Village of Barovia

Overview

The Old Svalich Road runs through the village from the gates and the mists in the east to the far hills in the west, past doors nailed shut. A big house stands behind an iron fence to the north-west, a church on its rise to the north-east, and a tall, handsome house behind a rusted fence at the south-east edge.

Resting: Risky: a rest here can be interrupted.

Getting here

Ways in

• The travel map: Village of Barovia, in Barovia.
• From Death House, Dungeon (Upper Level): The trapdoor

Ways out

#	Exit	Leads to	Only when
1	Burgomaster's mansion	Burgomaster's Mansion	ismark met or ireena door opened
2	Church	Village Church
3	Blood of the Vine	Blood of the Vine
4	Bildrath's Mercantile	Bildrath's Mercantile	not night
5	Shuttered townhouse	Mad Mary's House
6	Death House	Death House, Ground Floor
7	The Old Svalich Road, east	The Old Svalich Road
8	The Old Svalich Road, west	the travel map	village departed
9	Up the north path into the pines	The Charcoal-Burners' Hollow	hollow known

Map

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

Widow Ileana, a loose grave slab, Old graves, a crack in the lych-gate post, a raven on the lych-gate

A Goat, Collapsed barn, a stash under the fallen beams

Castle on the cliff, the road west

People

• Widow Ileana, Mourner in the Churchyard: Churchyard, 09:00–16:00 (#22)
• A Goat, Of the Back Lanes: Back lanes (#27)

What to find

Tarokka treasure spots. If the reading hid one of the treasures here, it's in: Village of Barovia:churchyard (churchyard_loose_slab)

The containers here also get random magic items and potions, rolled for a party of level 3 the first time you come (Random Treasure). Hidden finds need a Search (F) nearby; the party's best roll counts.

Skill checks

Fights

• The churchyard earth heaves. Old graves split along their seams, and the village's dead climb out to finish…, in Village of Barovia: Strahd Zombie, Zombie. Scales with your level.

• Shapes stand in the square, swaying like washing on a line. They turn toward you all at once., in Village of Barovia: Strahd Zombie, Zombie. Scales with your level.

• The carriage lamp stops at the end of the lane. Its door opens on nothing, and a tall shape in a coachman's…, in Village of Barovia: Vampire Spawn, Strahd Zombie, Dire Wolf, Swarm of Bats, Zombie. Scales with your level. Part of The Polite Caller.

• The woodpile stands up. It is taller than Grigore's house, logs for ribs and roots for fingers, and the…, in Village of Barovia: Shambling Mound, Vine Blight, Needle Blight, Twig Blight. Scales with your level. Part of Cut After Noon.

• The logs split in the fire, and things crawl out of the splits: pale, thorned, too many legs, and very angry…, in Village of Barovia: Vine Blight, Needle Blight, Twig Blight. Scales with your level. Part of Cut After Noon.

• The water in the well climbs the shaft on its own. She comes up out of it in her wedding veil, screaming, and…, in Village of Barovia: Banshee, Specter, Shadow. Scales with your level.

Quests and lore

• Count Off: Ilse Varga's mercenary company marched into the mists a year ago at the invitation of someone who signed himself S. She was meant to march…
• Cut After Noon: The woodcutters of Barovia cut what they need by noon and go home. Grigore's son stayed late, and brought something back.
• Ireena's Escort: Strahd has fed on Ireena Kolyana twice. Her brother Ismark believes she'll be safer behind the walls of Vallaki, to the west.
• Six Feet: Old Mihail the sexton digs graves before anybody has died. There's always somebody by the end of the week.
• The Burgomaster's Burial: Kolyan Indirovich, burgomaster of the village of Barovia, died three nights ago. His children want him buried in the churchyard, and no…
• The Burgomaster's Hound: The dead burgomaster's wolfhound howls every night at the mansion's study wall, not at the wolves.
• The Doll Collector: Izek Strazni, the Baron's enforcer, has dreamed of a red-haired woman all his life, and has had her face carved over and over.
• The Fourth Sister: Once Morgantha is dead, a girl sells plain pastries on the miller's lane below Old Bonegrinder, and says her Granny is coming for her…
• The Goatherd's Count: Goodwife Petra's grandson Erno counts one more goat every evening on the high pasture than he owns.
• The Last Muster: Every night, riders made of bones go east along the Old Svalich Road to the Gates of Barovia, and none of them comes back.
• The Last Traveller: A young man in rags and beautiful boots sits at the edge of the mists on the Old Svalich Road, asking what day it is.
• The Nursemaid's Grave: Old Mihail the gravedigger says a girl in a nursemaid's cap stands at the churchyard wall by night and won't come in. Nobody ever brought…
• The Oat Thief: Somebody is stealing four sacks of oats a week from Bildrath's back room, and the lock is never touched.
• The Polite Caller: Widow Ileana's husband Teodor died three winters ago and still knocks at her shutter every night. He has never once asked to be let in.
• The Priest's Son: Screams rise from beneath the village church. Father Donavich's son Doru came back from Castle Ravenloft as something else, and his father…