# The Black Row

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

> [!infobox]
> ![quest the black row](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/quest-the-black-row.webp)
> **Type:** Side quest
> **Region:** [The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/the-wizard-of-wines.md) · level 6
> **Given by:** [Davian Martikov](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/davian-martikov.md)
> **Starts at:** [The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wizard-of-wines.md)
> **Rewards:** [Wand of Fireballs](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#wand-of-fireballs), 250 gp

## Summary

Once the Martikovs are home, the Seventh Row of their vineyard comes up black every night, and every morning it has been picked bare.

## Walkthrough

### Getting the quest

This quest only exists once the Martikovs are back in their house, which happens when you report the winery cleared in [The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-wizard-of-wines.md). There are two ways in, both at [The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wizard-of-wines.md):

- **[Andrei](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/andrei.md) the picker**, working the east rows between 7:00 and 17:00. He tells you not to taste the Seventh Row, because it comes up black in the night and is bare by morning. The journal opens at *Rumored*.
- **[Davian Martikov](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/davian-martikov.md)** in the yard. Ask "Heard anything interesting?" He tells you his grandfather planted the row and Elvir pruned it, and he wants to know who picks it before he burns it. That moves the quest to *Asked*, whether or not you've spoken to Andrei.

### Step by step

1. **Look at the row (optional).** The Seventh Row is the bottom row of the east vineyard, just above the foot of the lane. Examine it by day:
   - **Nature DC 13** ("Look at where the vine meets the root"): something has grown up into every rootstock in the row and is wearing the vines like sleeves. It's one big blight.
   - **Investigation DC 13** ("Look at the ground between the rows"): black feathers, and a man's bare footprints that start in the middle of the row as if he dropped out of the sky.

   If a roll fails, the option stays, so you can look again.
2. **Watch it after dark.** Once the quest has started, the row offers "(Wait in the vines and see who comes.)" at night, from 19:00 to 6:00. Time jumps to 1:00. A raven comes down into the row and turns into [Adrian Martikov](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/adrian-martikov.md), who picks a hatful of black grapes and eats them with his eyes shut. Step out of the vines. He confesses that the grapes make him dream of Elvir alive and not angry with him, and the veins on his hands have gone dark like the leaves. The journal moves to *The Picker*.
3. **Talk him round, or don't.**
   - "Your father forgave you. Elvir would have too, without the grapes." This is only offered if you reconciled Davian and Adrian in [The Son Who Didn't Fly](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-son-who-didnt-fly.md). It always works.
   - "Elvir ordered you to fly. He'd order you to stop." This is only offered if you know the truth about Elvir but haven't reconciled them yet. It always works.
   - **Persuasion DC 15**: "That isn't Elvir. It's the tree from the hill, wearing his face, and it's drinking you." If it fails, he says "One more night", turns into a raven and flies off, and you cut into the root alone.
   - "(Draw steel and cut into the root.)" skips the talking.

   If he's convinced, he puts his hat back on and joins you as a guest ([Wereraven](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/wereraven.md)) for the fight.
4. **The Vine Mother (`vine_mother`).** The whole row stands up as one plant, twice the height of the house. It was a cutting of the Gulthias tree that Kostin planted under the vines, and it has its own roots now, so burning the tree on Yester Hill didn't kill it.
   - Below level 6: [The Vine Mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-vine-mother.md) (150 HP), 2 [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md)s and 3 [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md)s.
   - Level 6: the Vine Mother, 4 vine blights and 4 needle blights.
   - Level 7: the Vine Mother, 5 vine blights and 6 needle blights.
   - Level 8: the Vine Mother, 6 vine blights, 6 needle blights and the Sixth Row, a [Tree Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/tree-blight.md).

   This is a Moderate to High fight for your level. The Vine Mother is Huge, with AC 15, 210 HP (150 below level 6), and two branch sweeps at 15-foot reach. Her Grasping Vine (DC 16 Strength save, from up to 20 feet) drags a hero 15 feet in and crushes them every turn, and she can hold two at once. Black Wine (recharge 5–6) is a 30-foot cone: DC 15 Constitution save, 4d8 poison damage and the Poisoned condition. She also has Legendary Resistance twice a day and three legendary actions a round, which she uses to lash out or move through the soil. Don't bunch up in front of her, and keep someone free to cut grappled friends loose. Winning moves the journal to *Cut Out*.

   ![sq vine mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/sq-vine-mother.webp)
5. **Tell Davian.** Pick "Your Seventh Row is cut out, root and all." He gives you a [Wand of Fireballs](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#wand-of-fireballs), which the Wizard of Wines left in the press-house rack a hundred years ago "against the day something in the vines needed burning", and 250 gp. If Adrian fought beside you, he leaves the party here. The quest ends at *Done*.

### Choices and endings

The quest has one ending, and it pays the same however you get there: the Wand of Fireballs, 250 gp, and approval from Liriel Dawnsong (+2), Godrick Pendlebrook (+2), Ratatouille (+2), Thistle (+1) and Wren Featherfoot (+1). What changes is the scene at the end:

- **Adrian on your side.** He walks in with black sap to the elbows and tells his father everything before you can. Davian holds his son's hands while the dark veins fade back to blue.
- **Adrian not on your side.** He's waiting by his father's chair. Davian says "He told me. Some of it. Enough."

