Side quest Into the Mists Level 1

The Last Muster

Every night, riders made of bones go east along the Old Svalich Road to the Gates of Barovia, and none of them comes back.

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

You hear about the riders from either of two places, and either one puts the quest in your journal at Rumored:

  • Zora, who counts everyone who passes the Tser Pool Encampment. Ask her "Heard anything interesting?": among her news, twelve riders made of bones go east along the road every night after midnight, and none ever comes back. She's there at any hour unless you've fought the camp or turned the Vistani against you.
  • Vasile and Petre, the two old men in the square of the Village of Barovia from 10:00 to 17:00 (not in a storm). Ask either one "Heard anything interesting?". They take turns over the village's rumours, and the riders come up the first time you ask, after the other two (which start The Polite Caller and Cut After Noon).

The page above gives the region's level, but this quest is built for level 6 and up. You can hear the rumour from the start of the game; don't go to the gates until you're ready for a hard fight.

Step by step

  1. Go to the Gates of Barovia after dark. The gates are the iron ones kept by two headless stone knights on The Old Svalich Road, between the Svalich Woods and the village edge. From the village, take the east road out. Night in this game runs from 19:00 to 6:00. Marshal Dragomir only appears while the quest is in your journal and he hasn't been beaten, and he rides up to speak to you as you come near.
    loc into the mists road overview
  2. Meet the column. The skeletal vanguard forms up across the gate, the journal moves to Mustered, and the marshal tells you no one passes until the count returns to relieve them. Your options:
    • "We have no lord. Your count is in his castle. He isn't coming." He agrees the count is up there and has never sent anyone. It changes nothing, and you're back at the options.
    • History DC 14: tell him what year it is and what happened to his war.
    • Religion DC 15: speak the soldier's rite that relieves a man of his post.
    • Persuasion DC 15: tell him his riders have held long enough.
    • Draw steel: fight the whole column at once (step 4).

    Any of the three checks, passed, stands the riders down. Each is one try for the party: a failed check sends you back to the options without it, and it stays gone on every later night too. Pick your best historian, priest and talker before you click. If they go badly, "(Turn back down the road.)" lets you leave without a fight: Dragomir says the gate will be held tomorrow night, and the night after.

  3. The riders stand down. They dismount and stand by their horses' heads, and the journal moves to Stood Down. The marshal doesn't: an officer is relieved by his commander or by defeat, and his commander will never come, so he asks you to beat him, fairly, at the gate. Say "Then on guard, Marshal" to fight now, or "Not tonight" and come back any later night; he'll greet you and offer the duel again.
  4. The fight. The game picks the first line your party fits, by your lowest character's level:
    Your lowest levelRiders stood downYou drew steel
    8 or higherThe marshal and three Lieutenants (6,000 XP)The marshal, three Lieutenants, six Riders and two Banners (7,700 XP)
    6 or 7The marshal and two Lieutenants (5,300 XP)The marshal, two Lieutenants (52 hit points each) and six Riders (5,600 XP)
    below 6The marshal (at 110 hit points) and one Lieutenant (4,600 XP)The marshal (110 hit points), one Lieutenant and six Riders (4,900 XP)

    The Bone Marshal has AC 18, 150 hit points and two blade strokes a turn with a 10-foot reach (slashing plus necrotic), plus a charge for one more stroke between your turns. He parries one melee hit a round (+3 AC), so ranged attacks and spells get round that, and he has Legendary Resistance twice a day, so save your best save-or-suffer spells until he's spent it. The Lieutenants are Wight, whose Life Drain cuts your maximum hit points. The Riders are Skeleton, vulnerable to bludgeoning, and the Banners are Phantom Warrior, which resist bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. Talking the riders down first takes six skeletons (and at level 8, both banners) out of the fight, and costs you nothing.

  5. Collect the pay. Winning ends the quest at Released, but the reward isn't handed to you. Examine the bones and rusted harness across the road by the gate: the marshal's blade, a Weapon, +2 (a +2 longsword), and the vanguard's iron pay chest behind the statues, 200 gp.

Choices and endings

There is one ending, Released. Talking the riders down or fighting the whole column changes only the size of the fight; the reward is the same. When you collect it, Godrick approves (+3), and so do Thistle and Wren (+1 each). Afterwards Zora says she's counted no riders for nights and misses them a little, and Vasile and Petre grumble that the gate has gone quiet.

If you're stuck

  • Nobody at the gates. You need the rumour first (Zora, or Vasile and Petre), and you need to be there between 19:00 and 6:00. Once he's beaten, the marshal never comes back.
  • No reward after the fight. Examine the bones and harness lying across the road by the gate.
  • The fight is too much. It scales with your level but stays brutal below level 6. "(Turn back down the road.)" at any point, "Not tonight" after the riders stand down, or simply staying away lets you come back stronger. The checks you've already failed stay gone.
  • The History, Religion or Persuasion option is gone. Each is one try; a failed one never comes back.

Rewards

What your companions think

  • Godrick Pendlebrook: +3 you relieved the last of the count's vanguard from his post
  • Thistle: +1 you relieved the last of the count's vanguard from his post
  • Wren Featherfoot: +1 you relieved the last of the count's vanguard from his post

Fights

By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)

Journal

Every journal entry and hint

Rumored: Zora, who counts everyone on the road, says riders go east past the Tser Pool camp after midnight, every night: twelve of them, bones on bones, toward the Gates of Barovia. None ever comes back. They go again the next night anyway.
Hint: Go to the Gates of Barovia, at the east end of the Old Svalich Road, after dark.

Mustered: At the Gates of Barovia after dark, a column of skeletal riders forms up across the road. They are the count's vanguard, who took the valley's gate the night he conquered it, and their marshal holds it still on his last order: hold the gate until I come back. He never came back.
Hint: Talk to Marshal Dragomir at the Gates of Barovia: convince his riders their war is over, or fight for the gate.

Stood Down: The riders believed us, and stood down by their horses' heads. Their marshal didn't. An officer is relieved by his commander or by defeat, and his commander will never come. He wants to be beaten, fairly, at the gate.
Hint: Beat Marshal Dragomir at the Gates of Barovia.

Released (the end: success): Marshal Dragomir fell at the gate he was told to hold, and his whole column went down with him in a long rattle of bones. Four hundred years of guard duty, relieved. We took his blade and the vanguard's pay chest.

Every skill check in its conversations
  • History DC 14: (Tell him what year it is, and what happened to his war.)
  • Religion DC 15: (Speak the soldier's rite for the dead, the one that relieves a man of his post.)
  • Persuasion DC 15: Your riders have held long enough. Stand them down.
Cutscenes

The Last Muster: The skeletal vanguard forms up across the Gates of Barovia.
sq bone marshal

The Column Stands Down: The Column Stands Down: a later beat of a long conversation picture (into_the_mists/last_muster, ~ stood_down), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
marshal stand down

The Lances Come Down: The Lances Come Down: a later beat of a long conversation picture (into_the_mists/last_muster, ~ fight), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
marshal charge