# The North Shoulder of Ghakis

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

> [!infobox]
> ![loc ghakis shoulder 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-ghakis-shoulder-1.webp)
> **Region:** [Mount Ghakis](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/mount-ghakis.md) · level 10
> **Resting:** Risky
> **Light:** dim, outdoors
> **Getting here:** the travel map (The North Shoulder of Ghakis)
> **Quests:** [The Warm Snow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-warm-snow.md)

## Overview

A shelf of steaming black rock high on Mount Ghakis, where the snow won't lie, and an iron gate in the mountain with the count's crest on it (The Warm Snow, docs/story/side_quests.md).

Slush, then mud, then bare black rock that steams in the cold. At the top of the shelf, an iron gate set into the mountain, and warm air breathing out round it, slowly, in and out.

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

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

## Getting here

### Ways in

- **The travel map:** The North Shoulder of Ghakis, in Mount Ghakis. It shows once quest.the warm snow.

### Ways out

| # | Exit | Leads to | Only when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The goat path back round the gorge | the travel map |  |
| 2 | The goat path back round the gorge | the travel map |  |
| 3 | Into the mountain | [Under Mount Ghakis](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/under-mount-ghakis.md) |  |
| 4 | Into the mountain | [Under Mount Ghakis](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/under-mount-ghakis.md) |  |

## Map

![ghakis shoulder](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/maps/ghakis-shoulder.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 ghakis shoulder spot1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-ghakis-shoulder-spot1.webp)
*the drivers' box, Something in the slush*

![loc ghakis shoulder spot2](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-ghakis-shoulder-spot2.webp)
*the crest on the gate, Scorched rock*

![loc ghakis shoulder spot3](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-ghakis-shoulder-spot3.webp)
*Meltwater*

## People

> [!note]- Who turns up at points in the story (2)
> - **[Petrache](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/petrache.md)**, Before the gate (#5): when not ghakis prisoners freed
> - **[Doina](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/doina.md)**, Before the gate (#6): when not ghakis prisoners freed

## What to find

| # | Where | What | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | the drivers' box | [Potion of Resistance (Fire)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#potion-of-resistance-fire), 35 gp | open it |
| 10 | Something in the slush (hidden) | [Potion of Resistance (Fire)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#potion-of-resistance-fire) | Search: Perception DC 14 |

The containers here also get random magic items and potions, rolled for a party of level 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Scorched rock | Arcana 15 | Judge what scorched the rock | lore: Fire on Ghakis |
| 9 | Meltwater | Nature 14 | Follow the meltwater | finds Potion of Resistance (Fire) |

## Fights

- *The figures by the cart turn round all together. Under the wet hoods their faces are grey and dry as old…*, in [The North Shoulder of Ghakis](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-north-shoulder-of-ghakis.md): [Wight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/wight.md), [Helmed Horror](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/helmed-horror.md).

## Quests and lore

- [The Warm Snow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-warm-snow.md): Sergeant Valcu's log has forty years of smoke on the north shoulder of Mount Ghakis, snow that melts in midwinter, and the count's cart…