutched in one gnarled ing animal shapes carved into them: bear, elk, hawk,
goat, owl, panther, raven, and wolf.
hand and a dagger clutched in the other. The standing stones are nonmagical. However, druid
characters who enter the circle can sense that powerful
'The woman is Muriel Vinshaw, a wereraven (see gods once blessed this site, ·and that it still holds soine
appendix D) and friend ot the Martikov family (see measure of power. They can also sense one of its prop­
chapters 5 and 12). A resident of Vallaki, Muriel spies erties, namely_ that creatures,�ithin the circle can't be
.
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on Baba Lysaga for her feiic:w\".ereravens. However, . ,; targeted by aqy divination m�gic pr �rcei�_ed through
r
magical Scrying �ehsors.'.: ,.1 ·L.';� }:: ::>' .· .· / .. ·: ,' -; , · .
she avoids the village proper: preferring to lurk on the :;-
outskirts. If the character� allow her to speak, Muriel . . T-h'e: drcle 'has ;, an,other properw.:tl:i'a( druitl 'ch'ara¢te�s'
.
,
·
warns them.about thedang�rs of Berez and arms them. ··: .. can;t s·e11�e)m{migiit,disc;yifr wh�rl.they' use �heWii� . . ,
...
with the following infomiatibn: , ;: : : si:i.f p�{ t��(iiEe .within the·:c:i�c1�:tc.?.n!i-ris/Any . �ruia :
...
.
. "; . . ·, ·, that uses tfieWild Shape feature WitJiin'th.e. C:ircle gams
::: /the maxirm.i�'nuinber,�fhifpolnti�va11'able�fo_the new
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CHAPTER 10 ?r�� RlJINS·OF BEREZ
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