The Wizard of Wines

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

You don't need a rumour to start. The Wizard of Wines is on the travel map from the beginning, three hours west of Vallaki along the lake road, and the region expects a party of about level 6. Several people will tell you the wine has stopped first:

• Arik, behind the bar at Blood of the Vine in the village under the castle: ask "Where does the wine come from?" The journal opens at Rumored.
• The Krezk Watchman, once the gate of Krezk is open to you: "Heard anything interesting?" mentions the Martikovs' missing cart, but only if nobody has told you about the wine yet and it isn't flowing again. Rumored.
• The raven on the fencepost at The River Ivlis Crossroads, if someone in the party can cast Speak with Animals. Rumored.
• In Vallaki, Danika Martikov ("The wine at the bar is thin.") and Urwin Martikov (when he shows you the Keepers of the Feather) both send you to Urwin's father. They change how he greets you, and either one opens the journal at Rumored.

The quest itself comes from Davian Martikov, at his family's camp under the trees, at any hour.

Step by step

1. Adrian at the foot of the lane. As you arrive, a raven drops out of the vines and becomes Adrian Martikov. He was the raven who walked beside you on the Svalich road. He's warm if you fed him a crust there and cold if you knocked him into a ditch. In that case pick "About the raven. We're sorry." (Thistle and Godrick Pendlebrook +1), or Davian won't warm to you later. Adrian warns you off the lane because the vines are awake. Pick "Take us to your father." The camp is in the south-west corner of the map, off the foot of the lane, so you can reach it without setting foot on the lane.
2. Davian at the camp. He greets you by whatever the valley has told him: the struck raven, Urwin's letter, Ilinca Vrana's word from Old Bonegrinder, or Vallaki's empty casks. Then he explains that three green stones keep his vines alive in this sunless valley:
   • one was stolen and taken to Berez;
   • the druids carried one to Yester Hill;
   • he hid the last the night his family fled.

   Ask anything you like (where he hid it, what the druids want, why they came), then pick "We'll clear your house." That does four things. The quest moves to Asked, The Third Stone starts, Yester Hill appears on the travel map, and you learn the hiding place: "cellar, foot of the stair, third hoop, pull". Davian turns friendly unless you struck Adrian on the road and never apologised. Ratatouille, Godrick Pendlebrook and Kip Smudgewick approve (+1 each). Before you leave, "What's waiting for us in the winery?" tells you about the druids sleeping in the fermenting hall and Kostin in the press house.

3. Around the camp (optional).
   • Stefania Martikov, at the cook-pot, tells you about her dead brother if you say "Your father won't speak of Elvir." That starts The Son Who Didn't Fly.
   • At the camp fire, Performance DC 13 ("Sing with the Martikovs at the fire") earns Heroic Inspiration.
   • At the dead tree full of ravens, at the east end of the foot of the lane, Persuasion DC 14 ("Ask the ravens for their help") shows you their hoard in the trunk: a Ring of Feather Falling (search DC 15).
   • With Speak with Animals running, any of the three ravens around the camp and the yard tells you where the druids came from, where Davian hid his stone, where the stolen one went, and where that ring is.
4. The lane (vineyard_ambush). When you step onto the lane between the vines, the rows stand up and you're surprised.
   • Below level 6: 2 Vine Blights, 4 Needle Blights and 6 Twig Blights.
   • Level 6: a Druid of Yester Hill, a Tree Blight and 2 more needle blights join them.
   • Level 7: a third vine blight as well.

   It's a Low fight below level 6, a Moderate one at level 6, and between the two at level 7. Twig blights are vulnerable to fire and gang up with Pack Tactics, so a fire spell into the clump thins them quickly. Vine blights grab from 10 feet and can cast Entangle. The tree blight (115 HP) stands up in the middle of the lane: it's Huge, the same kind of creature as Wintersplinter on the hill, with 15-foot reach and a Grasping Root (DC 17 Strength save) that pulls a hero in and holds them for its Gnash, so spread out and free whoever it grabs. If you've already burned the tree on Yester Hill, there's no ambush at all.

