Page 172 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

In the middle of the room is a 5-foot-square hole in the tated until someone reactivates it. If it is reduced to O hit
floor and ceiling, with a rusty chain near each corner. points, the armor falls to pieces and is destroyed.
The chains are part of the tower's elevator mechanism A lavender aroma emanates from the wooden chest,
(see area V4). The 5-foot-square sections of floor that which is unlocked and safe to open. It contains the sev­
surround the central shaft are weak. Each 5-foot section ered head of a human Vistana named Yan. Its flesh has
can support 150 pounds; any more weight causes the a waxy complexion and has been embalmed with magic
section to collapse, and any creatures standing on that oils. If a speak with dead spell is cast on his head (which
section fall 20 feet to the ground floor. would need to be taken somewhere away from the tow­
er's spell drain effect), Yan reveals that he was banished
V6. TOWER, THIRD FLOOR from his clan for stealing. A half-elf bard named Rictavio
offered Yan a ride in his carnival wagon. The two trav­
eled together for several days, but their time together
Time and the elements have all but destroyed this cham­ was tense. When it was clear that Rictavio was looking
ber, leaving a gash in the northwest wall and slimy black for a road to Barovia, Yan tried to steal the wagon as
mildew on the walls. The wooden floor is completely rot­ well as Rictavio's pet monkey, but Rictavio got the better
ted and has begun to fall away in places. of him and drove a sword through his gullet.
The magic oils preserving Yan's head allow it to re­
member conversations it has while under the effect of
In the middle of the room is a 5-foot-square hole in the speak with dead. Rictavio has cast speak with dead on
floor and ceiling, with a rusty chain near each corner. the head twice to ask questions about the Vistani of
The chains are part of the tower's elevator mechanism Barovia. Yan believes that the half-elf plans to cause
(see area V4). The 5-foot-square sections of floor that great harm to the Vistani and begs the characters to
surround the central shaft are weak. Each 5-foot section warn his people. He doesn't know where his body is.
can support 50 pounds; any more weight causes the sec­
tion to collapse, and any creatures standing on that sec­ FORTUNES OF RAVENLOFT
tion fall 40 feet to the ground floor, smashing through If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it's
the second floor on the way down. in a narrow compartment hidden in the wall behind the
suit of armor. If the armor is activated and commanded
V7. TOWER, FOURTH FLOOR to retrieve the treasure, it pulls the stones out of the
wall, revealing the treasure beyond.
If the characters have collapsed the tower (see
Unlike the levels below, this room shows signs of recent area V2), they find the treasure after ld8 + 2 hours of
habitation, and although the place reeks of mold and mil­ searching through the rubble. For each hour they spend
searching, they have a 10 percent chance of accidentally
dew, it has plenty of creature comforts, including a cozy unearthing a clay golem (see area V4) that withstood
bed, a desk with matching chair, bright tapestries, and a the collapse. The golem, which took no damage from the
large iron stove with plenty of wood to feed it. Ught en­ collapsing tower, is berserk and attacks until destroyed.
ters through arrow slits as well as through dirt-caked win­
dows with broken shutters. Other features of the room SPECIAL EVENTS
include a standing suit of armor and a wooden chest. You can use one or both of the following special events
Old wooden rafters bend under the weight of the tower while the characters are exploring Van Richten's Tower.
roof, which has somehow remained intact. Mounted to PACK ATTACK
the rafters are pulleys around which hang iron chains
that support the tower's elevator platform. If the characters blew up Ezmetelda's wagon, activated
the lightning sheath around the tower, or caused the
tower to collapse, the sound of their handiwork echoes
Van Richten spent several months in this room, review­ through the valley as far west as Krezk and as far east
ing a lifetime's worth of research on Strahd von Za­ as Vallaki. The disturbance attracts the attention of a
rovich-notes that, once he committed them to memory, pack of werewolves, which arrives after 1 hour.
he burned in the stove. He also burned his journals. The werewolves haunt the Svalich Woods west of
Ezmerelda searched the room, hoping to find a clue to Van Richten's Tower. They come running in wolf form,
her mentor's plan or whereabouts. Among the things hoping to trap prey on the island by cutting off access to
_
she found here was a rolled-up map of Barovia and a · the causeway.
burned page from van Richten's journal, which she took Leading the hunt is Kiri! Stoyanovich, a werewolf
and hid in her wagon (area Vl). with 90:hit p_oints. Accompanying him are six normal
The standing armor is a suit of animated armor. It is .werewolves and nine wolves. While in wolf form, th�
incapacitated until someone speaks the command word . �erewolves are i:ndistingt,iish�ble 'ffom �rdi�ary wolves:
.
("Khazan") within 10 feefof it, whereupon the armor · Theyejther ,rema.in in wolff9rm or as�ume hybrid form.
,
follows the commands of the one who activated it. If 24· C H the,characterS·\Vere _drawn into' Ba:rovia by the ...
hours pass without ifs rece.iving a new.instruction from ''Werewolves in the Mist" adventure hook, this en-
its controller, the anfmate.d armor becomes incapaci- . counier �epr�sents·a climactic co�fro�t_ation between
.
. :"'",. . .