Side quest Castle Ravenloft Level 10

Escher's Petition

Every night for nine years Escher has slid the same petition under the count's door: let me see the sun. Now an answer has come back.

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

Escher, one of Strahd's cast-off consorts and now a vampire spawn, is locked in his suite in Castle Ravenloft, the Tower Rooms. To get there, climb the high tower stairway from the main floor (or the tower stairs from the Court of the Count) into Castle Ravenloft, the High Tower. Fight past the stair's sentries on the upper turns (3 vampire spawn and 3 swarms of bats at level 10), then take the door off the high landing.

loc castle ravenloft spires rooms 1

His door off the tower gallery is locked. Pick it (DC 16; forcing it with Athletics is harder), cast Knock, or talk him into opening it: Deception DC 15 ("Tell Escher the count has sent for him") or Persuasion DC 15 ("Coax Escher into opening his door"). Your party gets one try at each of those two. Stealth DC 14 lets you listen at the door first and hear how badly he wants to be somewhere Strahd would never look.

Once the lowest-level hero in your party is level 10, his menu has What's that paper you keep turning over? That starts the quest. Escher is in his suite at any hour, except at night while this quest is running, when he is up on the roof.

Step by step

  1. Ask about the paper. He shows you one word of the count's answer: Yes. Before you agree, try Insight DC 15: (Watch how he holds the paper.) A success makes him unfold the rest: "Bring your friends." He admits he hid that part. This matters later, because it stops you being surprised in the fight. A failure is spent, but you can still agree.
  2. Choose We'll come. (or We'll come anyway. after the reveal). The quest moves to Asked; Thistle +1, Wren +1. Not tonight. leaves the paper in his pocket, and you can ask again another time.
  3. Wait for night (from 19:00 until 6:00). From the tower gallery outside his suite, take the narrow door to the roof stair and climb the ladder to Castle Ravenloft, the Roofs. You come up on the south tower roof, and Escher is waiting at the parapet in his good red coat. He speaks as you come near.
    loc castle ravenloft spires roofs 1
  4. The rest of the count's answer drops off the keep roof: Querreth, the devil bound to keep the castle's roofs, with two Wraiths, the "Ones Who Asked", hanging in its chains (10,800 XP, a High fight for four at level 10). If you never read the full note, your party starts the fight surprised. Querreth is immune to fire and poison and resists cold, shrugs off spells with Magic Resistance, and can refuse two failed saves a day. Its chains reach 10 feet and grapple (escape DC 16), so don't bunch up near it. Winning moves the quest to Held.
  5. Talk to Escher again on the roof while it's still night. You sit up with him until 6:00, and the sun comes over the mountains.
    sq escher dawn
  6. Choose (Stand with him while it comes up.), or try Persuasion DC 15: Not this one. Wait for a dawn he isn't in. If the Persuasion fails, he begs you to let him have it, and the sun comes up on him anyway.

If day breaks before you get back to him after the fight, Escher returns to his suite and says "Tonight, then." Go back up the next night.

Choices and endings

  • Done (success). Escher burns in the sunrise and doesn't step back. In the pocket of his coat you find a Helm of Brilliance and 250 gp. Liriel +3, Thistle +3, Wren +2, Godrick +1. His suite is empty from then on, so ask him anything you still want (about the Heart of Sorrow, the back stair to the ravens' roost or the clockwork jester) before the dawn.
  • Waited (success). The Persuasion works: he laughs, backs into the shadow of the stair, and gives you the same Helm of Brilliance and 250 gp, to wear at the count's funeral. Wren +2, Godrick +1, Liriel +1, Ratatouille +1. He goes back to his suite and still talks to you there.

You get one helm and 250 gp either way, not both.

If you're stuck

  • The paper option isn't there. The lowest-level hero must be level 10, and the quest must not have started yet. If you threatened Escher into talking about the heart (Intimidation), he turns cold and only tells you to get out, so you can't ask about the paper. If you fought him, he is gone and so is this quest.
  • Escher isn't on the roof. He is only there at night. By day he is back in his suite.
  • Getting surprised by Querreth. Only the Insight check in step 1 prevents it, and you only get one try at that.

Rewards

What your companions think

  • Thistle: +1 you agreed to see Escher out onto the roof; +3 you stood with Escher while he watched the sun come up
  • Wren Featherfoot: +1 you agreed to see Escher out onto the roof; +2 you stood with Escher while he watched the sun come up; +2 you talked Escher into waiting for a dawn the count isn't in
  • Liriel Dawnsong: +3 you stood with Escher while he watched the sun come up; +1 you talked Escher into waiting for a dawn the count isn't in
  • Godrick Pendlebrook: +1 you stood with Escher while he watched the sun come up; +1 you talked Escher into waiting for a dawn the count isn't in
  • Ratatouille: +1 you talked Escher into waiting for a dawn the count isn't in

Fights

By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)

Journal

Every journal entry and hint

Asked: Every night for nine years Escher has written the count the same line, Let me see the sun, and slid it under his door. Last night an answer came back under Escher's: Yes. He wants us with him on the south tower roof before dawn, and he'll pay with the one present the count gave him that he could never use.
Hint: Go up to Castle Ravenloft's roofs from the gallery outside Escher's suite at night, and find Escher at the south tower parapet.

Held: The rest of the count's answer was Querreth, the devil that keeps his roofs, come to chain Escher to the sunrise and take the rest of us to the larder. Everyone who ever asked to go up was hanging in its chains. We beat it. The sky is still dark.
Hint: Talk to Escher at the south tower parapet on Castle Ravenloft's roofs, at night.

Done (the end: success): Escher watched the sun come up over the mountains, and burned in it, and didn't step back. He said to tell the count it was worth it. He left a good red velvet coat on the stones, and in its pocket the count's present: a helm full of captured daylight.

Waited (the end: success): With the light coming, we talked Escher into waiting for a dawn the count isn't in. He backed into the shadow of the stair laughing, and gave us the count's present anyway: a helm full of captured daylight, to wear at the count's funeral.

Every skill check in its conversations
  • Insight DC 15: (Watch how he holds the paper.)
  • Persuasion DC 15: Not this one. Wait for a dawn he isn't in.
Cutscenes

Escher's Petition: Escher at the south tower parapet in his good coat, and the first light coming over the mountains.
sq escher dawn