Abbey of St. Markovia

The Abbey of St. Markovia is an abbey dedicated to the worship of the Morning Lord, overlooking the town of Krezk in Barovia. It is currently inhabited by The Abbot, who believes himself to be the chosen of the Morning Lord.

The Abbot is willing to perform miracles, such as raising for the dead, in exchange for assistance with his dark and bizarre experiments. He has created a flesh golem, Vasilika, which he intends to use as a host for the soul of Tatyana Ivanova, binding her to an immortal body in order to break the curse that dooms her to die before her 25th nameday every time that she reincarnates. In order to construct Vasilika, The Abbot has collected body parts from those who seek his help. In exchange for the right arm of Krezk Burgomistress Anja Krezkova, he brought her son Ilya back from the dead.

The Abbot was also assisted by a man named Otto until recently. The subject of several of The Abbot's experiments, Otto had had several of his body parts replaced with those of various animals. However, Otto was slain by Strahd von Zarovich, in the form of Vasili von Holz, when Strahd was unable to find Ezmerelda at the Abbey.

AREAS OF THE ABBEY

The mongrelfolk that infest the abbey are all descendants of one family-the Belviews-and all suffer from some form of madness. Whenever the characters interact with a mongrel folk who isn't detailed here, roll on the Indefinite Madness table (see "Madness Effects" in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master's Guide) or choose from the available options on the table to determine how that particular mongrel folk's madness is expressed.

Most of the mongrelfolk in the abbey are locked up because they can't be trusted to wander about unsupervised. The only mongrelfolk who are free to move about are The Abbot's gravediggers, Otto and Zygfrek, and his faithful, two-headed manservant, Clovin. Clovin Belview rings the abbey's bell (area Sl 7) when
The Abbot decides it's time for dinner. The toll of the bell causes all the other mongrel folk in the abbey to hoot and holler with excitement as they wait to be fed.

The windows of the north wing are made of leaded glass that is translucent-good for letting in light but not good for seeing through. The windows of the east wing are broken outward and have damaged shutters.

S7. GRAVEYARD (POSSIBLE TREASURE)
Stunted pine trees grow out of the rocky earth in the graveyard near the foundation of the abbey's north wing. The windows of the structure are cracked panes of leaded glass. Ancient gravestones burst from a thin crust of snow in the yard. Carved into each gravestone is the name of a long-dead priest or nun. Some of the names include Brother Martek, Brother Valen, Sister Constance, and Sister Lenora.

SUN'S GRAVE
The gravestone marked Xis carved with roses and bears a 3-inch-diameter sun-shaped indentation on its east side. Engraved beneath the indentation is the name PETROVNA. If Tasha Petrovna's holy symbol (see chapter 4, area K84, crypt 11) is placed in the indentation, both the holy symbol and the indentation vanish.

Then read:
A ray of golden sunlight breaks through the clouds to the west and shines upon the grave. The fog and the gloom shrink from its brilliance as the sunlight causes the gravestone to crack and crumble, revealing a ring within.

The sunray lasts for 1 minute. If the characters-smash the gravestone without placing Tasha Petrovna's holy symbol in it first, they find nothing within the remains.
The ring is a ring of regeneration.

S9. GARDENS (FORTUNES OF RAVENLOFT)
White rabbits nibble on turnips uprooted by the cold. Two lifeless scarecrows with stuffed gullets and sackcloth heads hang from wooden crosses pounded into the cold, hard earth.

If the characters haven't cleared out the east wing, add:
The abbey's east wing looms over the garden, its shattered windows dark and disturbing. A door leads into this forlorn edifice, which apparently isn't as abandoned as
one might have hoped. From within come the laughter and the wailing of things that should not be. The rabbits and the scarecrows are harmless. The gardens contain a meagre assortment of root vegetables and squash.

S10. ABBEY ENTRANCE
A fifteen-foot-high curtain wall joins the abbey's two wings. Behind its battlements, two guards stand at attention, their features obscured by fog. Below them, set into the wall, is a pair of ten-foot-tall, wooden doors reinforced with bands of steel. To the right of these doors, mounted on the wall, is a tarnished copper plaque. The plaque bears the abbey's name, under which appear these words: "May her light cure all illness." The "guards" on the wall are propped-up scarecrows that wear corroded chain shrts and clutch rusted spears (Perception check to discern the charade). The double doors are unlocked. They can be pushed open to reveal a foggy courtyard (area Sl2).

