Side quest The Village of Barovia Level 3

The Polite Caller

Widow Ileana's husband Teodor died three winters ago and still knocks at her shutter every night. He has never once asked to be let in.

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

The rumour comes from Vasile and Petre in the square (10:00 to 17:00, their first story when you ask "Heard anything interesting?") or from Arik ("Ileana. Shutter. Every night."). Either puts the quest at Rumored. Once you've heard it, Old Mihail in the churchyard (8:00 to 16:00) answers "Did you ever dig a grave for Teodor the cooper?": he dug one three winters ago by the east wall, nobody ever filled it, and somebody puts things in it at night.

Widow Ileana tends her husband's grave in the churchyard from 9:00 to 16:00. Ask "Who was he?" and then "Has he come back since?", or, after the rumour, "They say you leave your shutter open at night." The quest moves to Asked.

Step by step

  1. Agree to sit up with her. She asks you to look at Teodor and tell her what he is. Answer "We'll sit up with you tonight." (A one-try [Insight DC 12] only tells you she has thought about letting him in.)
  2. Wait for dark. Either go back to Ileana at the grave by day and choose "Walk her home and wait with her until dark." (time passes to 21:00), or turn up after dark (from 19:00) and talk to her at her cottage door by the churchyard gate.
  3. Teodor comes to the shutter. Teodor walks up to you, and the quest moves to Vigil. A one-try [Insight DC 13] "(Look at him properly, past the manners.)" shows he's starving and living on wolves; it also unlocks a gentler option in step 4. "Why do you come here every night?" reveals that he's the reason the dead never scratch at Ileana's door. That, or "(Draw steel.) We know what you are.", brings out his master's errand: a door in the village opened by invitation, by morning. The quest moves to The Errand, and a driverless carriage lamp comes up the road.
  4. Choose how to hold the door.
    • "Then we hold this door together. Stand with us, Teodor." Teodor joins you as a guest for the fight (Godrick +2, Liriel +1, Thistle +1).
    • "You can barely stand. Stay at our backs." needs the Insight success. He joins too (Liriel +2, Godrick +1).
    • "Keep away from her. We'll deal with your master's errand ourselves." You fight without him.
    • "(End him now, before the others get here.)" He doesn't resist (Godrick -2, Liriel -3, Wren -1, Kip +1). The fight still comes, and the quest will end at Ended.
  5. The fight. At level 4 or higher: The Coachman (Vampire Spawn), 2 × Strahd Zombie, 2 × Dire Wolf and 2 × Swarm of Bats (2,700 XP). At level 3: the Coachman (60 HP), two Strahd zombies and a swarm (2,250 XP). Below that: the Coachman (45 HP), two zombies and a swarm. The Coachman grabs a victim with his claws and bites to heal himself, so don't leave anyone alone with him; holy water and radiant damage are your friends. Winning moves the quest to Held.
  6. Dawn. Ileana comes to you as the sky greys. Teodor tells you he filled his own empty grave with what he couldn't give back: purses from travellers he reached too late, and a shield. Then he asks to see one more sunrise.
    • "Let him watch the sunrise with her." ends the quest at Dawn. Heroic Inspiration for the whole party (Liriel +3, Godrick +2, Thistle +2, Wren +1).
    • "Go into the woods, Teodor, before it clears the trees." ends it at Woods (Kip +2, Thistle +1, Liriel -1).
    • "(End it yourselves, quickly, while he's willing.)" ends it at Ended. Ileana turns against you (Godrick -2, Liriel -2, Kip +1).
  7. Teodor's empty grave. It's by the churchyard's east wall, and you can open it once he's told you about it. Inside: a Shield, +1, 2 × Potion of Healing and 90 gp.

