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The gates close behind the characters after they pass The character can follow the stench to its source:
through. If the characters are riding in Vistani wagons,
the gates open in front of the lead wagon and close when
the rear one has entered. The foul scent leads you to a human corpse half-bur-
The eastern gates don't open for people trying to ied in the underbrush about fifteen feet from the road.
leave Strahd's domain unless they are accompanied The young man appears to be a commoner. His muddy
by Vistani. The fog chokes any non-Vistani that passes clothes are torn and raked with claw marks. Crows have
through the gates or skirts around them when they are been at the body, which is surrounded by the paw prints.
closed (see "Mists of Raven loft" earlier in this chapter).
If Strahd is defeated, the gates of Barovia swing open, The man has obviously been dead for several days. He
and the road east becomes clear of fog. holds a crumpled envelope in one hand.

C. SVALICH WOODS
The dead man, Dalvan Olensky, was trying to escape
from Barovia with a letter from his master when he was
killed on the road by Strahd's dire wolves. Wanting to
Towering trees, whose tops are lost in heavy gray mist, return at once to Strahd, the wolves left the body in the
block out all but a death-gray light. The tree trunks are woods but have not yet returned to feast.
unnaturally close to one another, and the woods have the The letter in Dalvan's hand has a large "B" set into
silence of a forgotten grave, yet exude the feeling of an its wax seal. The parchment is worn and flimsy. If the
unvoiced scream. characters open and read the letter, show the players
"Kolyan Indirovich's Letter (Version 2)" in appendix F.
The letter is dated one week ago.
If the characters are traveling in Vistani wagons, they Dalvan was instructed to place the letter at the gates,
can continue on to the village of Barovia (area E) with­ in the hope that visitors would find it and turn back.
out incident. If the characters linger in the woods, they hear a lone
If the characters are following the road on foot, the wolf howl far off in the forest. Each round, one more
party member who has the highest passive Wisdom wolf adds its voice to the howling, with the sound getting
progressively closer to the party. If the characters are
(Perception) score notices something:
I You catch the scent of death on the air. I still in the woods after 5 rounds of howling, five dire
wolves arrive and attack. If the characters are trying
to leave Barovia, these dire wolves are joined by a pack
of twenty wolves. The wolves and the dire wolves stop
their attack if the characters return to the road and head
toward the village of Barovia (area E).