S12. COURTYARD
The thick fog that fills this courtyard swirls, as if eager to escape. The courtyard is surrounded by a fifteen-foothigh curtain wall on which stand several guards with their backs to you-or so it seemed at first. It's clear now that these guards are merely scarecrows.

Wooden doors to the north and east lead to the abbey's two wings. In the center of the courtyard is a stone well fitted with an iron winch, to which a rope and bucket
are attached. Along the perimeter, tucked under the overhanging wall, are several stone sheds with padlocked wooden doors, as well as three shallow alcoves that contain wooden troughs. Two wooden posts pounded into the rocky earth have iron rings bolted to them, and chained to one of them is a short humanoid with bat
wings and spider mandibles.

The quiet is shattered by horrible screams coming from the sheds. If the characters are escorted here by Otto and Zygfrek Belview (area S6), they are asked to wait in
the courtyard while the mongrelfolk fetch The Abbot from area S13.

S12A. WELL (ENCOUNTER: MISHKA THE MONGRELFOLK)
The well is 80 feet deep. Hiding 20 feet down is a chaotic evil mongrelfolk (see appendix D) named Mishka Belview. He clings to the wall of the shaft and scuttles up to attack anyone who shines a light down on him. Mishka Belview. Mishka stands 5 feet tall and has a wiry, spindly build. He has three red spider eyes on the right side of his face, while the left side appears human.

He has a frog's foot in place of his left hand and a taloned crow's foot where his right foot should be. He has the Spider Climb feature (see the mongrelfolk stat block in appendix D). In his madness, he's discovered he enjoys killing people.

S12B. OLD TROUGHS
These three horse troughs are badly rotted and fall apart if handled or jostled.

S12C. CHICKEN SHEDS
Each of these sheds is fitted with an iron padlock. Clavin Belview (area Sl 7) carries the keys to these locks.

This shed holds the shattered remains of several chicken coops. Shackled to the back wall is a wretched humanoid with bestial deformities. There are nine of these sheds, each one containing a howling or mewling mongrelfolk (see appendix D).

S12D. TETHERING POSTS (ENCOUNTER: MARZENA)
Iron rings bolted to these wooden posts were once used to secure horses. Chained to one post is a chaotic neutral mongrelfolk (see appendix D) named Marzena Belview,
the older sister of Mishka Belview (see area Sl2a).

If the characters approach Marzena, read:
The creature chained to the post flaps its leathery wings and takes to the air, but doesn't get far before its chains go taut. She flutters about madly, screaming nonsense.
Marzena Belview is skittish and afraid of everyone and everything except for Clavin Belview (area S17), whom she allows to come close enough to feed her.

Marzena Belview. Marzena stands 4 feet, 5 inches tall and has a hunched posture. Long, stringy black hair hides much of her face, but clearly visible are the spider mandibles and teeth that replace her human mouth. She has the arms and wings of a bat, as well as a cloven hoof in place of her right foot. She doesn't allow anyone to get close enough to undo her shackles, but if her bonds are magically unlocked or if her chains are somehow broken, she flies away and never returns.

Marzena has the Flight feature (see the mongrelfolk stat block in appendix D). Her madness is embodied in the following statement: "I am convinced that powerful enemies are hunting me, and their agents are everywhere I go. I am sure they're watching me all the time."

S13. MAIN HALL (The Abbot, Vasilka, TREASURE, FORTUNES)
Gentle-sounding music trickles down from above, played on a single stringed instrument by some unseen master. The ground floor is one large, fifty-foot-square room
with arched, leaded glass windows. A cauldron sits on an iron rack above a fire in a hearth, while above the fireplace mantel hangs a golden disk engraved with the
symbol of the sun. In one corner, a wooden staircase climbs to the upper level, while in another corner a stone staircase descends into darkness.

Several chairs surround a wooden table that stretches nearly the length of the room. Wooden dishware and gold candelabras are neatly arranged on the table, standing
behind which is a young woman with alabaster skin dressed in a torn and soiled red gown. Her auburn hair is neatly bundled so as not to touch her soft shoulders. She
seems lost in her own thoughts.

The Abbot is normally here, If he is here, add:
A handsome young man in a brown monk's robe gently takes the woman by her hand. A painted wooden holy symbol that depicts the sun hangs from a chain around his neck. He moves with the grace of a saint.

