Page 39 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

If Strahd has invited the characters to Castle Ravenloft GREEN SLIME
or otherwise wants to steer them in his direction, add: A patch of green slime (see "Dungeon Hazards" .in chap­
ter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide) clings to the port­
cullis in the entry tunnel, and can be spotted with a suc­
Parked at the fork in the road, pointed east, is a large cessful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check. The slime
black carriage drawn by two black horses. The horses will not fall on characters entering the castle, but it does
snort puffs of steamy breath into the chill mountain air. fall on the first character who leaves by this route.
The side door of the carriage swings open silently.
K. CASTLE RAVENLOFT
Chapter 4 explores Castle Ravenloft, lair of the vampire
The two black draft horses are under Strahd's control.
The horses wait for the characters to pile into the car­ Strahd von Zarovich.
riage if they so desire. There is room inside for eight L. LAKE ZAROVICH
of them. If they get into the carriage, the horses draw
it down the road to area]. The horses can't be discour­
aged from their course, not even by a skilled teamster.
Characters who don't want to travel east in the car­ At the foot of a mountain, nestled in the misty forest, is a
riage can follow the road northwest through a set of iron large lake. The water is perfectly still and dark, reflecting
gates (area B) that open as they approach and close be­ the black clouds overhead like a monstrous mirror.
hind them, or the characters can travel south along the
winding road to the bridge at Tser Falls (area H).
If the characters arrive along the shore north of Vallaki
J. GATES OF RAVENLOFT in the daytime, add:
The following text assumes that the characters arrive
here in the carriage from area I. Modify the text as Pulled up along the south shore are three small row­
needed if the characters arrive by another means. boats. A fourth boat can be seen in the middle of the
lake, with a lone figure sitting in it, fishing pole in hand.
After winding through the forest and craggy mountain
peaks, the road takes a sudden turn to the east, and Each rowboat can safely hold five people. The person
the startling, awesome presence of Castle Raven loft fishing on the lake is Bluto Krogarov (NE male human
towers before you. The carriage comes to a dead stop commoner), a resident ofVallaki. He is in a trance and
before twin turrets of stone, broken from years of ex­ doesn't respond to anything or anyone unless attacked.
His boat is 400 feet from the nearest shore. Tied up in
posure. Beyond these guard towers is the precipice of the boat is a seven-year-old Vistana named Arabelle (LN
a fifty-foot-wide, fog-filled chasm that disappears into female human commoner with 2 hit points and no effec­
unknown depths. tive attacks). She is bound with hempen rope, wrapped
A lowered drawbridge of old, shored-up wooden in a burlap sack, and lying prone so that she can't be
beams stretches across the chasm, between you and the seen or heard from the shore.
archway to the courtyard. The chains of the drawbridge ROLEPLA YING BLUTO
creak in the wind, their rust-eaten iron straining under Bluto Krogarov is a destitute drunkard. He's desperate
the weight. From atop the high walls, stone gargoyles to catch some fish and trade them for wine at the Blue
stare at you out of their hollow eye sockets and grin hid­ Water Inn. After he was unable to catch a single fish for
a week, he kidnapped Arabelle, believing that Vistani
eously. A rotting wooden portcullis, green with growth, are lucky. He intends to sacrifice her to the lake, hoping
hangs above the entry tunnel. Beyond this location, the it will give up some of its fish in return.
main doors of Raven loft stand open. A rich, warm light If the characters watch Bluto from the sh9re for sev­
spills from within, flooding the courtyard. Torches flutter eral minutes, or if they row out into the lake to greet
sadly in sconces on both sides of the open doors. him, he tosses the burlap sack into the water, watches it
sink, and waits with fishing pole in hand for his reward ..
Bluto is a hollow shell of a·man, barely able to under­
_
The drawbridge appears sturdy, but :;i few of its boards stand his own actions. He is unarmed and does nothing
are missing and it creaks and g�oans under a�y weight. to aid or thwart the characters.
Each time a creature other than ·strahd or a horse that
draws his carriage crosses the drawbridge, there is a 5 ROLEPLAYING ARABELLE
percent chance of one of its boards breaking under the Characters who act quickly cari save Arabelle before
creature. If a board breaks, the creature must succee.d she drowns. A character on the shore must succeed on
on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall to the bottom a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to reach her in time.
of the cliffs, 1,000 feet below. If a companiol') is within 5 The DC is 10 for characters who took a rowboat out
feet of the creature and reaches out to grab it, the crea­ onto the lake.
ture has advantage on the save.

CHAPTER 2 I THE LANDS OF BAROVIA

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