# The One-Horned Billy

> From the Curse of Strahd game wiki (it covers the whole game, spoilers included): https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-one-horned-billy.html. Unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy, not approved or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.

> [!infobox]
> **Type:** Side quest
> **Region:** [Krezk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/krezk.md) · level 7
> **Given by:** [Dragos](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/dragos.md)
> **Starts at:** [Krezk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/krezk.md)
> **Rewards:** [Dancing Sword](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#dancing-sword), 500 gp

## Summary

The one-horned billy goat in Krezk's pens belongs to nobody, because nobody is brave enough. He turned up last spring, already grown, with a ring on his horn.

## Walkthrough

### Getting the quest

Inside [Krezk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/krezk.md)'s wall (see [The Gate of Krezk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-gate-of-krezk.md)), the goat pens are on the west side of the village. [Stelian](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/stelian.md) the goatherd works there from 7:00 to 17:00 (not in a storm). Talking to him starts the quest at **Rumored**: the one-horned billy turned up last spring already grown, with a woman's ring jammed on his horn. If you can talk to animals, any goat in the pens tells you the billy talks people-words in his sleep, which also starts the quest. Or just walk up to [The Billy Goat](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/the-billy-goat.md), who stands in the gap of the pen at any hour (**Asked**).

### Step by step

1. **Find out what he is.** Talk to the billy. Any of these moves the quest to **The Ring**:
   - *Animal Handling DC 14*, "Get close enough to look at the ring." Inside the ring it says D. AND V. BEREZ. On a failure he butts you into the straw, but you can try again.
   - *Insight DC 13*, "Look him in the eye." You see a man's eyes behind the goat's. One try.
   - Speak with Animals, cast now or already running. He talks like a boatman, about Berez, the old woman, and Vera.
2. **Lift the curse.** Once you've read the ring or seen the man in him, talk to the billy again. Anyone who can cast [Remove Curse](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/spells/level-3-spells.md#remove-curse) can do it; otherwise read a [Spell Scroll](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#spell-scroll) over him (the scroll is used up). [Rictavio](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/rictavio.md) sells those scrolls, and so does [Urwin Martikov](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/urwin-martikov.md) at [The Blue Water Inn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-blue-water-inn.md) once the Keepers of the Feather are your allies. The goat becomes [Dragos](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/dragos.md), the ferryman of Berez (**Dragos**). [Baba Lysaga](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/baba-lysaga.md) cursed him for refusing to row her, and she sewed his drowned wife Vera into the Rag Queen, a giant scarecrow that walks the field by her stump. He asks you to burn it. From now on he waits by the pens.
3. **Go to Berez.** Travel to [The Ruins of Berez](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-ruins-of-berez.md) (3 hours from Vallaki, 2 from the Wizard of Wines). The Rag Queen is the scarecrow taller than all the others, in the scarecrow field around Baba Lysaga's great stump. Be warned: unless you've already dealt with Lysaga (see [The Witch of Berez](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-witch-of-berez.md)), walking into the field sets off her ordinary scarecrows first.
4. **Burn the Rag Queen.** Examine the tall scarecrow and choose *"(Burn it.)"*. If Dragos is free, you can see Vera's face moving in the stitching. Every other scarecrow lifts its head, and the fight is on:
   - level 10: [The Rag Queen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-rag-queen.md) (AC 16, 260 HP), 3 Drowned Brides ([Banshee](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/banshee.md)s), 6 Straw Grooms ([Scarecrow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/scarecrow.md)s) and a [Swarm of Insects](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/swarm-of-insects.md), 10,500 XP;
   - level 9: the Queen, 2 brides and 4 grooms, 8,900 XP;
   - below that: the Queen at 200 HP, one bride and 4 grooms.

   This is a boss fight built for level 9 or 10, so don't rush it at 7. The Queen is vulnerable to fire, and she restitches 15 HP at the start of every turn unless she took fire damage since her last one, so burn her every round. The scarecrows are weak to fire too. Her claws and glare frighten, and the glare can paralyse (Wisdom save DC 16). She shrugs off two failed saves a day and rakes again between your turns. Winning moves the quest to **Burned**.
5. **Tell Dragos.** Go back to Dragos by Krezk's pens. He felt it when she was freed.

![sq rag queen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/sq-rag-queen.webp)

### Choices and endings

There's one ending, **Vera Freed**. Dragos gives you 500 gp of the brides' dowries and a [Dancing Sword](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#dancing-sword) Lysaga took off a knight. Thistle +3, Godrick +2, Liriel +2, Wren +1. Afterwards he stays in Krezk working with Stelian's goats.

### If you're stuck

- **The Remove Curse options only appear** after you've read the ring, looked him in the eye, or spoken with him by spell.
- **You can burn the Queen before you free Dragos.** The field doesn't check, and the journal stays at Burned when you lift the curse afterwards. Once he's told you what Lysaga did with Vera, Dragos goes straight to his thanks and hands over the reward then and there.

