Sanctuary

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

Sanctuary begins at Vallaki's east gate the first time you arrive, as long as Ireena is travelling with you. Bringing her here is the end of Ireena's Escort. If she agreed in the Village of Barovia to come with you but isn't in your party yet, the gate adds her, and Ismark too if he joined the escort.

The Town Guard stops you in the gateway. Whatever you say, he finishes with the town's rules, and the journal reads Arrived. If you pick "This is Ireena Kolyana, daughter of the late burgomaster of Barovia", the watch passes her name on to the Baron, and Ireena makes it clear she's here to hide, not to visit. The gate conversation only happens once, so if Ireena isn't with you the first time you walk in, this quest never starts.

Step by step

1. Take Ireena to St. Andral's. St. Andral's Church stands in the churchyard north-east of the square. Father Lucian kneels at the stripped altar; he's there at any hour except while the festival is running.
   • At your first meeting he tells you the saint's bones were stolen from the crypt three nights ago, which starts The Bones of St. Andral.
   • With Ireena beside you, he admits he can't promise her anything until the saint is home, and the quest moves to Church Unsafe.
   • Answer "We'll find the bones" (Liriel +2, Godrick +1). The Religion DC 12 question about the bones only adds lore, and it's only offered at this first meeting.
   • Ask "Could Ireena shelter here meanwhile?" and he sends you to the Blue Water Inn.

   

2. Decide where she waits while you hunt for the bones.
   • Keep her with you. She stays a guest in your party and joins in conversations. That matters for Izek (see below).
   • Lodge her at the inn. At The Blue Water Inn, south of the square, ask Urwin Martikov at the bar "Can Ireena stay here for now?" (offered only while she's with you and the bones aren't back). She leaves your party for the room over the Martikovs' own, and the quest moves to At Inn. If Ismark is with you, choose whether he stays to guard her ("Ismark, stay with your sister") or comes with you. You'll find them in the guest rooms.

   

3. Bring the saint home. Follow The Bones of St. Andral: Milivoj the gravedigger, then Henrik the coffin maker. Then either raid his storeroom by day or keep a night's vigil in the church. Finally, give the bones to Lucian ("We've brought St. Andral home"). The return also gives Vallaki's milestone level, if the festival hasn't given it already.
4. Offer her sanctuary.
   • If Ireena is with you when you hand Lucian the bones, he offers her sanctuary on the spot. Later, with her in the party, "Ireena needs sanctuary" brings the same choice back.
     • "Stay here, Ireena. You'll be safe" leaves her at the church: Sanctuary (Godrick +1). If Ismark is with you, decide whether he stays with her or keeps travelling with you.
     • "Come with us. We'll keep you safer than walls" keeps her in your party: Travels On.
   • If she's at the inn, go and talk to her there; she's already had word from Lucian.
     • "Then go to St. Andral's. You'll be safest there" sends her to the church, and Ismark with her if he's guarding her: Sanctuary.
     • "Come with us again" brings her back into the party: Travels On.
   • Once she's at the church, you can still talk to her in the nave and ask her to "Come with us again" (Travels On). Ismark can be called back from the inn or the church with "Come with us again, Ismark".