   Finds on the way up the lane and in the yard:

   • Search DC 12 between the west rows: a Moon Sickle, +1 the druids dropped.
   • Nature DC 14 at the withered vines at the top of the lane: traces the blight west to a gully at the foot of Yester Hill and reveals a druid's cache there.
   • Athletics DC 13 at the well ("Climb down inside the well"; 1d6 bludgeoning if you fail): you come back up with the Rope of Climbing that was tied below the lip. Without the climb, it's a search DC 13.
   • Search DC 13 behind the casks by the winery door: an Eversmoking Bottle.
5. The fermenting hall (winery_occupation). Go through the tasting room. The fight starts as soon as you walk into the fermenting hall.
   • Below level 6: 2 druids, 2 vine blights and 4 needle blights.
   • Level 6: 2 druids, a Shambling Mound, 3 vine, 6 needle and 4 twig blights.
   • Level 7: 3 druids, the shambling mound, 4 vine, 6 needle and 4 twig blights.
   • If the tree on the hill has burned: only three druids at 35 HP each, among heaps of dead brush.

   It's Low below level 6 and between Low and Moderate at level 6 and 7, and the druids hurt at range: green wisps out to 90 feet, plus Moonbeam and Thunderwave. Close on them and let the slow blights come to you. At level 6 and 7 the shambling mound (110 HP) stands among the vats in the middle of the hall. It's the same creature as the Mash in the press house, so the same warnings apply (see step 7): no lightning, and keep your casters out of its reach.

   After the fight, loot the hall and the office:

   • The druids' bedrolls: 2 Bedrolls, a Herbalism Kit, a Druidic Focus (Sprig of Mistletoe) and 12 gp.
   • Search DC 15 among the pried-up floorboards: the Elemental Gem (Emerald) the druids missed.
   • The bottling room: a shelf of bottles, oil and candles.
   • Davian's office: his ledger, and his strongbox (lock DC 15, 60 gp). Opening it is up to you, but Davian notices once he's home (see Choices and endings).

   The winery is a safe place to rest.

   

6. The cellar and the founder's cask. The stair down is in the far corner of the fermenting hall. The great black cask at the foot of the stair is the founder's cask. If Davian or a raven told you the trick, pick "Turn the third hoop and pull." Otherwise you need Investigation DC 14. A miss only ends the scene, so you can try again or go back and ask Davian. Inside, wrapped in an old shirt, is the first stone.

   Also in the cellar:

   • Investigation DC 14 (a search) on the founder's cask: a stave that opens onto an Alchemy Jug.
   • The hollow-sounding cask in the vaults: a Pouch and 9 gp, plus the Tarokka treasure if Madam Eva's reading put one in the cellar.
   • The rack of old vintages: bottles and a jug.

   You can't rest down here.

   The dig (optional, cellar_dig). Past the broken wall at the far end, blights are clawing for the stone in the wrong place.

   • Below level 6: a vine blight and 4 needle blights.
   • Level 6: a druid overseer, 2 more druids, 2 vine blights and 6 needle blights at the dig, plus 2 druids and 3 vine blights among the casks in the vaults.
   • Level 7: the same, with a third vine blight and 8 needle blights at the dig.
   • After the tree burns: the overseer alone, at 35 HP.

   At level 6 and 7 the vaults' group is hidden among the casks, so you can walk through the vaults (and open the hollow cask) without a fight. The druids at the dig stand in plain view past the broken wall; when you reach the dig door, or they spot you first, the fight starts and the two druids and three vine blights rise from the casks behind you. Expect to fight on two sides: keep a hero or two facing back toward the vaults.

   Afterwards a druid's pack by the dig holds a Potion of Healing, a shovel, a lamp and 10 gp. You don't need this fight to clear the house.

7. The press house and Kostin (press_house_mash). The press house is the tall barn on the east side of the yard. Kostin, the young druid holding the winery, speaks to you when you come near. Every choice ends in the same fight against the Mash, a Shambling Mound grown in a vat. What you pick decides whether Kostin fights too, and what waits for you on the hill:
   • "Then we'll take it back." Kostin fights.
   • Intimidation DC 15 ("Run back to your hill, boy"): he bolts west to warn the hill. He's out of this fight, but the gully up Yester Hill gets harder and he's in the summit fight. If the roll fails, he fights here.
   • Nature DC 14 ("He's a tenant", Thistle +1), the [Druid] option (no roll; that druid earns Heroic Inspiration) or Persuasion DC 16 ("Walk away"): he loses his faith and walks off west. He's out of this fight, and later he waits at the foot of Yester Hill to help you. If either roll fails, he fights here.
   • "What's on Yester Hill?" (once) tells you about the effigy and the stone it needs for a heart.

