The Destined Ally

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

This quest starts at the end of Madam Eva's reading in The Seer at Tser Pool. Her fourth card is "a friend. One who will stand beside you when the others run". The card is dealt from the Tarokka's high deck of fourteen cards, shuffled from your playthrough's seed: the first high card is your ally, and the second is the room where Strahd waits (Where the Devil Waits). So your ally's card and Strahd's card are never the same card. The reading never changes during a playthrough, the journal entry names your ally and where to look, and the verses are on The Tarokka Reading.

An ally who joins travels as a guest: they follow you, appear in the party frames and fight on your side under your control. When they join, the quest moves to "Found". If you lose them for good, it moves to "Lost" and you go on without them.

Card	Ally	Where to look
Artifact	Rictavio (Rudolph van Richten)	The Blue Water Inn, Vallaki
Beast	Emil Toranescu	The Werewolf Den, chained in silver
Broken One	Mordenkainen (the Mad Mage)	The Mad Mage's Hut, Mount Baratok
Darklord	Nobody	–
Donjon	Victor Vallakovich	The attic of The Burgomaster's Mansion, Vallaki
Executioner	Ismark Kolyanovich	The Village of Barovia, or already with you
Ghost	Sir Godfrey Gwilym	Argynvostholt
Horseman	Kolyan Indirovich	His grave in the churchyard of the Village of Barovia
Innocent	Parriwimple	Bildrath's Mercantile, Village of Barovia
Marionette	Pidlwick II	Castle Ravenloft, the High Tower
Mists	Ezmerelda d'Avenir	The switchback below The Abbey of St. Markovia
Raven	Davian Martikov	The Wizard of Wines
Seer	Kasimir Velikov	The Vistani Camp outside Vallaki
Tempter	Arabelle	Lake Zarovich, in danger

Step by step

Find your card below and follow its route. In most cases you talk to the ally and pick the option that begins "Madam Eva's cards named you…". It only appears when they really are your ally.

Artifact: Rictavio. He's in The Blue Water Inn (one of his two spots there is by day only). With this card he stays in Vallaki even if Lady Wachter takes the town.

1. Choose "Madam Eva's cards named a man like you." He drops the showman act at once, admits he's Rudolph van Richten, and gives you two flasks of holy water and his Hat of Disguise.
2. Then choose "Madam Eva's cards named you. Will you hunt with us?" He joins.
3. If you helped Lady Wachter take Vallaki, he refuses to stand with you:
   • Persuasion DC 15 ("We made a bad bargain") wins him back.
   • If it fails, he goes home to his tower on Lake Baratok, and Van Richten's Tower appears on your map. Get in with the name Khazan (see The Hunter's Tower) and ask again ("The cards still name you"). He joins at once if you've freed the stolen children from the werewolf den, brought the children home from Old Bonegrinder, or lit Argynvostholt's beacon. Otherwise you get one more Persuasion DC 15; if that fails too, come back after one of those deeds.
   • "Then go" loses him for good.

Beast: Emil Toranescu. He's in The Werewolf Den, chained in silver in the west alcove. The den appears on your map because of the card. See The Pack in the Hills.

1. Get in. Either Zuleika, waiting at the den in the hills, vouches for you, or you fight the guards at the cave mouth.
2. Free him with the key (Zuleika has one; Kiril keeps the other on a peg in his lair north of the great cave), or tear the rings out with Athletics DC 15, or pick the cuffs with Sleight of Hand DC 14. Each roll is one try. He joins as a guest and howls his challenge.
3. When Kiril arrives, choose "We stand with Emil" and win the fight. Below level 7 it's Kiril with two werewolves and a dire wolf; at level 7 he brings three werewolves and two dire wolves; at level 8, four werewolves and two dire wolves. If you've already beaten the den's guards, there's one werewolf fewer at levels 7 and 8.
4. Afterwards Zuleika takes the pack, and Emil comes with you because the cards said so.
5. Standing aside, handing Emil back to Kiril, or turning on both of them ("Neither of you leads anything") loses him.

Broken One: Mordenkainen. He lives in The Mad Mage's Hut on Mount Baratok. As the Mad Mage he says yes to the cards and then forgets you mid-sentence, so you must give him his mind back first (The Mad Mage of Mount Baratok). Any one of these works:

• Uncork the memory jar from Baba Lysaga's shelf in Berez. You can take it from her hut, or demand it as part of her bargain (Intimidation DC 15).
• Cast Greater Restoration with a Cleric, Druid or Bard, once your whole party is level 9.
• Unstack the warded cairn on the summit to find his spellbook. Show it to him, then read him its last page.
• Arcana DC 16: talk him back one spell at a time (one try).

