# The Wards of St. Markovia

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

> [!infobox]
> ![loc abbey of st markovia wards 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-abbey-of-st-markovia-wards-1.webp)
> **Region:** [The Abbey of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/the-abbey-of-st-markovia.md) · level 7
> **Resting:** no
> **Light:** dim
> **Getting here:** [The Abbey of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-abbey-of-st-markovia.md)
> **Quests:** [Mother's Ninth Improvement](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/mothers-ninth-improvement.md)

## Overview

The abbey's east wing: the Belview family's warren in the old kitchen, the infirmary hall, the foundling ward where the abbey once raised the valley's orphans, a row of barred cells, the matron's locked room, and the surgery where Vasilka lies waiting under a sheet.

**Resting:** no Something in the cells is saying your name, in your own voice, over and over. Nobody sleeps here.

![loc abbey of st markovia wards overview](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-abbey-of-st-markovia-wards-overview.webp)
*The whole place from above.*

## Getting here

### Ways in

- **From [The Abbey of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-abbey-of-st-markovia.md):** The wards

### Ways out

| # | Exit | Leads to | Only when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Out to the courtyard | [The Abbey of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-abbey-of-st-markovia.md) |  |

## Map

![abbey of st markovia wards](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/maps/abbey-of-st-markovia-wards.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 abbey of st markovia wards spot1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-abbey-of-st-markovia-wards-spot1.webp)
*Belview, the Belviews' stew pot*

![loc abbey of st markovia wards spot2](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-abbey-of-st-markovia-wards-spot2.webp)
*a foundling's locker*

![loc abbey of st markovia wards spot3](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-abbey-of-st-markovia-wards-spot3.webp)
*Instrument cabinet, a false back in the instrument cabinet*

## People

- **[Belview](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/belview.md)**, One of the Belview Family: The Belviews' kitchen (#2)

> [!note]- Who turns up at points in the story (2)
> - **[Vasilka](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/vasilka.md)**, The surgery (#3): when not wedding dress delivered and not vasilka fate; or when vasilka fate is “never woke”
> - **[Mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/mother.md)**, The Belviews' kitchen (#4): when not mother flown

## What to find

| # | Where | What | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | a foundling's locker | [Blanket](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#blanket), [Candle](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#candle) ×2, 3 gp | open it |
| 6 | the matron's trunk | [Fine Clothes](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#fine-clothes), [Perfume](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#perfume), 12 gp | open it |
| 7 | Instrument cabinet | [Healer's Kit](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#healers-kit), [Vial](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#vial) ×3, [Antitoxin](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#antitoxin) | open it |
| 8 | the Belviews' stew pot | [Ration](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#ration) ×2, 2 gp | open it |
| 10 | a child's hidden treasure under the cots (hidden) | [Figurine of Wondrous Power (Golden Lions)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#figurine-of-wondrous-power-golden-lions) | Search: Perception DC 14 |
| 11 | something sewn into the trunk's lining (hidden) | [Robe of Useful Items](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#robe-of-useful-items) | Search: Investigation DC 14 |
| 12 | a false back in the instrument cabinet (hidden) | [Periapt of Proof against Poison](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#periapt-of-proof-against-poison) | Search: Investigation DC 15 |

**Tarokka treasure spots.** If the reading hid one of the treasures here, it's in: Abbey of St Markovia Wards (foundling_locker)

The containers here also get random magic items and potions, rolled for a party of level 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | a basin and instruments | Medicine 14 | Study the surgeon's instruments | finds Periapt of Proof against Poison; lore: The Abbot's surgery |

### Locked and secret doors

- The matron's door: lock DC 13

## Fights

- *The bars bang open all down the row. They come out low and fast, in every shape the Abbot ever tried, and…*, in [The Wards of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wards-of-st-markovia.md): [Berserker](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/berserker.md), [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md). Scales with your level.
> [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)
> - **[The Wards of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wards-of-st-markovia.md)**, when level ≥ 7: 2 × Belview Brute ([Berserker](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/berserker.md)), 6 × [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md) (1200 XP)
> - **[The Wards of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wards-of-st-markovia.md)**: Belview Brute ([Berserker](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/berserker.md)), 4 × [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md) (650 XP)

## Quests and lore

- [Mother's Ninth Improvement](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/mothers-ninth-improvement.md): Mother, the Belviews' matriarch, hasn't left the abbey since she was carried up the mountain as a baby. Now that the Abbot is done…