   The fight depends on your level and on Kostin:

   • Below level 6: Kostin, the Mash (90 HP) and a vine blight.
   • Level 6: Kostin, 4 more druids, the Mash and 6 vine blights.
   • Level 7: Kostin, 5 more druids, the Mash and 6 vine blights.
   • If Kostin left: the Mash, 2 vine blights and 3 needle blights instead.
   • If the tree has burned: Kostin and the Mash, or the Mash alone if he left.

   At level 6 and 7 the extra druids and vine blights only come if Kostin fights here, so scaring him off or talking him round makes this a much smaller fight.

   The Mash is the biggest single threat. Lightning heals it, it resists fire and cold, and its Engulf (DC 15 Strength save) swallows a Medium or smaller hero, who is then blinded, restrained and shocked every turn. Keep your casters out of its reach, and kill it quickly when it has someone inside.

   After the fight:

   • Kostin's satchel, if he fought you here: Herbalism Kit, Potion of Healing and 18 gp.
   • Ruxandra's letter, pinned with a thorn, and the tally board.
   • A tool chest: Carpenter's Tools, a Crowbar and a Rope.
   • The wizard's rack on the east wall: a jug and 8 gp, plus the Tarokka treasure if it's here.
   • Search DC 14 behind the wizard's casks: a Decanter of Endless Water.
8. Tell Davian. Back at the camp, "The druids are out of your house." appears once you've won both the fermenting hall and the press house. The family goes home and the quest moves to Reclaimed. From now on Davian stands in the yard, Stefania is by the house and Adrian scrubs vats in the fermenting hall.

   Now pick "Your stone, from the founder's cask." Davian presses it into the soil and a dead vine puts out a leaf. Because the house is his again, the press will run, and you choose where the first cart of wine goes: Vallaki, the village under the castle, or Krezk. After that:

   • Davian sells three wines ("We'd like to buy some of your wine.").
   • Stefania gives you her grandmother's Periapt of Wound Closure ("You've got your kitchen back.").

   

9. Yester Hill. The hill is two hours west along the barrow track. The road there (and the road from Vallaki) can throw hedge blights at you until the tree burns, druid patrols until the hill is broken, and wolves at night.

   Before you set out, you can ask Adrian "Come with us to Yester Hill." He joins as a guest (a Wereraven) and reacts to everything you find up there.

   At the foot of the hill:

   • Kostin, if you talked him out of his faith. He's sitting by the track. He tells you about the unwatched gully and that the stone is in the effigy's chest. "Go home, Kostin." sends him on his way (Liriel Dawnsong and Wren Featherfoot +1).
   • Freydis, from level 7, sitting by the oldest mound. She starts The Barrow on Yester Hill.
   • The back gully, at the west end of the hill foot. At "The mouth of a gully" you get one Stealth DC 13 roll to find a quiet way up, or DC 16 if Kostin ran to warn them. Success means you reach the crown unseen. Failure means the hill hears you coming.

   On the hill's shoulder:

   • The wardens' camp, west of the path, is optional. Walking in starts a fight with painted wild men (Berserkers: 2, 3 or 4 depending on your level) and 4 twig blights. Elvir's message is on a cage post there (see The Son Who Didn't Fly). So is the wardens' hoard: a Berserker Axe, 2 handaxes, rations, hide armour and 34 gp.

   Searches and checks on the hill:

   • Search DC 15 under the cage floor: a Sword of Life Stealing.
   • Investigation DC 15 in the gully: a Wand of Paralysis.
   • History DC 14 at the grave mounds on the barrow slope: reveals an Amulet of the Devout, +2 (search DC 14).
   • Medicine DC 14 at the bone cairn: reveals Bracers of Archery (search DC 15).

   The path runs straight up the middle of the hill to the crown.

   

10. The crown (summit_ritual). Mother Ruxandra stands with her hands on the chest of a forty-foot earthen effigy of the lord of the castle, and her circle hums around a black tree. If you came up the gully unseen, you can pick "Strike now, while they chant." Otherwise she talks, and you choose:
    • "We're taking the stone. Stand aside or don't." starts the fight.
    • Intimidation DC 17: the whole circle runs, Ruxandra too. You still fight, but only against Wintersplinter and twig blights.
    • Religion DC 15: the other druids lose their nerve and leave. Ruxandra stays.
    • "A raven-man died on this hill last spring." (only if Stefania told you about Elvir) and "What is that tree?" cost nothing.

