The Festival of the Blazing Sun

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

The quest starts the first time you walk up to Vallaki's east gate. Two of the Town Guard step into the gateway and stop you, at any hour (after dark they let you in anyway). However you answer, the guard finishes by reading you the town's rules, and that puts the quest at Announced. Your answer still matters a little:

• "We're travellers. We want a roof and a hot meal" is the plain truth (Godrick +1, Kip +1).
• "This is Ireena Kolyana..." (only if Ireena is with you) tells the watch who she is. Word reaches the Baron, so he knows about her even if she isn't with you when you meet him. Arriving with her also starts Sanctuary.
• Deception DC 12, "We've come for the festival, naturally": success amuses the guard (Wren +1). Failure costs nothing.
• Intimidation DC 14, "We're coming in. Stand aside": success gets you in (Thistle +1, Godrick -1, Kip -1). If it fails, the watch chalks your faces on the gatepost, and later the lockup warden's bribe (step 2) goes up from 15 gp to 25 gp.

There is no deadline. The festival happens on whatever day you ask the herald to start it, so take your time. Until then the town runs on the Baron's clock (see Who ends up running Vallaki below).

Step by step

1. Meet the town's powers. The Festival Herald by the dais won't start anything until you've met at least one of the Baron, Lady Wachter or Father Lucian. Each of them will take your pledge, and you can change sides as often as you like until the festival begins.
   • Baron Vargas Vallakovich receives you in the great hall of The Burgomaster's Mansion, the big house on the north side of the square. Ask "What do you want from us?" and he offers 100 gp, the title of Festival Marshal and a sash. "We'll stand with you, Baron" (then, or later as "We'll stand with you at the festival after all") moves the quest to Baron Side (Thistle -2, Wren -2, Liriel -1, Godrick -1). "Who would wish your festival ill?" starts Lady Wachter's Book Club. The Insight DC 13 option only tells you what he's like. Turning him down with "We don't work for men who jail people for frowning" earns Thistle +2, Wren +2 and Godrick +1, and the offer stays open.
   • Lady Wachter pours tea in the parlour of Wachterhaus, up Wachter lane north-west of the square. "You didn't invite us here for the tea" gets her offer: when the Baron's sun fails, she'll take the town from him in front of everyone. "We'll stand with you" (or later "About your offer. We're with you") moves the quest to Wachter Side and costs a lot of approval (Liriel -3, Godrick -3, Kip -2, Thistle, Wren and Ratatouille -1). Calling it what it is, "You'd rule it for Strahd", gives Godrick and Liriel +1.
   • Father Lucian at St. Andral's Church (the churchyard, north-east) and Urwin Martikov behind the bar of The Blue Water Inn (south of the square) offer the third way. Ask Lucian "What should we make of the Baron and Lady Wachter?" and answer "Then we'll stand with the town", or ask Urwin "Whose side are you on?" and answer "Then we'll stand with the town too". Either one moves the quest to Town Side (Godrick, Thistle, Wren and Liriel +2; Kip and Ratatouille +1).
   • You don't have to pledge at all. If you arrive at the festival unpledged, you choose in the square when it all goes wrong (step 5).
   • If you switch sides, the one you left remembers it. The Baron asks the crowd where his marshals' sashes are, and Lady Wachter needles you at tea and again in the square. Nothing else changes.
2. Prepare for your side. All of this is optional. Ask your leader "What do you need from us before the festival?" (Lucian: "What should we do at the festival?") to hear their orders again.
   • For the Baron: guard the sun. The wicker sun is the great straw sun on its pole in the middle of the square. Go to it at night while you're pledged to the Baron and pick "Keep watch over the sun until morning". Past midnight two Wachterhaus servants come with buckets. Intimidation DC 12 sends them running. If it fails they come on anyway and you seize one, which is the same as picking "Seize them for the Baron" (Thistle -1, Wren -1). The seized servant is a witness the Baron will name at the festival. Either way the sun stays dry. The Baron also wants proof against Lady Wachter: the letter from her cellar (see her quest page), shown to him with "We found this in Lady Wachter's cellar".
   • For Lady Wachter: soak the sun. Go to it at night while you're pledged to her and pick "Soak the straw, as Lady Wachter asked". The watchman is asleep, as she promised (Liriel -2, Godrick -1). She also asks you not to kill Izek before the festival. Nothing in the game holds it against you if you do, and it makes her fight easier.
   • For the town: Lucian asks three things. First, free the "malcontents" from the lockup in the stockade, south-east of the square: the Lockup Warden lets them go for Persuasion DC 14, or for 15 gp (25 gp if the gate watch marked you). A failed Persuasion can't be tried again, so the gold is your fallback (Thistle and Wren +2 either way). Second, bring the saint home (The Bones of St. Andral). Third, give him the letter from Lady Wachter's cellar ("We found a letter in Lady Wachter's cellar", which only appears while you're pledged to the town).
   • Whichever side you're on: return St. Andral's bones before the festival. Vallaki gives one milestone level, at whichever comes first, the bones or the festival's end, so you'll fight the festival a level higher. Deal with Izek Strazni (The Doll Collector): if he's been told the truth about Ireena, or is dead, he isn't in the Wachter or town fights, and those fights are much easier without him. If you're not pledged to Lady Wachter, break her cellar circle at night; her sons and cultists are then gone, and only hired swords come for the Baron. If there's any chance Lady Wachter wins, settle The Attic Circle first (taking Victor into your party, if Madam Eva named him, settles it too).
   • On the way through the square: a Ring of Protection is trodden into the mud by the stocks (search DC 12; A Big Dog points it out if someone can cast Speak with Animals). There's String under the square's bench (search DC 13), and performing on the festival dais (Performance DC 14) pays 20 gp.
3. Ask the herald to begin. He stands by the dais in the town square. Once you've met any of the three leaders, "We're ready. Let the festival begin" starts it, but only between 11:00 and 13:59. At other daytime hours he offers "We'll wait for noon", which passes time to the next noon. At night he won't do business at all. From 11:00 each day he rings his handbell across the square to remind you. When the festival starts, the quest moves to Begun. From that moment the Baron, Lady Wachter, Lucian and Urwin are all in the square and nowhere else, so finish your pledge and your preparations before you ask.
4. The Baron's speech. Walk toward the dais and the Baron speaks as you come near. If Ireena is with you and Izek is still at his post, Izek's eyes stay on her the whole time. Then the torches go in. A guarded sun blazes, the one real cheer this town ever gives. A soaked sun hisses and dies. A sun nobody touched smoulders in the drizzle, and somebody laughs.
5. The turn. What happens next depends on your pledge: Lady Wachter's coup if you're with the Baron, the Baron calling out his watch if you're with her, the Baron turning on the crowd and Izek going for Lucian if you're with the town. With no pledge, the square turns all at once and you choose: "Stand with the Baron", "Stand with Lady Wachter" or "Stand with the people, against both of them" (with the same approval as pledging in advance).
   
