Side quest Into the Mists Level 1

The Last Traveller

A young man in rags and beautiful boots sits at the edge of the mists on the Old Svalich Road, asking what day it is.

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

Ilarion sits on a stone at the edge of the fog on The Old Svalich Road, a few steps from where the game begins. He is there from the very start, at any hour, until you've walked him home. His coat and shirt are rags and his hat has no crown left, but his boots are beautiful. Talk to him and the quest starts at Met: he set out over the mountains last night to fetch a doctor for his wife's fever, the fog turned him round all night, and he wants to know what day it is.

Step by step

  1. Hear him out. "What's your name?" gets his story: Ilarion, from the house with the blue door by the well in the village under the castle, his wife Aurica, and two little ones, Petra, who is six and carries the water already, and Mihail. Insight DC 11 (one try) lets you see the rags are many years old, with moss in the seams, while the man in them is young. It's only for your own understanding; the quest goes the same way either way.
  2. Walk him down. Choose "We'll walk you down to the village." The journal moves to Walking, and a dozen steps later the count's wolves come out of the fog for him. The fight depends on your lowest character's level:
    • Level 1: five Wolf (250 XP, between Low and Moderate for a party of four, and a real threat at level 1).
    • Level 2: six wolves (300 XP, under Low at that level).
    • Level 3 or higher: the Grey Leader, a Dire Wolf, with four wolves (400 XP, also under Low).

    Wolves gang up: each has Advantage on you while a packmate is beside you, and a bite knocks you prone. Fight shoulder to shoulder so each wolf can reach as few of you as possible. The fight gets relatively easier the later you take it, so if you want to come back after Death House, just say "Goodbye" instead. He keeps waiting on his stone.

  3. Talk to him again. After the fight, speak to Ilarion once more. The journal moves to Home and you walk him down the road, while he talks about Aurica's fever and the price of a cart and keeps stopping to stare at houses that are all wrong. He leaves the road and goes on ahead.
  4. The well. In the Village of Barovia, find him by the well in the village square and talk to him. An old woman crossing the square with two buckets drops them both: Goodwife Petra, his daughter. His night in the mist was fifty years. His wife waited at the door until she died, and his son Mihail, now Old Mihail the gravedigger, dug him a grave that has stood empty all this time. Ilarion pulls off his boots and gives them to you: Aurica's grandmother's, which "walk on air, a little". The journal ends at Done.

    loc village of barovia 1

Choices and endings

There is one ending. You get Winged Boots, and Godrick and Liriel approve (+2 each), and Thistle, Wren and Kip (+1 each). Afterwards:

  • Ilarion lives with Petra and carries the water now. You'll find him by the well from 8:00 to 18:00 (not in a storm).
  • Old Mihail tells you he filled in his father's empty grave and stood on it, and didn't know what he felt.
  • In The Goatherd's Count, the old nanny goat's collar carries the same boot mark you saw on Ilarion's boots (if you met him), and once he's home Petra tells you her father is by the fire.

If you're stuck

  • He's not at the well. He only sets off for the village after you've beaten the wolves and talked to him again on the road.
  • Too many wolves. Say goodbye and come back at a higher level; the pack grows, but more slowly than you do.
  • These aren't the wolves in the narrows. The pack blocking the road farther west is part of Into the Mists and is a separate encounter.

Rewards

What your companions think

  • Godrick Pendlebrook: +2 you walked Ilarion home to his children
  • Liriel Dawnsong: +2 you walked Ilarion home to his children
  • Thistle: +1 you walked Ilarion home to his children
  • Wren Featherfoot: +1 you walked Ilarion home to his children
  • Kip Smudgewick: +1 you walked Ilarion home to his children

Fights

  • The fog behind you opens like a mouth, and the count's wolves come out of it low and quick, for the man who…, in The Old Svalich Road: Dire Wolf, Wolf. Scales with your level.
By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)

Journal

Every journal entry and hint

Met: Ilarion, from the village under the castle, went into the fog last night to fetch a doctor for his wife's fever, and the fog turned him round. His clothes are rags many years old. His boots aren't.
Hint: Walk Ilarion down the Old Svalich Road to the village.

Walking: The count's wolves came out of the fog for Ilarion as soon as he set off.
Hint: Get Ilarion past the wolves and on down the road.

Home: Ilarion is walking home to the village. Everything there is wrong, and he keeps starting his sentences again.
Hint: Take Ilarion to the well in the village of Barovia's square.

Done (the end: success): Ilarion's night in the mists was fifty years. His daughter is Goodwife Petra, who carries the water, and his son is Old Mihail, who dug him a grave. He's home, younger than both of them.

Every skill check in its conversations
  • Insight DC 11: (Look at him properly.)