The Ravens' Ransom

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

This quest only opens once the Martikovs have shown you that they are the Keepers of the Feather. That happens when you speak to Urwin Martikov at The Blue Water Inn: he closes the shutters and the taproom fills with ravens. He only does this if your party has never struck down a raven and the town hasn't fallen to Lady Wachter, and one of these is true:

• the town stood with neither the Baron nor Lady Wachter, or
• the festival is over and St. Andral's bones are back in the church (The Bones of St. Andral), or
• you fed the raven that walked beside you on the road and the bones are back.

After that, the next time you ask Urwin "Heard anything interesting?", he leans in low across the bar instead. His younger boy Bray flew out of the window after dark on a dare to look at the castle. Now a raven that won't change back hangs in a silver cage in a dead pine on the hill trail above Lake Zarovich. It's a trap for whoever comes, and the Keepers can't be seen to go themselves. The quest opens at Asked. Urwin isn't behind the bar while the festival is running.

Step by step

1. Get to the cage. Go to Lake Zarovich: the Fishers' Landing, an hour from Vallaki, and take the path up from there to The Hill Trail above Lake Zarovich. It's half an hour more, and the trail appears on your map once this quest has started. "A silver cage in a dead pine" hangs beside the trail. Danika Martikov has nothing to add in the kitchen except that she'll kill him, then feed him.

   

2. Choose how to open it. The branches above the cage are full of something that isn't leaves.
   • Perception DC 13, "Look at the branches." This shows you bats by the hundred and two pale shapes in good coats with their eyes open. Either result lets you carry on choosing, but if it passes, the fowlers have lost their surprise when you walk up to the cage.
   • Stealth DC 15, creep in and open the cage first. If it works, you have the raven in your hands before the fowlers drop down, and the fight starts normally. If it fails, a twig snaps and they surprise you, even if you spotted them.
   • Walk up and open it. That's what the trap is for, and you're surprised, unless the Perception check spotted the fowlers first. Then you're already turning to meet them and the fight starts normally.
   • Back off. You can come back later.
3. The fight (raven_trap).
   • Below level 6: The Count's Fowler (a Vampire Spawn at 90 HP) and two Swarm of Bats.
   • Level 6: the Fowler at 120 HP, a second fowler and three swarms.
   • Level 7 or higher: four swarms instead of three.

   Being surprised means the fowlers get their first round free, so look at the branches first, and take the Stealth check only if you have a good sneak. The fowlers' claws grapple and their bite drains maximum HP from anyone they're holding. Stay close to each other, and pull grabbed friends free.

4. Open the cage again after the fight. Winning doesn't bring Bray out by itself, and the journal still says Asked. Examine the cage again: the raven turns back into a skinny ten-year-old boy, and he keeps looking up the valley toward the castle.
5. Check him before you take him home (optional). Insight DC 14 ("Watch where he keeps looking") shows two small marks on his wrist. The fowlers wanted to send him home so they could listen through him. Pass or fail, two cures then appear:
   • Cast Remove Curse, if someone can.
   • Religion DC 14: keep him in the daylight and pray over him. It takes six hours. If it fails nothing is lost, and you can try again.

   Or just pick "Take him home". Either way the journal moves to Home.

6. Finish at the inn. If Bray is cured, ask Urwin "About Bray." If he isn't, Bray sits at the kitchen window watching the castle road, and Urwin won't pay until he's himself. Cure him at the inn the same way, with Remove Curse or Religion DC 14 (six hours, and you can retry). That finishes the quest on the spot. Urwin gives you the Elven Chain his grandfather flew in and 200 gp, and the quest ends at Done.

Choices and endings

There's one ending: Bray home and himself. You get the Elven Chain, 200 gp, and approval from Godrick Pendlebrook, Liriel Dawnsong and Thistle (+2 each) and Wren Featherfoot and Ratatouille (+1 each). Killing the fowlers adds a mark to Strahd's attention. The only real choice is where you cure Bray: on the trail, or later at the inn.

If you're stuck

• No ransom news from Urwin. You haven't seen the ravens in his taproom yet (see Getting the quest). If you struck a raven down on the road, the Keepers never open up to you, and this quest can't start.
• No hill trail on the map. It appears once this quest has started, and you reach it from the fishers' landing.
• The fowlers are dead but there's no Bray. Examine the cage again.
• Urwin keeps saying "Sit with him". Bray still has the marks. Cure him at the inn with Remove Curse or the Religion check.

Rewards

• Elven Chain
• 200 gp

What your companions think

• Godrick Pendlebrook: +2 you brought Bray Martikov home, and himself
• Liriel Dawnsong: +2 you brought Bray Martikov home, and himself
• Thistle: +2 you brought Bray Martikov home, and himself
• Wren Featherfoot: +1 you brought Bray Martikov home, and himself
• Ratatouille: +1 you brought Bray Martikov home, and himself

Fights

• The count's fowlers drop out of the dead pine, and the bats come down after them like a black sheet shaken…, in The Hill Trail above Lake Zarovich: Vampire Spawn, Swarm of Bats. Scales with your level.

Journal

Related

• People: Urwin Martikov, Danika Martikov, The Fowler, Bray
• Places: The Blue Water Inn, The Hill Trail above Lake Zarovich
• More in Vallaki: Black Roses, Lady Wachter's Book Club, One Lantern Too Many, Ribbons, The Attic Circle, The Bones of St. Andral, The Cat in the Window, The Count's Portraitist