6. The fight. It follows the speech with no rest. Its size depends on the lowest level in your party and on what you did beforehand. As a yardstick, for four level 5 characters a fight worth about 2,000 XP is low difficulty, 3,000 is moderate and 4,400 is hard. At level 4 those figures are 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000.
   • Baron side, Festival Coup: at level 5, Nikolai and Karl Wachter (Toughs), four Cultists, a hired sword (Warrior Veteran) and two Bandit Captains (1,900 XP, low). If you broke her cellar circle, it's two hired swords, her captain and two hired knives (Bandits) instead. At level 4 it's moderate (1,500 XP). The cultists have about 9 HP each, so an area spell clears the crowd. The captains carry pistols, and the veterans have AC 17.
   • Wachter side, Festival Loyalists: at level 5, Izek (95 HP), a sergeant of the watch (Warrior Veteran), four Town Guards and the captain of the watch (3,050 XP, moderate). Without Izek it's two sergeants, the captain and two guards (1,900 XP). At level 4 with Izek it's 2,600 XP, harder than a hard fight for that level.
   • Town side, Festival Izek Rampage: at level 5, Izek (95 HP), a sergeant, the captain and two guards (3,000 XP, moderate). Without Izek it's two sergeants, the captain and two guards (1,900 XP). At level 4 with Izek it's 2,550 XP, again above hard.
   • Izek swings his battleaxe twice a turn, and can swap one swing for a 60 ft bolt of fire. The town guards have only 11 HP each.
7. The aftermath. When the fight is won, the winner holds the dais. Talk to them (the Baron, Lady Wachter, or Lucian or Urwin) to finish the quest (see below). Every ending gives Vallaki's milestone level if the bones haven't already.

