# Old Bonegrinder, the Hill

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

> [!infobox]
> ![loc old bonegrinder hill 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-old-bonegrinder-hill-1.webp)
> **Region:** [Old Bonegrinder](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/old-bonegrinder.md) · level 6
> **Resting:** Risky
> **Light:** dim, outdoors
> **Getting here:** the travel map (Old Bonegrinder)
> **Quests:** [The Children in the Mill](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-children-in-the-mill.md)

## Overview

A bald crag above the Old Svalich Road, ringed with pines, where a windmill with stopped sails keeps a yard of trampled mud, a garden nobody should eat from, a heap of bones and a dead oak full of ravens.

The track climbs out of the trees onto bare rock. The windmill stands at the top with its sails locked in a cross; smoke leaks from a pipe in its side, and the whole hill smells of baking.

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

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

## Getting here

### Ways in

- **The travel map:** Old Bonegrinder, in Old Bonegrinder. It shows once bonegrinder rumor or morgantha cart met or tarokka.tome.region is old bonegrinder or tarokka.symbol.region is old bonegrinder or tarokka.sword.region is old bonegrinder.

### Ways out

| # | Exit | Leads to | Only when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Down the track to the road | the travel map |  |
| 2 | The mill door | [Old Bonegrinder](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/old-bonegrinder.md) | not bonegrinder burned |

## Map

![old bonegrinder hill](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/maps/old-bonegrinder-hill.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 old bonegrinder hill spot1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-old-bonegrinder-hill-spot1.webp)
*Morgantha's pastry cart, a kitchen garden, a coil of rope on a peg*

![loc old bonegrinder hill spot2](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-old-bonegrinder-hill-spot2.webp)
*a dead oak full of ravens, a raven's hoard in the dead oak*

![loc old bonegrinder hill spot3](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-old-bonegrinder-hill-spot3.webp)
*Ravens, a heap of bones*

## People

> [!note]- Who turns up at points in the story (3)
> - **[Ilinca Vrana](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ilinca-vrana.md)**, The dead oak (#3): when not ilinca joined and not children rescued
> - **[Iulian](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/iulian.md)**, The mill yard (#4): when not morgantha slain and not bonegrinder burned
> - **[Lucia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/lucia.md)**, The mill yard (#5): when not morgantha slain and not bonegrinder burned

## What to find

| # | Where | What | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Morgantha's pastry cart | [Dream Pastry](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#dream-pastry) ×4, [Basket](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#basket), 9 gp | open it |
| 9 | a heap of bones (hidden) | [Holy Symbol (Amulet)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#holy-symbol-amulet) | Search: Perception DC 13 |
| 13 | a raven's hoard in the dead oak (hidden) | [Figurine of Wondrous Power (Silver Raven)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#figurine-of-wondrous-power-silver-raven) | Search: Perception DC 14 |
| 14 | a coil of rope on a peg (hidden) | [Rope](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#rope) | Search: Perception DC 12 |
| 15 | Something glinting in the scree (hidden) | [Bell](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#bell) | Search: Perception DC 13 |
| 16 | Something in the ditch (hidden) | [Vicious Dagger](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#vicious-weapon) | Search: Perception DC 13 |

The containers here also get random magic items and potions, rolled for a party of level 6 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 dead oak full of ravens | Animal Handling 14 | Win the ravens' trust | finds Figurine of Wondrous Power (Silver Raven) |
| 8 | Ravens | Intimidation 12 | Scatter the ravens from the bone heap | finds Holy Symbol (Amulet); on a failure: 1d4 piercing damage |
| 10 | a kitchen garden | Nature 14 | Pick through the hags' garden | Antitoxin ×2; lore: The hags' garden |
| 11 | the view from the crag | Perception 14 | Scan the lane from the crag | reveals old_bonegrinder_track:ditch_vial |
| 12 | Cart ruts | Survival 12 | Follow the cart ruts | lore: Who comes up the hill |

## Quests and lore

- [The Children in the Mill](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-children-in-the-mill.md): Two children from the village under the castle are caged in the loft of Old Bonegrinder, the windmill where Morgantha and her daughters…