The Attic Circle

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

Lydia Petrovna, the Baron's wife, sews bunting in her parlour on the east side of The Burgomaster's Mansion, on the north side of Vallaki's square. She's there before the festival, and afterwards unless Lady Wachter won. Ask her "How is your son?" She tells you Victor hasn't come down from the attic in four days, and neither have the two maids who carried his trays up. That starts the quest at Heard. (Insight DC 12 on her shows the fear under the smile, and nothing more.) You can also just climb up and meet Victor, which starts the quest at Found.

Step by step

1. Climb to the attic. The narrow stair goes up from a corner of the great hall.
   • Mind the floor. The faintly glowing chalk circle is a trap: if you step in it, you make a Constitution save (DC 14) or take 4d6 force damage. A Search finds it (DC 10) and it can be disarmed (DC 15). Arcana DC 14 on the circle itself also shows you what it is.
   • Read Victor's notes to learn what happened to the maids, Grigor and Mirela.
   • Search near the circle (Investigation DC 15) for a loose board hiding a Wand of the War Mage, +1.
   • The old trunk holds Fine Clothes, four candles and 3 gp.
   • Downstairs in the Baron's study, Investigation DC 15 finds a Necklace of Fireballs tucked behind the festival ledger. The Baron's strongbox (lock DC 16) holds 60 gp and a Potion of Healing, though he'll complain about it.
2. Talk to Victor. The quest moves to Found. Victor is sixteen, furious, and means to leave Barovia through his circle. Ask him about the circle and the maids, then choose how to stop him:
   • Show him the flaw. Learn it first, with Arcana DC 14, "(Study the sigils of the circle.)" (it isn't a social check, so you can try again if it fails), or by letting a Wizard "talk to him as one wizard to another" (that Wizard earns Heroic Inspiration; Ratatouille +1). Then tell him "The destination sigil is wrong. There's nowhere for it to take you." The quest ends at Persuaded, and he gives you a Spell Scroll (Level 1) (Ratatouille +2, Liriel +1).
   • Persuasion DC 14, "You'll die in that circle, Victor. Stop.": Persuaded (Liriel +1, Ratatouille +1). If it fails, he turns hostile and won't hear it again, so use another route.
   • "(Scuff the chalk lines until the circle is ruined.)": Broken. The trap is gone, and Victor hates you (Liriel +1, Ratatouille -2).
   • Tell his father. Before the festival, say in the Baron's great hall "Your son's attic circle has killed two of your servants": Reported. The Baron locks the book away in his desk.
   • "Help him finish it" ends nothing (Liriel -2, Godrick -1, Ratatouille -1) and leaves Victor in danger.
3. If Madam Eva named Victor as your ally, "Madam Eva's cards named you, Victor. Come with us" brings him into your party (The Destined Ally). If you broke his circle or he's hostile, he'll come only for Persuasion DC 12 or ten gold "for chalk". He leaves the circle behind when he comes: if this quest was still at Heard or Found (or you'd helped him finish it), it ends at Persuaded, without the scroll.

Choices and endings

• Persuaded, Broken or Reported all end the quest safely. Taking Victor into your party settles it too (step 3). Only showing him the flaw pays anything (the scroll). The 150 gp in the box above is Lady Wachter's payment for the festival, not a reward for this quest.
• Vanished (a failure) happens only if Lady Wachter wins The Festival of the Blazing Sun while the circle is still unsettled: you never dealt with Victor, or you helped him finish it, and he isn't travelling with you. He steps into it the day his father falls. During the aftermath an attic window in the mansion flashes white, and Lydia screams his name. If Madam Eva had named him your ally, that's lost too.
• If Lady Wachter wins and Victor is safe, he and his mother shelter in St. Andral's Church. If Madam Eva named him, he can still join you from there.

If you're stuck

• Lady Wachter might win the festival. Settle the circle before the festival, or take Victor with you if Madam Eva named him; her victory is the only thing that sets it off.
• The Baron won't hear your report. He only takes it in the great hall before the festival, and only while the quest is at Found.

Rewards

• Spell Scroll (Level 1)
• A level (milestone)

What your companions think

• Liriel Dawnsong: +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life; -1 you put the Baron in his own stocks; -4 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; +1 you showed Victor why his circle goes nowhere; +1 you talked Victor out of stepping into his circle; -2 you helped Victor finish a circle that goes nowhere
• Wren Featherfoot: +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life; -3 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter
• Godrick Pendlebrook: +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life; -3 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; -1 you helped Victor finish a circle that goes nowhere
• Thistle: +1 you put the Baron in his own stocks; -1 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter
• Kip Smudgewick: -2 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter
• Ratatouille: +1 you talked shop with Victor; +2 you showed Victor why his circle goes nowhere; +1 you talked Victor out of stepping into his circle; -1 you helped Victor finish a circle that goes nowhere; -2 you scuffed out six weeks of Victor's chalk

Journal

Related

• People: Baron Vargas Vallakovich, Lady Wachter, Lydia Petrovna, Victor Vallakovich
• Places: Vallaki, The Burgomaster's Mansion, St. Andral's Church
• More in Vallaki: Black Roses, Lady Wachter's Book Club, One Lantern Too Many, Ribbons, The Bones of St. Andral, The Cat in the Window, The Count's Portraitist, The Doll Collector