# Count Off

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

> [!infobox]
> ![quest kestrel company](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/quest-kestrel-company.webp)
> **Type:** Side quest
> **Region:** Companions
> **Starts at:** [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-svalich-road.md)

## Summary

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 with them.

## Walkthrough

### Getting the quest

This is **Ilse Varga**'s personal quest (the Human Fighter, a Champion, with the Soldier background). Ilse is one of the first four heroes, and they left the roster on 2026-10-06, so a new game can't pick her. The quest only runs in a save from before then with Ilse in the party. A custom hero never answers to her name, so nothing here shows without her: the tallies, Jory and Vell are all hidden unless Ilse is with you. Companion approval doesn't apply to her (it's only for the six new heroes), so no ending here is gated by it.

It starts the first time you walk into the mist at the east end of [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-svalich-road.md) with Ilse in the party. Corporal Vell only walks the road at level 5 or higher, and the finale is in Castle Ravenloft.

### Step by step

1. **The letter's S.** In [Blood of the Vine](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/blood-of-the-vine.md), at your first conversation with [Ismark Kolyanovich](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ismark-kolyanovich.md), pick Ilse's **Show him the letter signed with an S.** He knows whose hand it is. The quest moves to *The Host*, and later Strahd mentions the letter at the burial. After this, a Long Rest brings Ilse's talk about the fever that kept her in bed while the company marched. It doesn't come if she reported the fever to Madam Eva.
2. **Night one.** At [The River Ivlis Crossroads](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-river-ivlis-crossroads.md), examine **A carved milestone**: forty strokes, and "NIGHT 1. ALL PRESENT." The quest moves to *The Tally*.
3. **Night two.** At [Tser Pool Encampment](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/tser-pool-encampment.md), examine **A marked ash tree**: thirty-one strokes, "NINE GONE IN THE NIGHT", and "J.F. I'M SORRY". The quest moves to *The Count*. Afterwards, [Stanimir](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/stanimir.md) has Ilse's **Ask about the soldiers your people guided a year ago**: one drummer came back down the castle road and asked the way to Vallaki.
   ![loc tser pool 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-tser-pool-1.webp)
4. **J.F.** In [Vallaki](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/vallaki.md), [Jory Fenn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/jory-fenn.md) keeps watch by the town wall. Ilse says "Report", and he tells you about the castle gate and the roll called from the battlements. **Is anyone from the company still alive?** tells you Vell stops at the bend on the castle road. Then choose:
   - **You ran. Good. Somebody had to come back.** He's forgiven, and it pays off at the castle.
   - **You left them.** He isn't.

   Either way he gives Ilse the captain's roll book, and the quest moves to *The Deserter*.
5. **Corporal Vell.** At night, at level 5 or higher, with the quest at *The Count* or later, [Corporal Vell](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/corporal-vell.md) and two of the company stand on the castle road at the River Ivlis Crossroads. The quest moves to *Vell Met*.
   - **Persuasion DC 15** (Ilse), **Count off, corporal**: he answers "Fourteen" and asks to be counted quickly. The fight that follows has Vell at only 45 HP.
   - A failed roll, "I'm not coming to the table", or drawing steel gives the full fight: Vell is a [Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md) with two [Strahd Zombie](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/strahd-zombie.md)s. Vampire spawn heal by biting, so focus Vell first.

   Winning moves the quest to *Vell Rests*, and the next Long Rest brings Ilse's "Count off" at the fire. If you skip the road, Vell comes for you in the castle instead (step 6).
6. **The castle.** On [Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md), once the quest is at *The Deserter*:
   - **The servery.** Walking in brings three of the company up the servants' stair. That's Vell and two spawn if he isn't at rest yet (winning moves the quest to *Vell Rests*), or three spawn if he is.
   - **The dinner.** If you came to dinner by Strahd's invitation, [Captain Merrow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/captain-merrow.md) stands behind Strahd's chair and says "After."
   - **The roll call.** After the dinner, or straight away if you came uninvited, Merrow sits at the head of a table of forty grey coats. Ilse calls the roll, using Jory's book if she has it.
   ![forty chairs](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/forty-chairs.webp)
7. **The last name.** Choose how to deal with Merrow:
   - **Persuasion DC 18** (Ilse), **Stand up and be counted**: he answers "Forty" and leads the company out to wait for the sun. No fight.
   - **Failure:** you fight Merrow (a vampire spawn with 110 HP) and four of the company.
   - **Draw steel:** Merrow fights alone if you forgave Jory, because his drum holds the company in their ranks. If you didn't, two more come with him.
   - **Not tonight:** you leave, and he'll still be there.