Choices and endings

All three endings count as success and all of them open Teodor's grave. Ileana remembers which you chose. After Dawn she tells both Teodor and the burgomaster the news at their graves, and the gossips say she sleeps now. After Woods she still leaves the shutter open, and he still knocks twice now and then. After Ended she won't speak to you, and she has hung up garlic for the first time. If you ended him before the fight, you skip the dawn choice entirely. Destroying the Coachman adds 1 to how closely Strahd watches you.

If you're stuck

  • Ileana is only at the grave from 9:00 to 16:00. At night she stands at her own door, and only while the quest is at Asked or Vigil.
  • Teodor appears only at night, after you've started the vigil, and only once.

Rewards

What your companions think

  • Godrick Pendlebrook: +2 you stood beside a vampire to hold a widow's door; +1 you stood beside a starving vampire to hold a widow's door; -2 you destroyed Teodor in front of his wife while he stood still; +2 you let Teodor see the sun with his wife; -2 you destroyed Teodor at dawn while he knelt
  • Liriel Dawnsong: +1 you stood beside a vampire to hold a widow's door; +2 you stood beside a starving vampire to hold a widow's door; -3 you destroyed Teodor in front of his wife while he stood still; +3 you let Teodor see the sun with his wife; -1 you let Teodor go into the woods alive; -2 you destroyed Teodor at dawn while he knelt
  • Thistle: +1 you stood beside a vampire to hold a widow's door; +2 you let Teodor see the sun with his wife; +1 you let Teodor go into the woods alive
  • Wren Featherfoot: -1 you destroyed Teodor in front of his wife while he stood still; +1 you let Teodor see the sun with his wife
  • Kip Smudgewick: +1 you destroyed Teodor in front of his wife while he stood still; +2 you let Teodor go into the woods alive; +1 you destroyed Teodor at dawn while he knelt

Fights

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

Journal

Every journal entry and hint

Rumored: Vasile and Petre, who stand outside the tavern all day trading the same three rumours, say Widow Ileana leaves her shutter open a crack every night. She says it's for the smoke. They say it isn't.
Hint: Talk to Widow Ileana in the village churchyard by day; she tends her husband's grave there.

Asked: Teodor the cooper went to fetch a barrel from the crossroads three winters ago and came back the next morning pale and very polite. Father Donavich made Ileana shut the door on him. He still comes to her shutter every night, knocks twice and tells her the news of the road. He has never asked to come in. She wants to know what he is now, and whether she was right.
Hint: Go to Ileana's cottage by the churchyard gate after dark and sit up with her.

Vigil: Teodor came to the shutter after dark: courteous, hollow in the cheeks, careful to stay out of the firelight. He remembers everything, including how Ileana takes her tea.
Hint: Talk to Teodor at Ileana's shutter in the Village of Barovia, after dark.

The Errand: Teodor's master wants a door in the village opened from the inside, by an invitation, and gave Teodor until tonight to bring him one. Teodor came to say goodbye. Something less polite is on its way to take his place.
Hint: Stay at Ileana's cottage by the village churchyard and hold her door until dawn.

Held: The master's coachman and his dead came for Ileana's door, and we turned them back. The east is going grey.
Hint: Talk to Ileana at her cottage by the village churchyard at sunrise, and decide with her what becomes of Teodor.

Dawn (the end: success): Teodor watched one more sunrise with Ileana, holding her hand, and was gone before it cleared the trees. She buried what the light left of him in the grave Old Mihail dug three winters ago. Before he went, he told us he had filled that grave with what he couldn't give back.

Woods (the end: success): Teodor went into the trees before the sun came up, still starving, still polite. Ileana watched the treeline until it was full light. Before he went, he told us he had filled his own empty grave with what he couldn't give back.

Ended (the end: success): We ended Teodor ourselves. He never raised a hand. Ileana hasn't said a word to us since. His last words were about his own empty grave, and what he had filled it with: everything he couldn't give back.

Every skill check in its conversations
  • Insight DC 12: Study him properly.
  • Insight DC 12: (Is she thinking of letting him in?)
  • Insight DC 13: (Look at him properly, past the manners.)