Radu's Unsellable Horse

Summary

Radu has a handsome dun gelding called Dinte that bites everyone, and he will pay fifteen gold to anyone who finds it a home.

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

In the Tser Pool Encampment, go to the horse pen by the water on the camp's west side and look at "A handsome dun gelding". Radu, the horse-master, cuts in. This is Dinte, which means "tooth": the handsomest horse in the camp and the most terrible in the valley. Radu will pay fifteen gold to whoever finds Dinte an owner who'll keep him. The quest starts at Offered. Radu never brings it up when you just talk to him; it starts from the horse.

Step by step

1. Look Dinte over. He watches you with all his teeth showing. Pick one:
   • [Animal Handling DC 12] "(Hold out a flat palm and speak quietly.)" On a pass he lets you scratch his nose while the whole camp watches in silence. On a fail he takes your sleeve in his teeth, shakes it once and lets go. A torn sleeve is all it costs.
   • A ranger can choose "(Talk to him as you would anything wild.)" and a druid "(Talk to him the old way.)". Either one calms him with no roll.
   • "(Look from a safe distance.)" walks away. You can come back to him later.

   Pass or fail, the next choice is the same.

2. Lead him out. Choose "(Lead him out of the pen to the Old Svalich Road.)" There's no roll: he lets you slip a rope over his neck. "(Leave him be.)" leaves him in the pen for now.
3. Find a buyer at the crossroads. Travel east to The River Ivlis Crossroads by day. Two people there want a horse:
   • Costica, the worst highwayman in Barovia, on the east road from 8:00 to 18:00. Say "We hear you want a horse." He offers the three gold he has saved. Dinte lays his head on Costica's shoulder, and the two of them walk off down the road without a single bite. You get 3 gp.
   • Ambrose Fennimore, by the signpost from 7:00 to 19:00. Say "There is a horse for sale at the Tser Pool camp." He pays 25 gp, gets bitten on the waistcoat straight away, and gives Dinte four stars anyway.

   Either sale moves the quest to Buyer Found. If you ask before you've led Dinte out of the pen, they just tell you to bring the horse.

4. Tell Radu. Go back to the camp and talk to Radu by the pen. He can hardly believe it. He pays his 15 gp and swears he'll tell the story at every fire. The quest ends at Sold.

Choices and endings

There's one ending, and you choose the buyer:

• Costica: 3 gp from him, 18 gp in all with Radu's fee.
• Fennimore: 25 gp from him, 40 gp in all.

Whichever you pick, Thistle (+1) and Kip (+1) approve when Radu pays. Dinte is gone from the pen. In Radu's version of the story, you are all seven feet tall.

If you're stuck

• The quest starts from Dinte, not from Radu: look at the horse in the pen.
• Costica and Fennimore are only at the crossroads by day (Costica 8:00 to 18:00, Fennimore 7:00 to 19:00). Their horse options only show while the quest is at Offered.
• If Fennimore has gone up to Krezk for Dumitru's Visitor, he isn't at the crossroads until that visit is done. Costica is still there.
• Radu pays the next time you talk to him, even if you're in the middle of something else with him. He's only in the camp while the Vistani are at peace with you. If you've fought the camp or drawn steel on Madam Eva, he's gone.

Rewards

• 3 gp or 15 gp or 25 gp, depending on how it goes

What your companions think

• Thistle: +1 you found Dinte a home
• Kip Smudgewick: +1 you found Dinte a home

Journal

Related

• People: Radu, Costica, Ambrose Fennimore
• Places: Tser Pool Encampment, The River Ivlis Crossroads
• More in The Old Svalich Road: Called by Name, Fennimore's Guide: The Tser Pool, Stanimir's Fire, The Count's Huntsman, The Dancing Bear, The Grey Mare, The Hanged Man at the Crossroads, The Lantern in the Roadhouse