Side quest The Village of Barovia Level 3

The Nursemaid's Grave

Old Mihail the gravedigger says a girl in a nursemaid's cap stands at the churchyard wall by night and won't come in. Nobody ever brought her to him.

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

Old Mihail digs in the village churchyard from 8:00 to 16:00 (not in storms). Once every member of your party is level 3 or higher, he has a new answer: ask "Anyone you couldn't bury?" He tells you about a girl in a nursemaid's cap who stands at the churchyard wall by night and won't come in. The quest starts at Rumored.

Step by step

  1. Meet her at the wall after dark. Between 20:00 and 5:00, The Nursemaid stands at the churchyard wall by the gate, looking in. She recognises you if you calmed her ghost in Death House instead of fighting it, and doesn't hold it against you if you destroyed it. Ask "Why can't you go in?" or "Who are you?" Her name is Veta. Her bones are folded in a trunk in the roof of the tall house, and she wants to lie with her baby son, Walter, in the crypt with his name on it under the house. The quest moves to Asked.
  2. Fetch her bones. Go back into Death House (its door at the end of the lane is still open) and climb to the attic. In the storage room, examine the big trunk under a sheet and choose "(Wrap her in the sheet to carry her down to Walter.)" You also find a smooth grey stone in her apron pocket. The quest moves to Carried. [Medicine DC 10] on the trunk tells you how she died; it's optional.

    loc death house attic 1

  3. Take her down to Walter. The secret stair in the corner of the same storage room goes down to the dungeon. If you never found it during Death House, search the seam in the plaster (DC 14). In the Family Crypts of Death House, Dungeon (Upper Level), examine "a very small crypt" at the end of the row and choose "(Bring his mother to him.)" The crypt is empty: the cult never buried him. Choose "(Lay her in it anyway.)" and the house's keepers climb out of the crypts.
  4. The fight. If you didn't destroy Gustav Durst and Elisabeth Durst in Death House (and didn't hear their confession there either), it's Gustav and Elisabeth (2 × Ghast) with 2 × A Robed One (Ghoul) (1,300 XP). Otherwise it's The Robed One Who Carried Him (a ghast) with four robed ones (ghouls) (1,250 XP). Ghasts and ghouls paralyze with their claws, and a ghast's stench poisons anyone next to it, so spread your attacks before anyone is pinned. Winning moves the quest to Laid.
  5. Look at the crypt once more. The grey stone with the hole through it lies on the lid, warm: a Stone of Good Luck (Luckstone). The quest ends at Done (Liriel +3, Godrick +2, Wren +2, Thistle +1, Ratatouille +1).

If you're stuck

  • Veta is only at the wall from 20:00 to 5:00, an hour after night falls at 19:00.
  • The trunk only offers to carry her once she has asked you, and Walter's crypt only once you're carrying her bones.
  • After the fight, the quest doesn't finish until you examine the crypt again.

Rewards

What your companions think

  • Liriel Dawnsong: +3 you laid Veta the nursemaid with her son
  • Godrick Pendlebrook: +2 you laid Veta the nursemaid with her son
  • Wren Featherfoot: +2 you laid Veta the nursemaid with her son
  • Thistle: +1 you laid Veta the nursemaid with her son
  • Ratatouille: +1 you laid Veta the nursemaid with her son

Fights

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

Journal

Every journal entry and hint

Rumored: Old Mihail says a girl in a nursemaid's cap stands at the churchyard wall by night, looking in, and won't come through the gate. She's from the tall house by the gate. Nobody saw her leave it.
Hint: Go to the village churchyard wall, by the gate, after dark and speak to the girl standing there.

Asked: The girl at the wall is Veta, the Dursts' nursemaid. Her bones are folded in a trunk in the attic of the tall house. She doesn't want the churchyard; she wants to lie with her son Walter, in the crypt with his name on it under the house.
Hint: Her trunk is under a sheet in Death House's attic. Walter's crypt is the very small one in the dungeon below the house.

Carried: We have Veta's bones, wrapped in the sheet they lay in, with her blue ribbon tied back in her hair.
Hint: Take Veta's bones down to the very small crypt in Death House's dungeon and lay her in it.

Laid: Walter's crypt was empty: the robed ones never buried him at all. We laid Veta in it anyway, and the house's keepers came for her, and we put them down.
Hint: Look at the small crypt in Death House's dungeon once more.

Done (the end: success): Veta lies in her son's crypt under the tall house. Someone left her lucky stone on the lid for us, and somewhere in the stone of the house, someone hummed.