# The Abbot's Bride

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

> [!infobox]
> ![quest the abbots bride](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/quest-the-abbots-bride.webp)
> **Type:** Side quest
> **Region:** [The Abbey of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/the-abbey-of-st-markovia.md) · level 7
> **Given by:** [The Abbot](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/the-abbot.md)
> **Starts at:** [The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md)
> **Rewards:** [Potion of Healing](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#potion-of-healing) ×2, a level (milestone)

## Summary

The Abbot of St. Markovia is stitching a bride for the lord of Barovia from Krezk's dead, and believes a wife will cure him.

## Walkthrough

### Getting the quest

[The Abbot](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/the-abbot.md) gives it. He stands in the chancel of [The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md), the big church on the north side of the abbey courtyard, at any hour of the day or night, and speaks to you as soon as you come within a few squares of him. Nothing has to happen first.

To get there, take the switchback track that climbs from the end of the road outside [Krezk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/krezk.md)'s wall (the track starts by the cairn, outside the gate, so you don't need the gate open), or travel straight to [The Abbey of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-abbey-of-st-markovia.md) once you've been to Krezk. The abbey is on the travel map from the start if Madam Eva named Ezmerelda as your ally or put one of her treasures at the abbey. The road from Krezk takes an hour.

![loc abbey of st markovia 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-abbey-of-st-markovia-1.webp)

Meeting him (he lights the altar candles with a fingertip) puts the quest at **Met**.

![abbot candles](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbot-candles.webp)

