# The Old Svalich Road

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

> [!infobox]
> ![loc road ambush 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-road-ambush-1.webp)
> **Region:** [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/the-old-svalich-road.md) · level 4
> **Resting:** Risky
> **Light:** dim, outdoors

## Overview

An open stretch of the Old Svalich Road between ditches and stone field walls: where the road's random fights and meetings play out.

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

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

## Getting here

### Ways out

| # | Exit | Leads to | Only when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | On along the road, west | the travel map |  |
| 2 | On along the road, east | the travel map |  |

## Map

![road ambush](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/maps/road-ambush.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 road ambush spot1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-road-ambush-spot1.webp)
*a tumbled field wall, a gap in the field wall*

![loc road ambush spot2](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-road-ambush-spot2.webp)
*a platform up a pine by the road*

![loc road ambush spot3](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-road-ambush-spot3.webp)
*a loose board in the broken cart*

## What to find

| # | Where | What | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | a loose board in the broken cart (hidden) | [Dust of Dryness](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#dust-of-dryness) | Search: Investigation DC 12 |
| 6 | a gap in the field wall (hidden) | [Gloves of Swimming and Climbing](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#gloves-of-swimming-and-climbing) | Search: Perception DC 14 |

The containers here also get random magic items and potions, rolled for a party of level 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | a tumbled field wall | Athletics 13 | Shift the tumbled stones | finds Gloves of Swimming and Climbing |
| 4 | a platform up a pine by the road | Athletics 12 | Climb to the hunters' platform | 12 gp; lore: The hunters' warning |

## Fights

- *The lanterns drop into the mud, still burning. The mourners come on without them.*, in [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-svalich-road-the-old-svalich-road.md): [Strahd Zombie](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/strahd-zombie.md).