Page 202 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

CHAPTER 15: WEREWOLF DEN

EST OF LAKE BARATOK IS A CAVE Toranescu. She knows she can't slay Kiri] on her own,
complex that the werewolves of Barovia and after what happened to Emil, the rest of the pack is
use as a den. Characters who interro­ unwilling to challenge Kiri l's authority and face Strahd's
gate captured werewolves can learn wrath. Kiri I won't let Zuleika hunt, so she's more or less
the den's location. Most of the werewolf confined to the den.
pack is out hunting when the characters
first arrive, including the pack's leader, TRAVEL THROUCH THE MISTS
Kiril Stoyanovich. The werewolves serve Strahd out of fear, believing that
The werewolves call themselves the Children of Mother Night has blessed him with godlike powers and
Mother Night, because they all worship that deity. Re­ eternal life. Although he can't leave Barovia, Strahd can al­
cently, a schism formed within the pack as the result of low certain creatures to come and go, such as the Vistani.
a challenge to Kiril's leadership. The rift began when He periodically allows the werewolves to slip past the
another werewolf, Emil Toranescu, questioned the treat­ misty borders as well, so that they can bring or lure others
ment of children kidnapped by the pack. into his domain. Unlike the Vistani, however, the were­
Kiri I would arm the children with weapons and force wolves can't come and go as they please.
them to fight each other to the death until only one child
was left standing. The winner would then be turned into APPROACHING THE DEN
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
would ensure the werewolves' survival, whereas Kiril Above the tree line, carved into the side of a rocky moun­
saw a larger pack as too difficult to control and feed. tain spur, is a wide, torchlit cave that looks like the gap­
This ideological divide couldn't be reconciled and led ing maw of a great wolf.
to many disagreements. The other werewolves were
split between the two camps, and it seemed likely that
either Kiri I or Emil would die before the conflict could One hundred feet above the cave mouth (area Zl), far­
be resolved. ther up the sloping mountainside and not visible from
Then Kiri I disappeared for several days, causing the the cave mouth or its vicinity, is a rocky ledge (area 28).
other werewolves to wonder whether he had fled or had A character can scale the slope to reach the ledge with­
been quietly disposed of by Emil and his allies. When out the need for a climber's kit or ability checks.
Kiril returned, he was accompanied by a pack of several
dozen dire wolves loyal to Strahd, and he brought word
from Castle Raven loft that Strahd was not pleased with
Emil's attempt to fracture the pack. The dire wolves took
Emil back to Castle Raven loft to f�ce punishment, an·d
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 of a Vampire

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