### Step by step

1. **Talk to Clovin at the gate first.** [Clovin Belview](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/clovin-belview.md) is sweeping snow just inside the abbey gate and speaks as you walk up. Ask *"What's that paper you keep touching?"*, then *"May we read it to you?"*. That reads St. Markovia's last letter aloud. It's the one thing you most want before the climax: it lets you turn the Abbot round with no roll at all. While you're with him, *"You look like a man who could use a drink"* makes a friend of him (it opens [Clovin's Audience](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/clovins-audience.md) later), and once the Abbot has asked for a dress, *"Where would anyone find a wedding dress up here?"* points you to the matron's room. Around the courtyard: a stone bench heaped with feathers by the cloister hides a [Feather Token (Whip)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#feather-token-whip) (search DC 12), a little chime hangs inside the great bell ([Chime of Opening](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#chime-of-opening), search DC 15; climbing the bell tower with Athletics DC 15 shows you where, and a fall costs 2d6), and Clovin's handcart in the shed holds rope, sacks and 6 gp.
2. **Meet the Abbot in the church.** Useful things to do in his menu before you ask about his work:
   - *Religion DC 15* ("Something about him is holy, and wrong") shows you he is a celestial gone sour. A [Cleric](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/characters/classes/cleric.md) or [Paladin](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/characters/classes/paladin.md) in the party learns the same with no roll, and so does Speak with Dead at the nuns' graves in the abbey garden (see the tip after these steps). Knowing what he is unlocks a Religion appeal at the climax.
   - *"Who was St. Markovia?"* gets his version of her ("brave, and mistaken"). If you've already read her letter, your party calls him on it.
   - If [Ireena Kolyana](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ireena-kolyana.md) is travelling with you, every candle leans toward her and he recognises her. *Insight DC 13* lets you see the collector's look in his eye (a failed Insight check can't be tried again, but nothing is lost). Remember this: it matters at the climax.
   - If Liriel Dawnsong is in the party, she kneels to him and her personal quest, [Carry the Dawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/carry-the-dawn.md), moves on. If she wasn't with you at that first meeting, she kneels the next time you bring her to him. If she wasn't with you when he told you about the bride, she works it out on that next visit too. Both still happen after the wedding and after he's left broken (below), and her quest moves on then. Once he's told you about the bride, she can ask him *"whether he still remembers the sun"*. Do it: it gives her a way to talk him down at the climax.
3. **Ask about his work.** *"Clovin says you have work in the wards. What is it?"* reveals the bride, Vasilka, sewn from Krezk's dead. Reply however you like; all three answers lead on. He asks for a wedding dress, and if Ilya Krezkov hasn't been cured yet he offers to go down and heal the boy in return (this starts or moves [The Burgomaster's Son](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-burgomasters-son.md)).
   - *"We'll find her a dress."* moves the quest to **Asked**. Liriel (-3), Godrick (-2), Kip (-1) and Thistle (-1) don't like it. If Krezk's gate is still shut, he vouches for you on the spot, which gives you the plain way through the gate (see [The Gate of Krezk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-gate-of-krezk.md)).
   - *"No. We won't help you dress a corpse for the devil."* refuses him (Liriel +3, Godrick +2, Kip +1, Thistle +1). It isn't final: come back and say *"We've reconsidered"* any time.
   - *"Krezk won't open its gate to us."* gets his word for the gate even if you never agree to anything.
4. **Look around the church while you're here.** The Abbot's ledger of improvements lies in his cell (the little room west of the chancel), and a loose stone under his cot hides an [Ioun Stone (Protection)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#ioun-stone-protection) (Investigation DC 16). The vestment chest in the sacristy (east of the chancel) isn't locked: 2 [Holy Water](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#holy-water), 6 candles, a robe and 22 gp.
5. **Visit Vasilka if you want to (optional).** She lies on a table in the surgery at the east end of [The Wards of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wards-of-st-markovia.md), across the courtyard. *Medicine DC 12* shows she is several women stitched together (one try either way). The wards are worth a sweep: a child's hidden treasure under the cots in the foundling ward ([Figurine of Wondrous Power (Golden Lions)](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#figurine-of-wondrous-power-golden-lions), search DC 14), and in the surgery, *Medicine DC 14* at the basin of instruments points to a false back in the instrument cabinet ([Periapt of Proof against Poison](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#periapt-of-proof-against-poison), Investigation DC 15). The cabinet itself holds a healer's kit, vials and antitoxin. The barred cells along the corridor are a separate choice: letting the starving Belviews out calmly (Animal Handling DC 13 or Persuasion DC 14) sends them onto the mountain, and the Abbot scolds you for it next time; a failed roll, or drawing the pins ready to fight, starts a fight with 2 Belview Brutes and 6 [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md) at level 7 (1 Brute and 4 below that).
6. **Find a wedding dress.** There are two in the game:
   - **Anna's.** [Anna Krezkova](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/anna-krezkova.md) sits by her son's bed in [The Krezkovs' House](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-krezkovs-house.md), the big house past the well inside Krezk (you need the gate open; *"The Abbot of St. Markovia sent us"* does it once he has vouched). Once you've agreed to find a dress, choose *"The Abbot asked us for a wedding dress..."*. Tell her the truth (Liriel +1, Godrick +1) or say *"He didn't say"* (Godrick -1, Kip -1): either way she gives you the dress she kept for her daughters, and the quest moves to **Dress Found**. *"No. We can't take this from you."* (Kip, Godrick and Liriel +1) sends you to the abbey's matron's room instead, and you can still come back and ask her again.
   - **The matron's.** In the wards, the matron's room is at the west end, off the long corridor, behind a locked door: pick it with thieves' tools (DC 13), force it (Athletics DC 15) or cast Knock. Clovin tells you it sticks low by the hinge. Opening the matron's trunk finds the dress, along with [Fine Clothes](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#fine-clothes), perfume and 12 gp, and a search of the trunk's lining (Investigation DC 14) turns up a [Robe of Useful Items](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#robe-of-useful-items). The journal stays at Asked with this dress, but the Abbot will still take it.
7. **Bring the dress back.** In the church, *"We've brought a dress for your bride."* hands it over and starts the climax straight away (**Delivered**). If you carry both dresses you pick which one he gets; give him the matron's and you can take Anna's back to her afterwards (*"We didn't need your dress after all"*), which she remembers kindly.
   - If Ireena is with you and he saw her at your first meeting, you're asked whether to send her to wait in the courtyard. **Send her out** (*"Ireena, wait for us in the courtyard"*) unless she has already had her vision at [The Pool of the White Sun](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-pool-of-the-white-sun.md). She waits by the courtyard well and rejoins when you talk to her there.
8. **The rite.** He doesn't wait for dusk. The Belviews carry Vasilka in on a bier, wearing the dress, and the Abbot wakes her. She is very polite. He means Clovin to drive her to the castle tomorrow. Now you decide what becomes of him (below).

![abbey bride](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbey-bride.webp)

> [!tip] Speak with Dead: the last sister
> The walled garden opens off the west side of the abbey courtyard ([The Abbey Garden](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-abbey-garden.md)), with the nuns' little graveyard in its corner. A hero who knows Speak with Dead can ask the sister in the last grave about the Abbot. It costs the caster's lowest spell slot of 3rd level or higher (nothing if the spell is still running from a casting on the character sheet), and she answers once. She ran a ward of the sick: he came down out of the morning with wings the year the fever came and healed every bed, then stayed when the fever went and began to mend things that weren't broken. That counts as knowing what he is, as the Religion check does, so the Religion appeal is there at the climax. She also buried a flask of the old holy water at her own feet, and it now shows on the map: a [Holy Water](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#holy-water) (search DC 13 to find it without her).