   After a fight, examine **Grey coats on the chairs** to finish the count.

### Choices and endings

There's one ending, *Count Off* (success). The Persuasion at the table decides whether you fight, and forgiving Jory decides how hard that fight is. Ilse closes the captain's book with the last number in it, or cuts the last mark into her sword if she never got the book. If Jory was forgiven, she says she'll bring him the count.

Optional, [Madam Eva](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/madam-eva.md): Ilse's truth is the fever. Her question, "Where is Kestrel Company?", warns that you'll see one of them on the roads.

### If you're stuck

- **Vell isn't on the road.** He only appears at night, at level 5 or higher, with the quest at *The Count* or later, and only until he rests.
- **The Ismark letter option** is only in your first tavern talk with him. If you missed it, the tallies still move the quest on.

## Rewards

**What your companions think**

- **Liriel Dawnsong:** +2 you gave Kolyan the rites of your own faith; -3 you filled in Kolyan's grave without a word
- **Godrick Pendlebrook:** +1 you said a few honest words over a man you never met; -2 you filled in Kolyan's grave without a word
- **Thistle:** +1 you said a few honest words over a man you never met
- **Kip Smudgewick:** -1 you filled in Kolyan's grave without a word

## Fights

- *Every panel in the hall stands open. Four of Kestrel Company come out of the walls in step, and their captain…*, in [Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md): [Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md). Scales with your level.
> [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)
> - **[Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md)**, when kestrel merrow called: Captain Merrow ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Hale ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Dosh ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Lance-Corporal Brannock ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Lind ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)) (9000 XP)
> - **[Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md)**, when not kestrel jory forgiven: Captain Merrow ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Hale ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Dosh ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)) (5400 XP)
> - **[Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md)**: Captain Merrow ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)) (1800 XP)

- Kestrel Patrol Reached, in [The River Ivlis Crossroads](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-river-ivlis-crossroads.md): [Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md), [Strahd Zombie](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/strahd-zombie.md).

- Kestrel Patrol, in [The River Ivlis Crossroads](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-river-ivlis-crossroads.md): [Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md), [Strahd Zombie](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/strahd-zombie.md).

- *Up the servants' stair comes Corporal Vell, two of the company at his back. 'Sergeant,' he says. 'You're…*, in [Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md): [Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md). Scales with your level.
> [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)
> - **[Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md)**, when name ilse varga and quest kestrel company at or past the deserter and not (quest kestrel company at or past count off) and not kestrel vell rests: Corporal Vell ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Venn ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Corrin ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)) (5400 XP)
> - **[Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md)**, when name ilse varga and quest kestrel company at or past the deserter and not (quest kestrel company at or past count off): Private Venn ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Corrin ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)), Private Ash ([Vampire Spawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vampire-spawn.md)) (5400 XP)