    A failed Intimidation or Religion roll goes straight to the fight. The effigy splits open and Wintersplinter, a Huge Tree Blight, walks out of it. Who fights beside it depends on how you got here (the first match wins):

    • They fled: Wintersplinter (120 HP) and 6 twig blights.
    • You struck first: a half-made Wintersplinter (100 HP), Ruxandra (55 HP), 2 druids and 4 twig blights. They are surprised.
    • Circle broken: Wintersplinter (140 HP), Ruxandra (60 HP) and 6 twig blights.
    • Kostin warned them: Wintersplinter (140 HP), Ruxandra, Kostin, 2 druids and 4 twig blights.
    • Otherwise, level 7: Wintersplinter (160 HP), Ruxandra, 2 druids, a warden, 2 vine blights and 4 twig blights.
    • Otherwise, level 6: Wintersplinter (140 HP), Ruxandra and 6 twig blights.
    • Otherwise, below level 6: Wintersplinter (110 HP), Ruxandra (50 HP), a druid and 4 twig blights.

    This is a Moderate fight and the hardest on the quest's main line below level 6; at level 6 and 7 the press house fight is bigger. Wintersplinter has 15-foot reach. Its Grasping Root (DC 17 Strength save) drags a hero 10 feet and holds them, and the next bite (Gnash) goes into whoever it holds. Spread out, and free grabbed friends quickly. Winning breaks the hill.

    

11. After the fight on the crown.
    • Ruxandra lies among the roots, unless she fled. "Go. Crawl off this hill and don't come back." spares her (Liriel and Wren +2). "End it." kills her (Thistle +1, Liriel and Wren −1). If Stefania told you about Elvir, you can ask about the raven-man first.
    • The black tree. "Burn it. Use their own fire." (Thistle +2, Liriel and Godrick +1) kills every blight in the region and leaves the stone clean. "Leave it standing." costs Thistle −1. See Choices and endings for what each one changes.
    • The splintered heartwood holds the second stone. Take it.
    • The bones among the roots are Elvir's. "Cut him free. He's going home." takes him home for burial (Liriel +2, Godrick and Kip +1). Speak with Dead (already running, or cast here) and Medicine DC 12 (one try) tell you how he died.
    • Loot: the druids' offerings (Herbalism Kit, 2 Potions of Healing, a Druidic Focus (Wooden Staff) and 25 gp); the roots at the trunk (a dagger, a shortsword and 41 gp, plus the Tarokka treasure if it's here); and Investigation DC 16 at the heartwood for a Staff of Withering.
12. Home again. Talk to Davian. If he's travelling with you, use Stefania's "We have news for the family." instead. Report in any order:
    • "Yester Hill is finished." gets his thanks and his words about Ruxandra. If Adrian came with you, he leaves the party here.
    • "The stone from Yester Hill." puts the second stone in the ground. Davian counts the stones that are home now, so if this is the first one back he says "One in the ground."
    • Once the winery is reclaimed and the summit fight is won, your next report to Davian ends the quest at Saved. The family broaches a cask from before the druids came, and the whole party reaches the region's milestone and levels up.
    • Once the winery is reclaimed and two stones are back, Davian whistles the ravens down for the Keepers' oath.

    If you broke the hill before clearing the house, Davian moves the quest to Hill Broken and sends you back to the winery. The milestone then comes when you report the reclaiming.

    

Choices and endings

The quest has one ending, Saved, and its reward is the milestone level. Everything else changes what the family, the valley and your companions remember:

• Kostin. If you talked him round, he helps you at the foot of the hill and becomes one of the possible planters in The Druid Who Came Back. If you scared him off, the hill is warned: the gully goes up to DC 16, and he fights at the summit with two extra druids. If he died in the press house, that's the end of him.
• The tree. Burning it kills every blight in the region:
  • the vineyard ambush never comes;
  • the winery fights shrink to druids alone;
  • the hedge blights stop ambushing travellers on the vineyard road;
  • the hill stone comes back clean.

  Burning it also adds 2 to Strahd's attention, and he names the tree in his grievance letter. A burned tree is what opens The Druid Who Came Back (level 7, once The Black Row has gone further than Andrei's rumour; until it has, Davian's news is the row).