Choices and endings

• Sanctuary. Ireena sleeps on holy ground at last. On some night from your fourth day in Barovia on (and only once you've seen Strahd watching you from the ridge), the church bell tolls by itself and Strahd calls to her from the churchyard gate. He can't come any further. Tell him to leave, ask what he's afraid of, or simply stand beside her; holy ground holds either way. If the Baron wins the festival and Izek is still alive and doesn't know the truth, Ireena tells you he stands at the church door every dusk.
• Travels On. Ireena stays in your party as a guest. Walls didn't save her father, she says.
• Leaving Vallaki. If Lady Wachter wins The Festival of the Blazing Sun, Ireena refuses to spend one more night in her town. Wherever she is in Vallaki (in your party, at the inn or at the church), she rejoins you and means to go on to Krezk and its abbey. Ismark comes back too if he'd stayed to guard her. This happens even if she had already taken sanctuary.
• Taken. If Strahd lifts Ireena out of her window at the inn (see If you're stuck), the quest ends as a failure. The journal says that if she's anywhere, she's in his castle. If Ismark was guarding her, he wakes to the empty window and joins you to go after her.
• Izek. While Ireena is in your party or lodged in Vallaki (inn or church), Izek Strazni considers her within reach. If you back the Baron at the festival and Izek is alive and unaware that she's his sister, he asks for her as his reward (The Doll Collector). Walking through the square with her by day before the festival is also how Izek first sees her.
• Who else is watching her. While she's in your party, Vallaki notices her. The Baron offers condolences and congratulates her on escaping "that dreary little village". Lady Wachter looks her over the way a jeweller looks at a stone. Outside the west gate, Arrigal offers her a place in the Vistani wagons, "where his carriages can't go". Insight DC 15 shows he'd carry her somewhere very quickly, and not where she'd want to go. There's no way to accept his offer, so it's a warning, not a choice.
• This quest pays no gold. Where Ireena ends up (the church, the inn, your party, or on the road to Krezk) is remembered, and later chapters react to it.

If you're stuck

• The inn isn't safe forever. If Ireena is still lodged at the inn on some night from your fourth day in Barovia on (and you've seen Strahd on the ridge), arriving in Vallaki or at the inn after dark, or resting there through the night, can find her at an open window, entranced. Strahd stands outside it on nothing. Your ways to stop him:
  • raise the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, if you carry it;
  • have a Cleric or Paladin stand in the window;
  • speak a warding prayer (Religion DC 15);
  • call her back to herself (Persuasion DC 15, one try only);
  • go for him, which starts a short fight against Strahd and a Swarm of Bats. He leaves after two rounds, or sooner once he's hurt.

  Each failed prayer or plea lets her take a step toward him. Two steps, or choosing "Let her go", and she goes with him to the castle. That ends this quest as a failure, at Taken: there's no sanctuary in Vallaki for her now. Taking her into your party, or to the church once the bones are back, avoids the scene entirely.

• Lucian won't take her in. Not until the bones are back in the crypt. Urwin's room is only offered before then; afterwards, take her to the church.
• Lucian isn't in the church. While the festival is running, he's in the square.
• The quest never appeared. It only starts if Ireena was with you the first time you came through the east gate.

Rewards

• A level (milestone)

What your companions think

• Liriel Dawnsong: +2 you raised the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind between Strahd and Ireena; +1 you stood in Ireena's window with nothing but your faith; -3 you let Strahd lift Ireena out of the window; +1 you asked Strahd what he was afraid of; +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life; -1 you put the Baron in his own stocks
• Godrick Pendlebrook: +1 you raised the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind between Strahd and Ireena; +1 you stood in Ireena's window with nothing but your faith; +1 you went for Strahd at Ireena's window; -5 you let Strahd lift Ireena out of the window; +1 you told Strahd to leave the churchyard; +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life
• Thistle: +1 you went for Strahd at Ireena's window; -3 you let Strahd lift Ireena out of the window; +1 you told Strahd to leave the churchyard; +1 you put the Baron in his own stocks; -1 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; +1 you shoved your way through Vallaki's gate
• Wren Featherfoot: -3 you let Strahd lift Ireena out of the window; +1 you asked Strahd what he was afraid of; +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life; -3 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; +1 you talked your way through Vallaki's gate
• Kip Smudgewick: -3 you let Strahd lift Ireena out of the window; -2 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; +1 you told the gate the plain truth; -1 you shoved your way through Vallaki's gate
• Ratatouille: -2 you let Strahd lift Ireena out of the window

Journal

Related

• People: Baron Vargas Vallakovich, Lady Wachter, Lydia Petrovna, Town Guard, Ireena Kolyana, Ismark Kolyanovich, Father Lucian, Urwin Martikov
• Places: Vallaki, The Blue Water Inn, St. Andral's Church
• Next in the story: The Festival of the Blazing Sun