### Choices and endings

Every ending gives the region's milestone (a level). The options at the bier:

- **Repented (the best ending).** Any one of these turns him:
  - *"Read him Markovia's letter."* (you read it to Clovin). No roll.
  - *"Tell him what Ireena saw in the Pool of the White Sun."* (Ireena has had her vision; see [The Pool of the White Sun](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-pool-of-the-white-sun.md)). No roll.
  - Liriel's *"Remind him of the sun he told her about"* (she asked him earlier). No roll.
  - *Persuasion DC 12*, "We've read his letters...", only if you've read one of Strahd's letters (on the shrine in the cellar of [Wachterhaus](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/wachterhaus.md), or his letter to Gustav Durst in the Death House). Otherwise *Persuasion DC 16*, "He won't love her...". You get **one** Persuasion attempt between the two.
  - *Religion DC 14*, "You were sent to keep this valley's faith...", if you learned what he is. One attempt.

  A failed roll only brings you back to this menu. He lays Vasilka back down to rest, gives you 2 [Potion of Healing](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#potion-of-healing), tells you to take what's in the sacristy, and goes down at dawn to heal Ilya (if Ilya is still sick or only frail) before walking up the mountain to wait for judgement. Liriel +5, Godrick +2, Wren, Kip and Ratatouille +1. Afterwards the abbey's lit window is dark, the Belviews come out in daylight, and the church is just a church. He's gone for good.

![bride rests](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/bride-rests.webp)

- **Wedding.** *"It's your abbey. We won't stand in your way."* Vasilka goes to the castle. He still keeps his bargain and heals Ilya at dawn, and gives you 2 Potions of Healing. Every companion hates it: Liriel -6, Godrick -5, Thistle, Wren and Kip -3, Ratatouille -2. A black ribbon appears on Krezk's gate, [Dmitri Krezkov](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/dmitri-krezkov.md) is furious (and worse if it was Anna's dress), the Abbot stays glowing in his church, and in the epilogue the bride waits in the castle for a groom who never comes.
- **Broken, or a later choice, after a fight.** *"Stop this. She isn't yours to give away."* (Godrick +3, Liriel +2, Thistle +2, Wren +1). The Abbot won't lift a hand himself; he tells Vasilka to defend her wedding, and you fight **Bride Defends**: Vasilka ([Flesh Golem](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/flesh-golem.md), 127 HP) with 2 Belview Brutes ([Berserker](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/berserker.md)) and 4 Mongrelfolk at level 7; one Brute at level 6; below that Vasilka at 80 HP with 3 Mongrelfolk. It's a Low fight for your level. Fire is the tip: it gives Vasilka Disadvantage on her attacks until the end of her next turn. Don't hit her with lightning, which heals her. When it's over the Abbot kneels by her, holding her hand, and speaks as you come near:
  - *"Read him Markovia's letter."* → **Repented** (the potions and Ilya's cure as above; Vasilka stays destroyed).
  - *Religion DC 14*, "Remind him what he was sent here to do" → **Repented**; a failure → **Broken**.
  - *"Leave him with what he's done."* → **Broken** (Wren +1). No reward. He sits mute on the altar step for the rest of the game: come back to the church and he's there by the unlit candles, and doesn't look up or speak. He goes down once at dawn and heals Ilya if the boy still needs it. The Belviews start coming down to Krezk for bread.
  - *"Kill him."* → **Slain**. He doesn't resist: he turns to light. Liriel -4, Godrick -3, Wren -2, Kip -1, Thistle +1.

![abbot holds hand](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbot-holds-hand.webp)

- **Slain, in a fight.** *"Kill him."* at the bier, or *"Attack the Abbot."* from his menu at any earlier visit (Liriel -3, Godrick -1), starts **Abbot Wrath**: the Abbot ([Deva](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/deva.md), AC 17) at 120 HP with 2 Mongrelfolk at level 7, at 100 HP with 1 at level 6, at 85 HP alone below that. This is the hard fight of the region. He swings a mace twice a turn for heavy radiant damage, resists radiant, and has Advantage on saves against spells, so lean on weapons and spell attacks rather than saving-throw spells. Afterwards Clovin speaks over the empty habit. If Vasilka was awake, tell her to *"Lie down, Vasilka. Rest."* (Liriel +2, Godrick +1) or leave her standing at the altar (Liriel -1; you can still tell her to rest on a later visit). If you fought before the rite, she stays on her table in the wards and never wakes. The Abbot doesn't heal Ilya in this ending, and there's no reward but the milestone.
- **Fled (the quest fails).** Only if Ireena stayed in the church and he had already seen her. He looks past Vasilka and asks for Ireena instead (*"Why send him a copy?"*).
  - *"At the pool she chose a dead man over him..."* (only after her pool vision) → **Repented**, as above.
  - *"Never. If you want her, you'll have to go through us."* → the **Abbot Wrath** fight.
  - *"We're leaving. All of us. Now."* → **Fled**. He lets you go, sends Vasilka to the castle anyway, and writes to Strahd telling him where Ireena sleeps. Krezk's watchman later sees bats flying from the abbey to the castle. He never heals Ilya, and there's no reward but the milestone.