Choices and endings

Baron Triumph (you won the coup fight for the Baron). The watch drags Lady Wachter to the stocks, and you get 100 gp, the freedom of the town and a place on the dais at every festival forever. Then, if Izek is alive, hasn't been told the truth, and Ireena is either with you or lodged in Vallaki (at the inn or the church), Izek asks the Baron for her as his reward:

• Persuasion DC 14, "Baron. Refuse him. Here, in front of everyone": the Baron says no, and Izek obeys for now (The Doll Collector moves to Spurned). If the check fails, the Baron dithers, Izek says he'll take her himself, and you fight him.
• "Tell Izek who Ireena really is" (only once you've worked it out): he walks off the dais and out of the Baron's service (Wren +2, Liriel +2, Godrick +1).
• "He can try to take her. He'll have to go through us": the Izek Duel, Izek at 110 HP with two of his sergeants at level 5 (Godrick +2, Thistle +2).

Afterwards the Baron holds court in the square by day and receives you in his great hall. There he'll let Lady Wachter out of the stocks and into exile for Persuasion DC 15, or for 100 gp towards a "Festival of Mercy" (either way: Liriel +2, Wren +2, Godrick +1, Kip +1).

Wachter Triumph (you won the loyalists fight for her). The watch throws down its spears, and if Izek fought, he's dead. Lady Wachter lets you decide the Baron's fate: "Exile him" (Liriel, Wren and Godrick +1), "The stocks" (Thistle +1, Liriel -1), or "Do as you like with him, my lady", which means he's hanged in the lockup that night (Liriel -4, Godrick -3, Wren -3, Kip -2, Thistle -1). She pays you 150 gp. Then:

• If Victor's circle wasn't persuaded away, broken or reported to his father, and he isn't travelling with you, he steps into it. The attic window flashes, and The Attic Circle fails. If Madam Eva named Victor as your ally, The Destined Ally is lost too.
• If Ireena is with you or lodged anywhere in Vallaki, she refuses to stay in Lady Wachter's town. She rejoins you and means to go on to Krezk (Sanctuary ends Leaving Vallaki), and Ismark comes too if he'd stayed behind to guard her.

Town Triumph (you won the rampage fight for the town). The crowd sits the Baron down; if Izek fought, he's dead. Lady Wachter immediately steps up to offer herself as burgomistress:

• If the Baron or Lucian already has her letter, it's read to the square at once, and she goes to the lockup.
• Otherwise you choose. "Read the crowd the letter from her cellar" (if you found it) exposes her. Persuasion DC 15, "Ask her, in front of everyone, whose hand she means to rule with", also exposes her, but on a failure she slips away. "Let her talk" lets her slip away too.

There's no gold. Lucian and Urwin form a council of householders, and Lucian offers you a bed at the church.

Who ends up running Vallaki. The ending changes the whole town, and Vallaki's timed events in data/schedule/vallaki.json follow whoever wins:

• The clock. Before the festival, the herald's bell rings at 11 each morning once you've met a leader. Every third morning at 8 (the campaign's days 2, 5, 8 and so on), the watch locks Anton the Cooper in the stocks, and he's let out at the 8 pm bell. (Asking him who told on him leads into Ribbons.) Those arrests stop after the festival unless the Baron won. They also stop for good, before or after the festival, once you've given Daciana's lists to Lucian and Urwin to end Ribbons.
• The Keepers of the Feather. Urwin closes the shutters and tells you about the ravens and his father's vineyard, The Wizard of Wines. He does this after a town win, in the Baron's town once the bones are home, or before the festival if you fed the raven on the road and the bones are home. He never does it in Lady Wachter's town, or if you hurt the raven.
• In Lady Wachter's town, Lydia and Victor (if he didn't vanish) shelter in St. Andral's.
• Elsewhere, people talk about it. Dmitri Krezkov at Krezk's gate has heard if strangers put Lady Wachter in the chair, or helped the town throw out its Baron. Sir Godfrey at Argynvostholt mentions it too. However the campaign ends, the epilogue has a Vallaki slide for each outcome.