The Abbot is a deva in disguise (see appendix D, as well as "Something Old" in the "Special Events" section at the end of this chapter). He wears a holy symbol of the Sorted/Morninglord around his neck. The woman in the tattered red gown is Vasilka, a flesh golem that has been exquisitely put together to serve as Strahd's bride. Characters
within 5 feet of Vasilka can see the seams in her powdered skin where disparate body parts stolen from Krezkite graves have been carefully stitched together.
The Abbot is teaching Vasilka the finer points of etiquette. He also intends to teach her how to dance.

Vasilka obeys his every command. She can't speak but lets loose an unholy scream if harmed. If driven berserk, she fights until the Abbot reasserts control or until she
is destroyed. She has the supernatural strength of a typical flesh golem despite her smaller size. The Abbot has no desire to harm the characters. He knows that Strahd has brought them to Barovia for a reason and doesn't want to thwart Strahd's plans for them. His calm, pleasant demeanor changes if they become hostile or if they threaten Vasilka. He sheds his disguise and assumes his true angelic form, hoping that sight is enough to make them back down. The Abbot would like to find a proper bridal gown for Vasilka. If the characters seem friendly, he asks them for help in locating one. In exchange, he offers his magic, agreeing to cast raise dead up to three times on their behalf, or give them each the benefit of his healing touch. If they decline to help or behave rudely, he orders them to leave the abbey at once, attacking them if they refuse and doing his utmost to keep Vasilka safe.

The music comes from upstairs (area S17). The stone staircase leads down to the wine cellar (area S16). The wooden stairs climb to the loft and belfry (area Sl 7). The stew pot in the fireplace contains several gallons of hot turnip and rabbit soup, intended for the mongrelfolk imprisoned in areas S12c and S15.

ROLEPLAYING THE ABBOT
The Abbot believes he is righteous. He regrets transforming the Belviews into horrid mongrelfolk, and he considers their imprisonment to be necessary, to contain their madness. With regard to Strahd's bride, he believes that she is the key to freeing the land from its curse. The insane Abbot can't be convinced otherwise.

The Abbot shares his beliefs openly, claiming that his decisions are based on the Sorted/Morninglord's guidance. He will give visitors a tour of the abbey if they seem friendly,
but he turns hostile if they threaten him or his charges.

S14. FOYER
This room used to be an office, as evidenced by the remains of a desk and a chair, both of which have been smashed to pieces. A hallway to the south leads to a
staircase going up. A dark passage to the east is full of unnatural whispers, mad laughter, and bestial odours. The stairs lead up to area S20. If the characters enter this area making noise or carrying light sources, the golem in area S15 is drawn to them (unless they have already defeated it).

S15. MADHOUSE (ENCOUNTER: FLESH GOLEM, )
This lightless corridor has multiple doors behind which lie creatures that shatter the quiet with their mad cackles and whispered curses. The stench is overpowering.
Before he set out to create a bride for Strahd, the Abbot tried his hand at creating a more rudimentary golem. This creature paces the hall, tirelessly guarding the
abbey's madhouse and making sure no mongrelfolk escape.

When the characters first see the golem, read:
Even in the gloom, you can make out a monstrous shape lumbering down the hall. When the darkness can no longer hide its true nature, your eyes are treated to a terrifying, 7-foot-tall assemblage of human body parts. This flesh golem attacks anyone who isn't in the company of The Abbot or Clavin Belview. None of the doors leading from the hall are locked. If the characters open any and look inside, they see that the rooms on each side of the hall are dimly lit by natural light that filters through dirty, shuttered windows.

The door at the east end of the hall leads outside and can be pulled open to reveal the gardens (area S9). The sixty mongrelfolk confined here are fed at irregular intervals by Clavin Belview. Dinner is foretold by the ringing of the abbey bell (area Sl 7). These mongrelfolk aren't restrained, but they refuse to leave their rooms for fear of being killed by the golem or cast out of the abbey and forced to fend for themselves. In addition to a dagger, each mongrelfolk has its own wooden soup bowl.

S15A. FEARFUL MONGRELF0LK
This room was once a shared bedchamber, but its furnishings have been destroyed. Three shrieking mongrels cower in the shadowy northwest corner. One of them cradles something shiny.
Three mongrelfolk are confined here. One of them cradles a polished brass candlestick as if it was a doll. Any attempt to take it causes the mongrelfolk to attack.