  There's no option to hand her over.

![bride turns](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/bride-turns.webp)

### If you're stuck

- Anna's dress option only appears after you've told the Abbot you'll find one, and you can only reach Anna once Krezk's gate is open. Ask the Abbot to vouch for you first.
- The letter has to be read to Clovin before you deliver the dress. Once Vasilka is awake you can't leave to fetch it.
- Bring Ireena into the church at the delivery only if she's already seen Sergei in the pool. Otherwise her presence leaves you two options: fight the Abbot or run.
- After the rite the Abbot isn't standing where he usually is. After the bride fight he's kneeling at the east end of the chancel; walk up to him.
- The two Persuasion options at the bier share one attempt. If you have neither the letter nor the pool vision, try Religion first (if you know what he is) and Persuasion second.

## Rewards

- [Potion of Healing](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/equipment.md#potion-of-healing) ×2
- A level (milestone)

**What your companions think**

- **Liriel Dawnsong:** -3 you agreed to find a wedding dress for the devil's bride; +5 you brought an angel back to himself; -6 you stood back and let the Abbot give Vasilka to the devil; +2 you stopped the Abbot's wedding; -4 you struck the Abbot down as he knelt; +2 you told Vasilka she could rest
- **Godrick Pendlebrook:** -2 you agreed to find a wedding dress for the devil's bride; +2 you brought an angel back to himself; -5 you stood back and let the Abbot give Vasilka to the devil; +3 you stopped the Abbot's wedding; -3 you struck the Abbot down as he knelt; +1 you told Vasilka she could rest
- **Kip Smudgewick:** -1 you agreed to find a wedding dress for the devil's bride; +1 you brought an angel back to himself; -3 you stood back and let the Abbot give Vasilka to the devil; -1 you struck the Abbot down as he knelt; -1 you let Anna give up her dress without knowing what it was for
- **Thistle:** -1 you agreed to find a wedding dress for the devil's bride; -3 you stood back and let the Abbot give Vasilka to the devil; +2 you stopped the Abbot's wedding; +1 you struck the Abbot down as he knelt
- **Wren Featherfoot:** +1 you brought an angel back to himself; -3 you stood back and let the Abbot give Vasilka to the devil; +1 you stopped the Abbot's wedding; +1 you left the Abbot alone with what he'd done; -2 you struck the Abbot down as he knelt
- **Ratatouille:** +1 you brought an angel back to himself; -2 you stood back and let the Abbot give Vasilka to the devil

## Fights

- *Vasilka comes down off the bier like a dancer finishing a bow, and the Belviews come after her with cleavers…*, in [The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md): [Flesh Golem](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/flesh-golem.md), [Berserker](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/berserker.md), [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md). Scales with your level.
> [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)
> - **[The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md)**, when level ≥ 7: Vasilka ([Flesh Golem](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/flesh-golem.md)), 2 × Belview Brute ([Berserker](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/berserker.md)), 4 × [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md) (2900 XP)
> - **[The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md)**, when level ≥ 6: Vasilka ([Flesh Golem](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/flesh-golem.md)), Belview Brute ([Berserker](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/berserker.md)), 4 × [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md) (2450 XP)
> - **[The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md)**: Vasilka ([Flesh Golem](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/flesh-golem.md)), 3 × [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md) (1950 XP)

- *The candles go white. He doesn't draw a weapon. He opens his hands, and there is suddenly a mace of light in…*, in [The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md): [Deva](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/deva.md), [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md). Scales with your level.
> [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)
> - **[The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md)**, when level ≥ 7: The Abbot ([Deva](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/deva.md)), 2 × [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md) (6000 XP)
> - **[The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md)**, when level ≥ 6: The Abbot ([Deva](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/deva.md)), [Mongrelfolk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mongrelfolk.md) (5950 XP)
> - **[The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md)**: The Abbot ([Deva](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/deva.md)) (5900 XP)