Restored, he gives you a Ring of Spell Storing. Then choose "Madam Eva's cards named you. Will you come?" and he joins. If you haven't heard about his missing pages yet, he tells you as he joins, which starts The Mage's Lost Pages. Ask for the Tsolenka watchword first, though: once he's a guest you can't talk to him in his hut. His storm doesn't need the hut: from level 8, take him to the ring of glass and he starts The Forgotten Storm there.

Darklord: nobody. The cards gave you no ally. The quest ends straight away at Alone, and you face Strahd with your own party.

Donjon: Victor Vallakovich. He's in the attic of The Burgomaster's Mansion with his teleportation circle (The Attic Circle).

1. Choose "Madam Eva's cards named you, Victor. Come with us." He comes gladly, unless you scuffed his circle or he has turned hostile toward you.
2. If he sulks, either Persuasion DC 12 ("Out of this house… isn't that what you wanted?") or ten gold "for chalk" brings him round. If the roll fails, the chalk money still works.
3. If Lady Wachter wins Vallaki at the festival (The Festival of the Blazing Sun) while his circle is still unsettled and he isn't travelling with you, he vanishes through it, and the ally is lost. Bringing him along settles the circle (The Attic Circle ends at Persuaded if it hadn't ended already), so once he's with you he can't vanish. If you'd broken his circle, talked him out of it or reported it, and left him at home, he's sheltering at St. Andral's with his mother instead, and still comes when asked.

Executioner: Ismark Kolyanovich. There's no special scene. Ismark joins when you take Ireena out of the village and accept his offer ("Glad to have you, Ismark") in Ireena's Escort. Later, if he stayed behind guarding Ireena, you can ask "Come with us again, Ismark" at the Blue Water Inn, St. Andral's Church, or the Krezkovs' house in Krezk.

Ghost: Sir Godfrey Gwilym. He's at Argynvostholt: in the grounds the first time, then on the upper floor. See The Order of the Silver Dragon.

1. Choose "Madam Eva's cards named you, Sir Godfrey." If he already remembers his oath, he joins at once.
2. If not, say the oath with him (once you've read it in the chapel), read him the bottom of his wall of names, or tell him you'll give him something new to remember. All three work, with no roll.
3. If you light the dragon's beacon (The Dragon's Beacon) before he has joined, he climbs the tower and asks you to choose:
   • "Ride with us, Sir Godfrey": he joins, and Godrick approves (+2).
   • "Rest": the ally is lost, and Liriel (+2) and Godrick (+1) approve.

Horseman: Kolyan Indirovich. The late burgomaster must be raised from the dead.

1. His grave appears in the village churchyard once he's buried (The Burgomaster's Burial).
2. At the grave you need a Cleric or Bard in the party, everyone at level 9, and 500 gp for the diamonds.
3. Raised, he either rides with you at once or waits on his grave until you come back for him.

Innocent: Parriwimple. Bildrath's big, gentle nephew is in Bildrath's Mercantile. Choose "Madam Eva's cards named you, Parriwimple. Come with us." He joins, no roll.

Marionette: Pidlwick II. The clockwork jester comes down the stair to meet you in Castle Ravenloft, the High Tower.

1. Choose "Madam Eva's cards showed us a clockwork jester", then "Come with us, Pidlwick" (Godrick +1, Wren +1).
2. "We won't take you" loses him.
3. You can also bring him his wind-up key from the castle's ravens' roost (The Jester's Key). He gives you a Figurine of Wondrous Power (Ebony Fly) and asks to come along.

Mists: Ezmerelda d'Avenir. With this card she waits on a boulder at the top of the switchback below The Abbey of St. Markovia, watching it through a spyglass. The abbey shows on your map because of the card. Answer her challenge any way you like, then choose "We're going after the devil in the castle. Hunt with us." She joins. With this card she's never at her camp by Van Richten's Tower, and opening the tower door without her doesn't start The Hunter's Tower. Open it with her along and that quest ends at once at With Her, unless Van Richten has come home to his tower; then take her up to him, and it ends at Reunited.

Raven: Davian Martikov. At The Wizard of Wines, choose "Madam Eva's cards named you."

• He won't leave while the druids are in his house. Clear them out of the winery and the press house, then tell him "The druids are out of your house" (The Wizard of Wines).
• Ask again and he joins.

Seer: Kasimir Velikov. The dusk elf sits mending a net by a shuttered wagon at The Vistani Camp outside Vallaki. Choose "Madam Eva's cards named you as our ally." He joins, no roll. If the reading also left the Beggar's treasure with him and you haven't traded for it yet, he hands it over as he joins.

Tempter: Arabelle. She has been taken from her father's wagon (The Missing Girl).

