Page 175 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

APPROACHING THE • Elvir, his youngest son
• Stefania, his adult daughter
VINEYARD • Dag Tomescu, Stefania's husband
A branch of the Old Svalich Road leads to the vineyard. All five are members of the Keepers of the Feather (see
If the characters approach along this path, read: chapter 5, area N2). Also present are Stefania and Dag's
four children: a teenage son named Claudiu, two young
boys named Martin and Viggo, and a baby girl named
After a half mile, the road becomes a muddy trail that Yolanda. The three youngest children are noncomba­
meanders through the woods, descending gradually tants; the boys are wereravens with 7 hit points each,
until the trees part, revealing a mist-shrouded meadow. and Yolanda is effectively a human with 1 hit point (she
The trail splits. One branch heads west into the valley, can't assume other forms yet).
If the characters come to the vineyard looking to
and the other leads south into dark woods. A wooden obtain wine, Adrian can confirm that there are three
signpost at the intersection points west and reads, barrels in the loading dock (area W2), plus another three
"Vineyard." barrels and several wine bottles in the cellar (area Wl4).
There is more wine still fermenting (area W9).
If the characters head west on the trail toward the vine­
yard, read: APPROACHING THE WINERY
If the characters continue toward the winery, read:
A light drizzle begins to fall. Unpainted fences blindly
follow the trail, which skirts north of a sprawling vine­ Situated in the midst of the vineyard, the winery is an
yard before bending south toward a stately building. old, two-story stone building with multiple entrances,
The fog takes on ghostly forms as it swirls between the thick ivy covering every wall, and iron fencing along its
neatly tended rows of grapevines. Here and there, you roofline. The trail ends at an open loading dock on the
see rope-handled half-barrels used for hauling grapes. ground floor.
North of the trail is a large stand of trees. A man wearing A wooden stable of more recent construction is at­
a dark cloak and cowl stands at the edge of the trees, tached to the east side of the winery, next to the load­
beckoning you. ing dock. West of the winery is a crumbling well and a
wooden outhouse.
The beckoning figure is one of nine wereravens (LG
male and female humans) hiding in the grove north of When the characters reach the winery, read:
the vineyard. If the characters ignore the cloaked figure
and continue on to the winery, the wereravens keep
their distance and wait to see what happens. You hear the rustle of dead vines all around you. Inhu­
man shapes emerge from the vineyard, their limbs crack­
THE MARTIKOV FAMILY ing as they trudge forth through the mist and rain.
If the characters head toward the cloaked figure, the
other wereravens emerge from the stand of trees and Thirty needle blights (in six groups of five) emerge from
greet them in human form. They wear dark leather rain the surrounding vineyard and make their way toward
cloaks and cowls. the characters and the winery. The blights are 120 feet
One of them is the current owner of the winery and away when they first become visible, and they have a
vineyard, Davian Martikov, who is an old and suspicious walking speed of 30 feet. Characters can either barri­
man. Until he trusts the characters, he says nothing cade themselves inside the winery, thus keeping the
about the stolen gems but tells them that evil druids and needle blights at bay, or stand and fight. lf they stay out­
blights have attacked the winery and forced his family to side and fight, druids and'blights from inside the winery
take refuge in the woods. join the battle on the rounds·stiown below ..
_
If the characters.rid the winery ofits invaders, Da­
vian is grateful. Only then does:he teH thein that the Round Creatures
vineyard's three �agic l's�eds"'naVe been stole�. H.e de: 3 1 druid and 24 twig blights (from area W9)
;
scribes them as gems the size a�d sh�pe' of pinecones, 4 1 druid and s need!� blight� (from ·area Wl.4)
each one containing a' glowing green light as brfght as a 5 1 druid and 2 vine blights (from area W20)
torch. For the good.of all Barovia, he urges:the charac­
ters to travel to Berez (area U) and Yester Hill (area ) to
Y
retrieve two of them. He has no idea what happened to The druid lurking in area W16 carries a Gulthias staff
the third gem. (see appendix C). If the staff is destroyed, all blights
Davian's group includes the following people: within 300 feet of it instantly wither and die.
Davi an
Adrian, his eldest son
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CHAPTER 12 I THE WIZARD OF WINES

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