## Journal

> [!quote]- Every journal entry and hint
> **The Letter**: A year ago Kestrel Company, the forty mercenaries Ilse marched with for eleven years, took a contract that sent them down a fog-bound road. Ilse was meant to ride with them. When she followed, the road ended in mist and the company was gone: no bodies, no blood, no tracks. All she has is the invitation the captain left in his tent, sealed and signed with a single ornate S.
> *Hint:* With Ilse in the party, ask about the letter's S in the village: Ismark at the Blood of the Vine knows the hand.
>
> **The Host**: The S is Strahd von Zarovich, the lord of this valley. He wrote to Kestrel Company and invited them in as his guests. Nobody in Barovia has seen them since, which in Barovia is not the same as nobody knowing.
> *Hint:* With Ilse in the party, look for the company's tally marks along the Old Svalich Road, starting at the River Ivlis crossroads.
>
> **The Tally**: On the march, the corporal on watch carves the company's tally each night: a kestrel, and a stroke for every soldier present. Ilse found the first one in Barovia on a milestone at the crossroads. Forty strokes, in Corporal Vell's hand: 'Night 1. All present. Guides say the castle is two days.'
> *Hint:* Look for the next night's tally near Tser Pool, on a marked tree in the Vistani camp.
>
> **The Count**: The second tally is cut into a tree at Tser Pool, where Vistani guides camped the company: thirty-one strokes. 'Night 2. Nine gone in the night. Guides say wolves. There were no wolves.' Under it, in another hand, a single line: 'J.F. I'm sorry.'
> *Hint:* Look for J.F. in Vallaki: a young watchman who keeps to the town wall.
>
> **The Deserter**: J.F. is Jory Fenn, the company's youngest, who ran from the castle gate on the third night and has stood watch on Vallaki's wall ever since under another name. He saw the captain go in to sign the contract, and come out on the battlements that night, calling the company in to dinner one name at a time.
> *Hint:* Walk the castle road at the crossroads by night with Ilse, or look for the company in Castle Ravenloft.
>
> **Vell Met**: Madam Eva said Ilse would see one of her forty before the end, walking the devil's roads in colours not his own. On the castle road at night, she did: Corporal Teodor Vell, who carved the tallies, in Strahd's crimson and hungry.
> *Hint:* Give Corporal Vell his rest on the crossroads road at night, or find the rest of the company on the castle's main floor.
>
> **Vell Rests**: Corporal Vell is at rest. Ilse counted him off, the way the company counts the dead on the march: one name, one number, and then the next. 'One,' she said. The rest are somewhere in the castle.
> *Hint:* Find the rest of Kestrel Company on Castle Ravenloft's main floor, with Ilse in the party.
>
> **Count Off** (the end: success): Kestrel Company is counted off. Every name Ilse could find has a number now, and the captain who signed for them answered for it. She stood in the castle and called the roll to the end, and for the first time in a year, nobody was missing.

> [!abstract]- Every skill check in its conversations
> - Persuasion DC 18: Merrow, Aldous. Captain. Stand up and be counted.
> - Persuasion DC 15: Count off, corporal. Name and number.
> - Intimidation DC 20: Come one step closer and find out what we're capable of.
> - Insight DC 12: Read him: what is he not saying?

## Related

- **People:** [Captain Merrow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/captain-merrow.md), [Stanimir](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/stanimir.md), [Jory Fenn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/jory-fenn.md), [Corporal Vell](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/corporal-vell.md), [The Wolves](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/the-wolves.md), [Ismark Kolyanovich](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ismark-kolyanovich.md), [Ireena Kolyana](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ireena-kolyana.md), [Father Donavich](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/father-donavich.md), [Parriwimple](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/parriwimple.md)
- **Places:** [Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-main-floor.md), [The River Ivlis Crossroads](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-river-ivlis-crossroads.md), [Tser Pool Encampment](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/tser-pool-encampment.md), [Vallaki](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/vallaki.md), [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-svalich-road.md), [Village of Barovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/village-of-barovia.md), [Blood of the Vine](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/blood-of-the-vine.md)
- **More in Companions:** [A Knight, More or Less](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/a-knight-more-or-less.md), [A Seat at the Table](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/a-seat-at-the-table.md), [Aurel's Last Chapter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/aurels-last-chapter.md), [Carry the Dawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/carry-the-dawn.md), [Cold Prayers](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/cold-prayers.md), [Grandda's Trail](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/granddas-trail.md), [The Fine Print](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-fine-print.md), [The Last Lesson](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-last-lesson.md)

> [!example]- Cutscenes
> **Forty Chairs**: Ilse's dead captain at the head of a table of forty empty coats.
> ![forty chairs](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/forty-chairs.webp)
>
> **Roll Call**: Roll Call: a later beat of a long conversation picture (castle_ravenloft/personal_kestrel, ~ roll), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
> ![forty roll](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/forty-roll.webp)
>
> **The Company Falls In**: The Company Falls In: a later beat of a long conversation picture (castle_ravenloft/personal_kestrel, ~ merrow_counted), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
> ![forty fall in](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/forty-fall-in.webp)
>
> **Out of the Mists**: The party steps out of the mist onto the Old Svalich Road, the sunless valley of Barovia below.
> ![mists arrival](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/mists-arrival.webp)
>
> **A Mourner Who Came Late**: Strahd waits at the lych-gate during the burgomaster's burial.
> ![burial strahd](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/burial-strahd.webp)