## Rewards

- [Dancing Sword](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#dancing-sword)
- 500 gp

**What your companions think**

- **Godrick Pendlebrook:** +2 you broke Lysaga's curse on Dragos and burned the Rag Queen
- **Liriel Dawnsong:** +2 you broke Lysaga's curse on Dragos and burned the Rag Queen
- **Thistle:** +3 you broke Lysaga's curse on Dragos and burned the Rag Queen
- **Wren Featherfoot:** +1 you broke Lysaga's curse on Dragos and burned the Rag Queen

## Fights

- *The Rag Queen steps down off her post, twice the height of a man, all rotten silk and lace and faces in the…*, in [The Ruins of Berez](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-ruins-of-berez.md): [The Rag Queen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-rag-queen.md), [Banshee](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/banshee.md), [Scarecrow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/scarecrow.md), [Swarm of Insects](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/swarm-of-insects.md). Scales with your level.
> [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)
> - **[The Ruins of Berez](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-ruins-of-berez.md)**, when level ≥ 10: [The Rag Queen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-rag-queen.md), 3 × A Drowned Bride ([Banshee](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/banshee.md)), 6 × A Straw Groom ([Scarecrow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/scarecrow.md)), [Swarm of Insects](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/swarm-of-insects.md) (10500 XP)
> - **[The Ruins of Berez](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-ruins-of-berez.md)**, when level ≥ 9: [The Rag Queen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-rag-queen.md), 2 × A Drowned Bride ([Banshee](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/banshee.md)), 4 × A Straw Groom ([Scarecrow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/scarecrow.md)) (8900 XP)
> - **[The Ruins of Berez](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-ruins-of-berez.md)**: [The Rag Queen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-rag-queen.md), A Drowned Bride ([Banshee](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/banshee.md)), 4 × A Straw Groom ([Scarecrow](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/scarecrow.md)) (7800 XP)

## Journal

> [!quote]- Every journal entry and hint
> **Rumored**: Stelian the goatherd says the one-horned billy in Krezk's pens turned up last spring already grown, with a woman's silver ring jammed down on his one horn. Nobody's been brave enough to take it off.
> *Hint:* Go to the goat pens in Krezk and have a look at the one-horned billy.
>
> **Asked**: The one-horned billy guards the gap in Krezk's pens, with a thin silver ring jammed down on his horn.
> *Hint:* At Krezk's pens, get close enough to read the ring on the billy's horn (Animal Handling), look him in the eye (Insight), or speak with him by spell.
>
> **The Ring**: Inside the ring on the billy's horn: D. AND V. BEREZ. And behind the goat's square eyes there's a man, begging. Somebody did this to him.
> *Hint:* Lift the curse on the billy with Remove Curse or a scroll of it. The ring's engraving points to Berez.
>
> **Dragos**: The billy is Dragos, the ferryman of Berez. Baba Lysaga turned him into a goat for refusing to row her across the river. His wife Vera she kept, and stitched into the Rag Queen, a scarecrow she made from the dresses of every drowned bride of Berez. It walks the scarecrow field by her stump, whether she's there or not.
> *Hint:* Go to the scarecrow field in the Ruins of Berez and burn the Rag Queen.
>
> **Burned**: The Rag Queen is a heap of burned silk and straw in the scarecrow field at Berez, and whatever was stitched into her is out.
> *Hint:* Go back to Krezk and tell Dragos.
>
> **Vera Freed** (the end: success): Dragos felt it when the Rag Queen burned: like a hand taking hold of his, and letting go. He gave us everything that was stitched into her, the drowned brides' dowries and a sword Lysaga stole from a knight.

> [!abstract]- Every skill check in its conversations
> - Animal Handling DC 14: (Get close enough to look at the ring.)
> - Insight DC 13: (Look him in the eye.)

## Related

- **People:** [The Billy Goat](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/the-billy-goat.md), [Dragos](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/dragos.md), [Stefan the Woodcutter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/stefan-the-woodcutter.md), [Goodwife Rodica](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/goodwife-rodica.md), [Goodwife Sanda](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/goodwife-sanda.md), [Dumitru](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/dumitru.md), [Stelian](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/stelian.md), [Cezar](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/cezar.md), [Old Pavel](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/old-pavel.md), [Watchman Lazar](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/watchman-lazar.md), [A Goat](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/a-goat-of-the-pens.md), [A Goat](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/a-goat-2.md), [A Goat](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/a-goat-3.md)
- **Places:** [Krezk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/krezk.md), [The Ruins of Berez](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-ruins-of-berez.md)
- **More in Krezk:** [Clovin's Audience](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/clovins-audience.md), [Lighter Than It Should Be](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/lighter-than-it-should-be.md), [The Burgomaster's Son](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-burgomasters-son.md), [The Gate of Krezk](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-gate-of-krezk.md), [The Pack's Runt](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-packs-runt.md), [The Pool of the White Sun](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-pool-of-the-white-sun.md), [The Waystone](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-waystone.md)

> [!example]- Cutscenes
> **The Rag Queen**: The Rag Queen steps down off her post in Berez's scarecrow field.
> ![sq rag queen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/sq-rag-queen.webp)