## Journal

> [!quote]- Every journal entry and hint
> **Met**: The Abbot of St. Markovia keeps the abbey above Krezk with the Belview family he has been 'improving'. He looks like a young monk and lights candles with his fingertips. Krezk is afraid of him.
> *Hint:* Keep talking to the Abbot in the abbey church above Krezk and ask what he's working on.
>
> **Asked**: The Abbot is making a bride for Strahd, sewn from Krezk's dead, and believes a wife will gentle him. He asked us for a wedding dress. In return he offered to heal the burgomaster's son.
> *Hint:* Find a wedding dress: Anna Krezkova in Krezk kept hers, and the abbey's wards may hold another. Or decide not to help the Abbot.
>
> **Dress Found**: We have a wedding dress for the Abbot's bride.
> *Hint:* Take the dress to the Abbot in the church of the Abbey of St. Markovia.
>
> **Delivered**: We gave the Abbot the dress. He woke his bride, Vasilka, in the church that same hour.
> *Hint:* Talk to the Abbot in the abbey church and decide what becomes of his work.
>
> **Wedding** (the end: success): We let the Abbot have his wedding. Clovin drove Vasilka down the road to the castle in a white dress, and the Abbot went down to Krezk to keep his bargain.
>
> **Repented** (the end: success): The Abbot understood what he had done. He laid his bride to rest, went down to Krezk once more, and then walked up the mountain to wait for a judgement that may never come.
>
> **Broken** (the end: success): Vasilka was destroyed defending her wedding. The Abbot sits in his church and will not speak.
>
> **Slain** (the end: success): The Abbot of St. Markovia is dead. Whatever he was sent here to be, he is light and a brown habit now.
>
> **Fled** (the end: failure): The Abbot wanted Ireena instead of his stitched bride. We left with her. He means to write to the castle and tell its lord where she sleeps.

> [!abstract]- Every skill check in its conversations
> - Religion DC 15: (Something about him is holy, and wrong. What is he?)
> - Insight DC 13: (Watch how he looks at Ireena.)
> - Persuasion DC 12: We've read his letters. He writes to tools, never to people. He'll use her and throw her…
> - Persuasion DC 16: He won't love her. He doesn't love. He keeps.
> - Religion DC 14: You were sent to keep this valley's faith, not to feed its devil.
> - Religion DC 14: Remind him what he was sent here to do.

## Related

- **People:** [The Abbot](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/the-abbot.md), [Vasilka](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/vasilka.md), [Clovin Belview](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/clovin-belview.md), [Ireena Kolyana](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ireena-kolyana.md), [Ilya Krezkov](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ilya-krezkov.md), [Anna Krezkova](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/anna-krezkova.md)
- **Places:** [The Church of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-church-of-st-markovia.md), [The Abbey of St. Markovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-abbey-of-st-markovia.md), [The Krezkovs' House](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-krezkovs-house.md)
- **More in The Abbey of St. Markovia:** [Mother's Ninth Improvement](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/mothers-ninth-improvement.md)

> [!example]- Cutscenes
> **The Abbot Lights the Candles**: The Abbot lights the candles with a fingertip and every flame leans toward him.
> ![abbot candles](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbot-candles.webp)
>
> **The Candles Lean to Her**: The Candles Lean to Her: a later beat of a long conversation picture (abbey_of_st_markovia/abbot, ~ first), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
> ![abbot ireena candles](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbot-ireena-candles.webp)
>
> **The Bride Opens Her Eyes**: The Abbot lays his hands on Vasilka, the candles burn white, and her eyes open.
> ![abbey bride](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbey-bride.webp)
>
> **She Lies Back**: She Lies Back: a later beat of a long conversation picture (abbey_of_st_markovia/unveiling, ~ repent_unmake), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
> ![bride rests](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/bride-rests.webp)
>
> **He Is Holding Her Hand**: The Abbot kneels beside his fallen bride, holding her hand.
> ![abbot holds hand](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbot-holds-hand.webp)
>
> **Markovia's Letter**: Markovia's Letter: a later beat of a long conversation picture (abbey_of_st_markovia/unveiling, ~ letter_after), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
> ![abbot letter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbot-letter.webp)
>
> **Light Like Water**: The Abbot kneels, and light pours out of him instead of blood.
> ![abbot kneeling](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbot-kneeling.webp)
>
> **The Abbot's Wings**: The Abbot's wings of light fill the chancel.
> ![abbot wings](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/abbot-wings.webp)
>
> **She Turns Her Head**: She Turns Her Head: a later beat of a long conversation picture (abbey_of_st_markovia/unveiling, ~ demand), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
> ![bride turns](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/bride-turns.webp)