If you're stuck

• The herald says you haven't paid your respects to the Baron. You need to have met the Baron, Lady Wachter or Father Lucian first. Any one of them will do.
• The herald won't start it. He only begins between 11:00 and 13:59. In the daytime he'll wait for noon with you; at night, come back in the morning.
• The wicker sun has no soak or guard option. Those only appear at night, and only to a party pledged to the matching side. The town side has no sun task.
• Lady Wachter just sends you away. Once her cellar circle has been broken she turns cold and won't take a pledge. That cold visit still counts as meeting her, so the herald will start the festival afterwards. While you're pledged to her, her cellar stays empty at night, so you can't fight the circle.
• Nobody will take the letter. The Baron takes it unless you're pledged to Lady Wachter. Lucian takes it only while you're pledged to the town. If you've read it, you can still read it out yourself in the town ending.
• Everyone has vanished from their houses. Once the festival has begun, the leaders are in the square until it's over, and Milivoj stops digging in the churchyard. The Baron's speech only starts when you walk up to the dais.

Rewards

• 100 gp or 150 gp, depending on how it goes
• A level (milestone)

What your companions think

• Wren Featherfoot: +2 you told Izek the truth instead of fighting him; +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life; -3 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; -2 you stood with the Baron, who jails people for frowning; -1 you seized a frightened servant for the Baron; -1 you stood with Lady Wachter, who would rule Vallaki for Strahd
• Liriel Dawnsong: +2 you told Izek the truth instead of fighting him; +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 stood with the Baron, who jails people for frowning; -2 you drowned the Baron's wicker sun for Lady Wachter
• Godrick Pendlebrook: +1 you told Izek the truth instead of fighting him; +1 you let the Baron leave Vallaki with his life; -3 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; -1 you stood with the Baron, who jails people for frowning; -1 you drowned the Baron's wicker sun for Lady Wachter; -3 you stood with Lady Wachter, who would rule Vallaki for Strahd
• Thistle: +1 you put the Baron in his own stocks; -1 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; -2 you stood with the Baron, who jails people for frowning; -1 you seized a frightened servant for the Baron; -1 you stood with Lady Wachter, who would rule Vallaki for Strahd; +2 you stood with the people of Vallaki, against both of them
• Kip Smudgewick: -2 you left the Baron's life to Lady Wachter; -2 you stood with Lady Wachter, who would rule Vallaki for Strahd; +1 you stood with the people of Vallaki, against both of them; +1 you told the gate the plain truth; -1 you shoved your way through Vallaki's gate
• Ratatouille: -1 you stood with Lady Wachter, who would rule Vallaki for Strahd; +1 you stood with the people of Vallaki, against both of them

Fights

• Knives come out of sleeves all over the square. Lady Wachter's people were never here to watch the sun., in Vallaki: Tough, Cultist, Warrior Veteran, Bandit Captain, Bandit. Scales with your level.

• Izek vaults off the dais with his strange arm already smoking. The Baron's watch closes ranks behind him., in Vallaki: Izek Strazni, Warrior Veteran, Town Guard, Bandit Captain. Scales with your level.

• Izek's arm bursts into flame to the elbow. Most of the watch backs away from the priest; the ones who don't…, in Vallaki: Izek Strazni, Warrior Veteran, Bandit Captain, Town Guard. Scales with your level.

Journal

Related

• People: Baron Vargas Vallakovich, Lady Wachter, Izek Strazni, Lydia Petrovna, Father Lucian, Urwin Martikov, Festival Herald, Town Guard
• Places: Vallaki, The Burgomaster's Mansion, Wachterhaus, St. Andral's Church, The Blue Water Inn
• Next in the story: Dinner at Castle Ravenloft