• Ruxandra. If you spared her or she fled, and the tree still stands, she leads her druids (three druids, two vine blights and four twig blights) against you once on the vineyard road. If you spared her and burned the tree, she's the planter in The Druid Who Came Back. Davian has a line for each fate.
• The first cart. Sending it to Vallaki earns Kip Smudgewick +1. The village under the castle earns Godrick Pendlebrook, Liriel Dawnsong and Kip +1. Krezk earns no approval, but Davian tells you to walk beside the casks: if Krezk's gate is still shut to you, the watchman now opens it for the people who brought the Martikovs' cart up the road (see The Gate of Krezk). After that his "Heard anything interesting?" tells you the cart is in the shrine cellar, and half the town has found a reason to go up and pray. Later, ask Stefania "Any word from the first cart?" to hear how it was received.
• Wine flowing. Davian's wine shop opens, the Martikovs' casks turn up in Castle Ravenloft's larders, Blood of the Vine gets new stock, Krezk stops talking about the wine that stopped coming (the watchman's news drops it and Dmitri no longer asks after it), and the epilogue mentions it. The epilogue line is warmer if Davian and Adrian were also reconciled.
• The Keepers' oath (winery reclaimed and two stones back) opens Urwin Martikov's secret "Keepers' stores" at The Blue Water Inn. He sells greater and superior healing potions, Heroism, an Elixir of Health, a Figurine of Wondrous Power (Silver Raven) and cleric scrolls up to Death Ward and Freedom of Movement. The oath also gives you a plain way to calm the ravens' roost in Castle Ravenloft, and an epilogue line.
• Davian's strongbox. If you opened it, it comes up the first time you talk to him at home:
  • Give back all 60 gp (you need 60 gp on you). He hands back 10 for the lock and turns friendly. Kip and Godrick +2.
  • "We opened it to see if the druids had. We took nothing." He'll count it later. No effect.
  • "Call it our fee." You keep it. Kip and Godrick −1, and a cleric in the party grumbles about it later.
  • Deception DC 14 ("The druids, surely."): on a success Kip and Godrick −2 and Wren +1. On a failure he sees through you and treats the money as kept.
• The Raven ally. If Madam Eva's reading named Davian, his menu has "Madam Eva's cards named you." He refuses until the winery is his again. Ask after that and he joins you as a guest, which completes The Destined Ally.
• The rest of the Martikovs' story carries on in The Third Stone, The Son Who Didn't Fly and The Black Row. The Black Row starts from Davian's "Heard anything interesting?" once you're home.

If you're stuck

• No "The druids are out of your house." You need to win both fights: the fermenting hall (walk into it) and the press house (talk to Kostin). The cellar dig doesn't count and isn't needed.
• Yester Hill isn't on the map. It appears once Davian has told you about the hill, which his pledge does, or once a raven has told you under Speak with Animals.
• The wine never started flowing. It starts the moment the house is reclaimed and at least one stone is home, in whichever order those happen: hand Davian a stone at the camp first and the press starts when you report the reclaiming. A save from before this was fixed catches up the next time you talk to Davian.
• No milestone yet. It needs both the reclaiming reported and the summit fight won. You don't have to return the hill stone. Talk to Davian again once both are done.
• The gully says "You've been up it once." You only get one Stealth roll there.
• Elvir's message is on a cage post inside the wardens' camp, so reading it before the summit means fighting the wardens. Once the hill is broken, the camp is empty.

Rewards

• 10 gp
• A level (milestone)

What your companions think

• Ratatouille: +1 you told the Blue Water's barmaid her wine was thin; +1 you promised Davian you'd clear his house
• Godrick Pendlebrook: +1 you promised Davian you'd clear his house; +1 you sent the first cart of wine to the village that has least; +1 you brought Elvir Martikov home to be buried; +1 you got Davian and Adrian talking again; +2 you gave back every coin from Davian's strongbox; -1 you kept Davian's strongbox and called it your fee
• Kip Smudgewick: +1 you promised Davian you'd clear his house; +1 you sent the first cart of wine to Urwin's inn; +1 you sent the first cart of wine to the village that has least; +1 you brought Elvir Martikov home to be buried; +2 you got Davian and Adrian talking again; +2 you gave back every coin from Davian's strongbox
• Liriel Dawnsong: +1 you sent the first cart of wine to the village that has least; +2 you brought Elvir Martikov home to be buried; +1 you got Davian and Adrian talking again
• Wren Featherfoot: +2 you got Davian and Adrian talking again; +1 you blamed the druids for what you took from Davian's strongbox
• Thistle: +1 you got Davian and Adrian talking again

Journal

Related

• People: Krezk Watchman, Urwin Martikov, Danika Martikov, Arik, Davian Martikov, Stefania Martikov
• Places: Krezk, The River Ivlis Crossroads, The Blue Water Inn, Blood of the Vine, The Wizard of Wines
• More in The Wizard of Wines: The Black Row, The Son Who Didn't Fly, The Third Stone