1. Her father Luvash at the Vistani camp outside Vallaki asks you to find her. The Vistana at the fire saw Bluto the fisherman carry a moving sack to the lake.
2. Catch Bluto wading out with the sack. Talk him down (Persuasion DC 13), scare him (Intimidation DC 13) or grab it (Athletics DC 12).
3. If those fail, he throws her in, and someone must dive: Athletics DC 13, then Perception DC 12. If both fail, she drowns, and this quest ends at Lost.
4. Once she's safe there are two ways to bring her along:
   • Take her to Luvash. She tells him she's going with you, and you choose "We'll keep her safe, Luvash".
   • Once Bluto's business at Lake Zarovich: the Fishers' Landing is settled, find her in a boat drifting off the end of the jetty. Haul it in (Athletics DC 12; even a failure gets her in) or throw her a line, then "We promise. Come with us."
5. If you send her home instead, you can still collect her from the camp later.

Choices and endings

• Found: the ally walks with you to the end and fights at your side against Strahd.
• Lost: you lose Rictavio by telling him to go, Emil by standing aside, betraying him or turning on the pack, Victor if he vanishes through his circle, Godfrey by letting him rest under the beacon's light, Pidlwick by refusing him, and Arabelle if she drowns. The quest ends as a failure, and you face Strahd without them.
• Some allies pay you on the way in: Rictavio's holy water and Hat of Disguise, Mordenkainen's Ring of Spell Storing, Pidlwick's ebony fly. Luvash gives 50 gp and a Cloak of the Manta Ray for Arabelle's rescue. He pays before she asks to come with you, so you get them whether she joins or stays.

If you're stuck

• The "cards named you" line isn't there? It only appears for the one ally your reading named, and for some only once something else is done: Mordenkainen restored, Davian's house cleared, Kolyan raised.
• Ismark, Kolyan and Parriwimple: the quest moves to Found the moment the one the cards named travels with you, whichever scene brought them in.
• Darklord: the quest ends at once at Alone: the cards named no one, and you face Strahd with the friends you have.
• Lost before the reading? If the cards name an ally you've already lost, the quest goes straight to Lost at the end of the reading: Emil dead or the pack led by Kiril or no one, Victor vanished through his circle, Godfrey laid to rest under the beacon (unless he's travelling with you), Pidlwick refused, or Arabelle drowned. Go on without them.

Rewards

• Holy Water ×2
• Hat of Disguise
• A level (milestone)

What your companions think

• Godrick Pendlebrook: +2 you asked Sir Godfrey to ride with you one more time; +1 you let Sir Godfrey rest; +1 you let Pidlwick come along; +1 you sent Arabelle home to her father; +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I can't read; +1 you asked Madam Eva to read for the valley's sake
• Liriel Dawnsong: +2 you let Sir Godfrey rest; +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I'm afraid of the dark; +1 you asked Madam Eva to read for the valley's sake; -2 you threatened an old woman for her cards; -1 you kept what was stolen from the Vistani to their faces; +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life
• Wren Featherfoot: +1 you let Pidlwick come along; +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I'm not finished; -1 you threatened an old woman for her cards; -1 you kept what was stolen from the Vistani to their faces; +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life; -3 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter
• Kip Smudgewick: +2 you sent Arabelle home to her father; +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva who signed the contract; -1 you threatened an old woman for her cards; -3 you kept what was stolen from the Vistani to their faces; -2 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; +1 you kept Rictavio's secret
• Thistle: +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I don't fit anywhere; +1 you put the Baron in his own stocks; -1 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; -2 you stood back and let Kiril kill Emil; -4 you handed Emil back to Kiril
• Ratatouille: +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I'd rather cook

Journal

Related

• People: Ezmerelda d'Avenir, Sir Godfrey Gwilym, Vladimir Horngaard, Argynvost, Pidlwick II, Arabelle, Mordenkainen, The Mad Mage, Madam Eva, Baron Vargas Vallakovich, Lady Wachter, Lydia Petrovna, Kasimir Velikov, Rictavio, Victor Vallakovich, Luvash, Bluto Krogarov, Zuleika Toranescu, Mirela, Kiril Stoyanovich, Davian Martikov, Stefania Martikov
• Places: The Abbey of St. Markovia, The Beacon Tower, Argynvostholt, Argynvostholt, Upper Floor, Castle Ravenloft, the High Tower, Blinsky Toys, Lake Zarovich: the Fishers' Landing, The Mad Mage's Hut, Mount Baratok, Madam Eva's Tent, Vallaki, The Vistani Camp, The Blue Water Inn, The Burgomaster's Mansion, St. Andral's Church, Van Richten's Tower, Van Richten's Tower, The Werewolf Den, The Wizard of Wines
• Next in the story: Where the Devil Waits