Afterwards the row is replanted with young vines. Andrei is "never so glad of sour", Davian mentions it in his news, and someone plants rosemary at the end of the row.

### If you're stuck

- **There's no Seventh Row to examine.** It only appears once the winery has been reclaimed.
- **There's no "Wait in the vines" option.** It needs night (19:00 to 6:00) and the quest started, through Andrei or Davian.
- **Davian talks about a lantern on Yester Hill instead.** Once this quest is past *Rumored*, the Gulthias tree has burned and you're level 7, his "Heard anything interesting?" gives you [The Druid Who Came Back](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-druid-who-came-back.md) instead, until that quest is finished. If you've only heard Andrei's rumour, Davian still tells you about the Seventh Row first (*Asked*), and the lantern comes the next time you ask. You don't need his part: the night watch works even if you've only heard the rumour from Andrei.

## Rewards

- [Wand of Fireballs](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#wand-of-fireballs)
- 250 gp

**What your companions think**

- **Liriel Dawnsong:** +2 you cut the Black Row out of the Martikovs' vineyard
- **Godrick Pendlebrook:** +2 you cut the Black Row out of the Martikovs' vineyard
- **Thistle:** +1 you cut the Black Row out of the Martikovs' vineyard
- **Ratatouille:** +2 you cut the Black Row out of the Martikovs' vineyard
- **Wren Featherfoot:** +1 you cut the Black Row out of the Martikovs' vineyard

## Fights

- *The Seventh Row stands up out of the ground, and the vines in the rows on either side pull their roots up…*, in [The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wizard-of-wines.md): [The Vine Mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-vine-mother.md), [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md), [Tree Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/tree-blight.md). Scales with your level.
> [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)
> - **[The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wizard-of-wines.md)**, when level ≥ 8: [The Vine Mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-vine-mother.md), 6 × [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), 6 × [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md), The Sixth Row ([Tree Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/tree-blight.md)) (7700 XP)
> - **[The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wizard-of-wines.md)**, when level ≥ 7: [The Vine Mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-vine-mother.md), 5 × [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), 6 × [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md) (4700 XP)
> - **[The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wizard-of-wines.md)**, when level ≥ 6: [The Vine Mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-vine-mother.md), 4 × [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), 4 × [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md) (4500 XP)
> - **[The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wizard-of-wines.md)**: [The Vine Mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-vine-mother.md), 2 × [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), 3 × [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md) (4250 XP)

## Journal

> [!quote]- Every journal entry and hint
> **Rumored**: Andrei the picker won't touch the Seventh Row at the Wizard of Wines: it comes up black in the night and is gone by morning.
> *Hint:* Ask Davian Martikov at the Wizard of Wines about the Seventh Row.
>
> **Asked**: Davian's Seventh Row, the one his grandfather planted and Elvir pruned, grows black grapes every night, and somebody picks it bare in the dark. Davian wants to know who, or what, before he burns it.
> *Hint:* Look at the Seventh Row in the vineyard, and watch it after dark.
>
> **The Picker**: The one picking the Seventh Row is Adrian Martikov. The black grapes make him dream of Elvir alive and forgiving him, and the veins on his hands are going dark like the leaves.
> *Hint:* Deal with the Seventh Row in the Wizard of Wines vineyard: talk the picker round first if you can, then cut the row out.
>
> **Cut Out**: The Seventh Row was a cutting of the Gulthias tree, planted under the Martikovs' vines by the druids. It stood up as the Vine Mother, and it's dead.
> *Hint:* Tell Davian Martikov at the Wizard of Wines what happened.
>
> **Done** (the end: success): The Black Row is cut out of the Martikovs' vineyard, and young vines are going in. Davian gave us a wand the Wizard of Wines left in the press-house rack a hundred years ago, against the day something in the vines needed burning.

> [!abstract]- Every skill check in its conversations
> - Nature DC 13: (Look at where the vine meets the root.)
> - Investigation DC 13: (Look at the ground between the rows.)
> - Persuasion DC 15: That isn't Elvir. It's the tree from the hill, wearing his face, and it's drinking you.

## Related

- **People:** [Ionel](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ionel.md), [Tereza](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/tereza.md), [Horia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/horia.md), [Ovidiu](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/ovidiu.md), [Andrei](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/andrei.md), [Old Silviu](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/old-silviu.md), [A Raven](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/a-raven.md), [A Raven](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/a-raven-of-the-wizard-of-wines.md), [A Raven](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/a-raven-2.md), [Davian Martikov](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/davian-martikov.md), [Stefania Martikov](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/stefania-martikov.md)
- **Places:** [The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-wizard-of-wines.md)
- **More in The Wizard of Wines:** [The Son Who Didn't Fly](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-son-who-didnt-fly.md), [The Third Stone](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-third-stone.md), [The Wizard of Wines](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-wizard-of-wines.md)

> [!example]- Cutscenes
> **The Vine Mother**: The Seventh Row stands up out of the Martikovs' vineyard.
> ![sq vine mother](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/sq-vine-mother.webp)