# Death House, Upper Floor

> From the Curse of Strahd game wiki (it covers the whole game, spoilers included): https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/death-house-upper-floor.html. Unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy, not approved or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.

> [!infobox]
> ![loc death house upper 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-death-house-upper-1.webp)
> **Region:** [Death House](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/death-house.md) · level 2
> **Resting:** Risky
> **Light:** dim
> **Getting here:** [Death House, Ground Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/death-house-ground-floor.md), [Death House, Third Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/death-house-third-floor.md)

## Overview

The second storey: the upper hall with its hearth, the family portrait and two suits of wolf-helmed armor, a library with a secret study behind a bookcase (Strahd's letter, the family deeds), the servants' room and a conservatory with a harpsichord that remembers a lullaby.

**Resting:** Risky: a rest here can be interrupted.

![loc death house upper overview](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-death-house-upper-overview.webp)
*The whole place from above.*

## Getting here

### Ways in

- **From [Death House, Ground Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/death-house-ground-floor.md):** Stairs up
- **From [Death House, Third Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/death-house-third-floor.md):** Stairs down

### Ways out

| # | Exit | Leads to | Only when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stairs down | [Death House, Ground Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/death-house-ground-floor.md) |  |
| 2 | Stairs up | [Death House, Third Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/death-house-third-floor.md) |  |

## Map

![death house upper](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/maps/death-house-upper.svg)

**Key:** gold, people; red, containers; purple, hidden finds; teal, skill checks; white, exits; orange, traps. The numbers match the lists on this page.

### Close up

![loc death house upper spot1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-death-house-upper-spot1.webp)
*the library desk, a bookcase*

![loc death house upper spot2](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-death-house-upper-spot2.webp)
*an iron-banded chest, a skeleton in leather armor, a letter signed S*

![loc death house upper spot3](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-death-house-upper-spot3.webp)
*a footlocker, a standing harp, a lute case behind the harp*

## What to find

| # | Where | What | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | the library desk | [Parchment](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#parchment) ×3, [Ink](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#ink), [Ink Pen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#ink-pen), [Iron Attic Key](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#iron-attic-key) | open it |
| 4 | an iron-banded chest | [Book](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#book) ×3, [Spell Scroll (Bless)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#spell-scroll), [Spell Scroll (Protection from Poison)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#spell-scroll), [Spell Scroll (Spiritual Weapon)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#spell-scroll) | lock DC 13 |
| 5 | a skeleton in leather armor | [Leather Armor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#leather-armor), [Dart](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#dart) ×3 | open it |
| 6 | a footlocker | [Traveler's Clothes](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#travelers-clothes), [Ration](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#ration) ×2, 3 gp | open it |
| 9 | a hollow book among the histories (hidden) | [Wand of Magic Missiles](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#wand-of-magic-missiles) | Search: Investigation DC 14 |
| 10 | a lute case behind the harp (hidden) | [Instrument of the Bards (Doss Lute)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#instrument-of-the-bards-doss-lute) | Search: Investigation DC 13 |
| 11 | something under a servant's bed (hidden) | [Gloves of Missile Snaring](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#gloves-of-missile-snaring) | Search: Perception DC 14 |

The containers here also get random magic items and potions, rolled for a party of level 2 the first time you come ([Random Treasure](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/random-treasure.md)). Hidden finds need a Search (F) nearby; the party's best roll counts.

### Skill checks

| # | Where | Check | Try | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | a bookcase | History 13 | Read the titles on the odd shelf | reveals study_bookcase |
| 8 | a standing harp | Performance 13 | Play the standing harp | Heroic Inspiration |

### Traps

| # | Trap | Find DC | Disarm DC | Save | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | a rotten floorboard | 11 | 11 | DEX 11 | 1d6 bludgeoning |
| 13 | blades in the wainscot | 13 | 13 | DEX 12 | 2d6 slashing |

### Locked and secret doors

- the swinging bookcase: secret, found at DC 13

## Quests and lore

> [!quote]- A History of the Valley
> A dry, careful history of the valley. Centuries ago a warlord named Strahd von Zarovich drove out the armies of a rival and claimed these mountains for his family; the people who live here now are the descendants of those he ruled. The author adds, in a nervous footnote, that the valley's lord has never been seen to age, and that it is wise not to write about him at night.

> [!quote]- a letter signed S
> Gustav. Your devotion has been noted, and declined. You mistake me for a god who answers prayers; I am a lord who collects what he is owed. Your circle of candles and borrowed incantations will not buy you a single extra year, let alone eternity. Should it ever amuse me, I may come to dinner. Do not set a place. S.

> [!quote]- a black pamphlet
> A thin pamphlet, printed privately, with no author's name. It promises that the Lord of the valley rewards those who feed the land, and that the patient and the hungry will be raised up when he returns their gifts. It ends with a single line set in heavy type: one must die, that the rest may live forever. Someone has underlined it twice.