Side quest The Village of Barovia Level 3

The Burgomaster's Hound

The dead burgomaster's wolfhound howls every night at the mansion's study wall, not at the wolves.

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

Ask Bildrath Cantemir for news about "The dog at the burgomaster's house.", or just walk up to Lupu, the big grey wolfhound in the Burgomaster's yard outside the mansion. He's there at any hour: lying on the step by day, howling at the study wall at night. Either one puts the quest at Rumored.

Step by step

  1. Win Lupu over. [Animal Handling DC 12] "(Crouch down and let him come to you.)" If he stays wary, try again later. When he warms to you he takes your sleeve and leads you round to the study window, and the quest moves to Asked. With Speak with Animals (cast on the spot, or already running) he tells you himself: his boy Sergiu is in the wall.
  2. Find the cold corner. Inside the Burgomaster's Mansion (the door opens once you've answered Ismark or Ireena has let you in), examine the cold corner of the study. It's there as soon as the quest is in your journal, even at Rumored. New plaster covers hurried brickwork with garlic in the cracks, and something scratches on the other side.
    • [Investigation DC 12] "(Look for anything pushed in among the bricks.)" finds Kolyan's note. His first son, Sergiu, let the thing at the window in during the siege winter and came back hungry, and his father walled him up. You can try again if you miss it.
  3. Seal it or open it.
    • Seal it: [Religion DC 12] "(Bless the bricks and pack fresh garlic into every crack.)" can be retried if the words don't take. The scratching stops, Lupu stops howling, and the burgomaster's desk drawer gives up a purse of 60 gp. The quest ends at Sealed (Liriel +1, Godrick +1). No fight.
    • Open it: [Athletics DC 11] "(Break the bricks open.)" opens the wall whether you pass or fail; failing only costs some skinned knuckles. Lupu bursts in and joins you as a guest for the fight. At level 3 or higher it's The Tenant (Ghast) and 3 × A Siege-Winter Servant (Ghoul) (1,050 XP); at level 2, the Tenant and two servants (850 XP); at level 1, the Tenant (24 HP) and one servant (650 XP). Their claws can paralyze (DC 10 Constitution; elves shrug off the ghouls' but not the ghast's), and standing next to the ghast can poison you, so keep your front line's Constitution saves in mind and don't let one paralyzed hero get swarmed.
  4. After the fight, examine the cold corner again. This is easy to miss. Lupu goes down into the little room, then leaves you and lies on the mansion step. On a shelf you find a shirt of fine rings Kolyan bought his son: Mithral Armor, with 60 gp. The quest ends at Done (Godrick +2, Thistle +2, Liriel +1).

Choices and endings

Both endings count as success. Sealing is safe and pays 60 gp. Opening the wall means a fight, and pays the Mithral Armor and 60 gp. You get 60 gp either way, not both purses. Afterwards Lupu sleeps on the mansion step like an ordinary dog.

Rewards

What your companions think

  • Liriel Dawnsong: +1 you sealed the burgomaster's cold corner; +1 you opened the burgomaster's cold corner and put his son to rest
  • Godrick Pendlebrook: +1 you sealed the burgomaster's cold corner; +2 you opened the burgomaster's cold corner and put his son to rest
  • Thistle: +2 you opened the burgomaster's cold corner and put his son to rest

Fights

  • The Tenant comes up the little stair on all fours, and the servants who starved with him come up behind., in Burgomaster's Mansion: Ghast, Ghoul. Scales with your level.
By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)

Journal

Every journal entry and hint

Rumored: Bildrath says the burgomaster's wolfhound, Lupu, sits under the mansion's study window every night and howls at the wall.
Hint: Find Lupu the wolfhound by the burgomaster's mansion and follow him.

Asked: Lupu led us to the mansion's study, to the cold corner. Somebody has bricked something up behind the wallpaper, with garlic in the cracks, and something on the other side scratches.
Hint: Look at the cold corner of the study in the burgomaster's mansion.

Sealed (the end: success): We blessed the bricks in the burgomaster's study and plastered them over. The scratching has stopped, and so has the howling.

Done (the end: success): Behind the bricks was Sergiu, the burgomaster's first son, who let the thing at the window in during the siege winter and came back hungry. Kolyan couldn't end it and walled him up. Lupu, his dog, stood with us when we did.

Every skill check in its conversations
  • Animal Handling DC 12: (Crouch down and let him come to you.)
  • Investigation DC 12: (Look for anything pushed in among the bricks.)
  • Athletics DC 11: (Break the bricks open.)
  • Religion DC 12: (Bless the bricks and pack fresh garlic into every crack.)