# The Dancing Bear > From the Curse of Strahd game wiki (it covers the whole game, spoilers included): https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-dancing-bear.html. Unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy, not approved or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. > [!infobox] > **Type:** Side quest > **Region:** [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/the-old-svalich-road.md) · level 4 > **Given by:** [Lavinia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/lavinia.md) > **Starts at:** [Tser Pool Encampment](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/tser-pool-encampment.md) > **Rewards:** [Wind Fan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#wind-fan), 60 gp ## Summary Lavinia's bear Bujor, who has danced on the Tser Pool camp's stage for nine years, broke his chain in the night and went up into the woods. ## Walkthrough ### Getting the quest [Lavinia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/lavinia.md) dances on the plank stage at the [Tser Pool Encampment](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/tser-pool-encampment.md) between 10 in the morning and 11 at night. Once every member of your party is level 3 or higher, you find her sitting on the edge of the stage with a broken chain across her knees instead: her bear [Bujor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/bujor.md) broke it last night and went up the deer path into the woods. Before level 3 she only talks about her grandmother's dance. ### Step by step 1. **Talk to Lavinia.** You can look at the chain with **Investigation DC 10** (the link was pulled open, not cut); it's flavour either way. Agree to find him and she gives you her tin whistle, and the deer path opens up. 2. **Take the deer path.** It leaves the camp in the north-west corner, up the stream, and is locked until Lavinia has asked you. It leads to [The Old Den](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-den.md). ![loc tser woods den 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-tser-woods-den-1.webp) 3. **Calm Bujor.** In the clearing he rears up over a cub with its leg in an iron trap, and comes to you. You have several ways to calm him: - Blow Lavinia's whistle: it works with no roll. - **Animal Handling DC 13**: on a fail he roars but still lets you work round him, so the quest goes on either way. - [Speak with Animals](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/spells/level-1-spells.md#speak-with-animals) (cast it there, or have it running): he tells you the trap smells of "the skinning man from my camp", which also marks the trap as Marin's. 4. **Look at the trap (optional).** Before opening it you can try **Investigation DC 12** to spot the mark on the spring plate: an M with a notch, Old Marin's mark. If you miss it, you can still examine the open trap after the fight and see the mark then. 5. **Open the trap and fight.** The cub screams and blights come out of the trees. If everyone is level 4 or higher you face 4 [Vine Blights](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), 5 [Needle Blights](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md) and 3 [Twig Blights](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/twig-blight.md); below level 4 it's 2 vine, 5 needle and 4 twig blights. It's a crowd, not a hard fight: twig blights are weak to fire, the needle blights shoot from up to 60 feet, and vine blights grab and crush from 10 feet away, so free anyone they grip. 6. **Decide where Bujor goes.** Talk to him again after the fight: lead him home to Lavinia with the cub, or let them go into the den together. 7. **Go back to Lavinia** at the camp. ### Choices and endings Either way Lavinia gives you her grandmother's [Wind Fan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#wind-fan) and **60 gp**. - **Home to Lavinia:** Wren +2, Ratatouille +1 and Godrick +1 approve. Bujor dances on the stage from then on, with the cub under the planks. - **Into the den:** Thistle +3, Liriel +1 and Wren +1 approve. Lavinia dances the bear's part herself afterwards. If you found out the trap was Marin's (by the check, the spell, or looking at the trap afterwards), you can tell Lavinia, and then take it to [Old Marin](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/old-marin.md), who skins deer by the trees at the camp from 7 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. Tell him "Your mark was on the trap" and he confesses that the black carriage pays a gold piece a pound for live young, and pulls all eleven of his traps: Thistle +2, Kip +1 and Godrick +1 approve. You don't need to tell Lavinia first; knowing the mark is enough. ### If you're stuck - **Lavinia just dances?** Someone in the party is still below level 3. - **The deer path is "nothing you need, yet"?** You haven't agreed to help Lavinia. - **No Bujor at the den?** He's only there while the quest is at "asked" or "defended"; once you've chosen his fate he's gone from the clearing. ## Rewards - [Wind Fan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#wind-fan) - 60 gp **What your companions think** - **Wren Featherfoot:** +2 you brought Lavinia's bear home, and the cub with him; +1 you let Lavinia's bear go back to the woods with the cub - **Ratatouille:** +1 you brought Lavinia's bear home, and the cub with him - **Godrick Pendlebrook:** +1 you brought Lavinia's bear home, and the cub with him; +1 you made Old Marin pull his traps - **Thistle:** +3 you let Lavinia's bear go back to the woods with the cub; +2 you made Old Marin pull his traps - **Liriel Dawnsong:** +1 you let Lavinia's bear go back to the woods with the cub - **Kip Smudgewick:** +1 you made Old Marin pull his traps ## Fights - *Out of the trees all round the clearing come things that aren't trees, toward the sound of the cub crying.*, in [The Old Den](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-den.md): [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md), [Twig Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/twig-blight.md). Scales with your level. > [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get) > - **[The Old Den](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-den.md)**, when level ≥ 4: 4 × [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), 5 × [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md), 3 × [Twig Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/twig-blight.md) (725 XP) > - **[The Old Den](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-den.md)**: 2 × [Vine Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/vine-blight.md), 5 × [Needle Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/needle-blight.md), 4 × [Twig Blight](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/twig-blight.md) (550 XP) ## Journal > [!quote]- Every journal entry and hint > **Asked**: Bujor, the bear who dances with Lavinia on the plank stage at the Tser Pool camp, broke his chain in the night and went up the deer path into the woods. In nine years he never once pulled on it. Lavinia gave us her whistle: two notes, high then low. > *Hint:* Take the deer path up the stream from the north-west corner of the Tser Pool camp, and find Bujor at the old den. > > **Defended**: Bujor didn't run away. A bear cub was crying in a hunter's trap at the old den, and he went to it. The blights came for the crying, and we stood in front of it. > *Hint:* Go to Bujor in the clearing at the old den, up the deer path from the Tser Pool camp. > > **Found**: The cub is out of the trap. Lavinia will want to know where her bear is. > *Hint:* Find Lavinia on the plank stage at the Tser Pool camp, in the daytime or the evening. > > **Done** (the end: success): Lavinia has her answer about Bujor, and we have her grandmother's fan, the one she danced for a prince with. > [!abstract]- Every skill check in its conversations > - Investigation DC 10: (Look at the broken chain.) > - Animal Handling DC 13: (Talk him down, slow and low.) > - Investigation DC 12: (Look at the trap before you touch it.) ## Related - **People:** [Lavinia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/lavinia.md), [Old Marin](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/old-marin.md), [Bujor](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/bujor.md) - **Places:** [Tser Pool Encampment](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/tser-pool-encampment.md), [The Old Den](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-den.md) - **More in The Old Svalich Road:** [Called by Name](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/called-by-name.md), [The Count's Huntsman](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-counts-huntsman.md), [The Grey Mare](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-grey-mare.md), [The Hanged Man at the Crossroads](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-hanged-man-at-the-crossroads.md), [The Lantern in the Roadhouse](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-lantern-in-the-roadhouse.md), [The Spiders' Gully](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-spiders-gully.md), [The Tinker's Wagon](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-tinkers-wagon.md) > [!example]- Cutscenes > **The Dancing Bear**: Bujor standing over a cub caught in a trap at the old den. > ![sq bujor cub](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/sq-bujor-cub.webp)