S15B. QUARRELING MONGRELFOLK
Four mongrel creatures brawl amid the wreckage of this bedchamber while a fifth watches and cackles behind a life-sized, painted wooden statue of a saintly woman
in robes. Five mongrelfolk are confined here. The four that are fighting aren't trying to kill each other, but they are trying to assert dominance. They stop fighting if a character separates them.

The statue is a little over 5 feet tall and carved from a single piece of wood. It depicts Saint Markovia. Close inspection reveals that it is covered with bite marks.

S15C. INCANTING MONGRELFOLK
I Seven mongrels are seated in the middle of this room, forming a ring. They appear to be chanting a spell.
These seven mongrelfolk are trying to cast a spell that will cause the abbey's bell to ring, so that dinner will be served. They are speaking nonmagical gibberish.

S15D. HUNGRY MONGRELFOLK
Nine mongrel creatures stand in the middle of this room, starting at the doorway in silence with hungry looks in their eyes.
These nine mongrelfolk haven't been fed in days because Clavin doesn't like them. They try to kill and devour any character who sets foot in the room.

S15E. MONGRELFOLK HORDE
This room is packed wall to wall with mongrels wallowing I in their own filth. The floor is strewn with gnawed bones. Sixteen screaming mongrelfolk are confined here. The bones are all that remain of mongrel folk who perished and were eaten. The survivors want food.

S15F. SINGING AND-DANCING MONGRELFOLK (TREASURE)
Eight mongrels caper about the wreckage of this bedchamber while singing a rhyme. One of them holds up a glittering gold statuette as it leads this mad parade.

THE VILLAGE OF KREZK
The eight mongrelfolk sing the following rhyme:
The devil dwells in his dark house,
Upon the misty pillar.
First he'll taste her sweet, sweet blood,
And then he'll have to kill her.
They weep if their treasure is taken from them.

Treasure. The golden statuette depicts Saint Markovia and is worth 250 gp. It grants any good-aligned creature that carries it a + 1 bonus to saving throws.

S15G. MONGRELFOLK BABIES
Filthy mongrels cradle screaming young in the debris-strewn corners of this room while several more hoot, holler, roll on the floor, and whack each other with sticks.
This room contains ten mongrelfolk, three of which are tending to non-combatant mongrelfolk babies.

S15H. MONGRELFOLK FORT
This room contains a fort made out of piled bits of shattered furniture and torn draperies. From within the fort, you hear a mischievous cackle. Two mongrelfolk live in the "fort" but refuse to come out unless baited with food. While hidden under the wreckage, they have three-quarters cover.

S16. WINE CELLAR (TREASURE)
The stone steps descend twenty feet to a cellar that contains ten barrels of wine and an L-shaped wooden rack packed with wine bottles. The barrels in the centre of the room are empty. The wine names are emblazoned on the barrels, as is the winery's name: the Wizard of Wines. The barrels against the east wall contain Purple Grapemash No. 3, a cheap wine. The four barrels against the south wall contain Red Dragon .Crush, a fine wine. The wine racks contain thirty three bottles of Purple Grapemash No .. 3 and twenty-four bottles of Red Dragon Crush.

S17. LOFT AND BELFRY (CLOVIN'S ROOM, ILLUSION, TELEPORT)
Anyone on the curtain wall (area S18) who listens at this room's door hear the soft tones of a stringed instrument. The wooden stairs climb twenty feet to a loft with a pitched roof and a door in the center of the south wall. Unlit lanterns hang from the rafters, and a rope dangles from a bronze bell lodged in the belfry thirty feet overhead. The room is filled with the sound of beautiful music-a melody so enchanting that it adds a bit of much needed warmth to the otherwise freezing room.
A black shroud covers a humanoid shape lying on a wooden table. The music does nothing to stir it. A cot heaped with furs rests in the northeast corner, surrounded by empty wine bottles. An oil lamp burns atop a table nearby, silhouetting a squat creature that has two heads. It sits on the edge of the cot with a viol between its legs. With a crustacean, clawlike appendage, it grasps the neck of the instrument while running a bow gently across its strings with its human hand.

This loft is where the Abbot creates his flesh golems. Needles, thread, saws, and other tools lie on a small table in the northwest corner. If anyone rings the bell, a cacophony erupts from the courtyard and the east wing as the mongrelfolk cry out, "Food!" The cries last until the creatures are fed. Clavin Belview, The Abbot's manservant, a two-headed neutral evil mongrelfolk (see appendix D), resides here. He plays the viol beautifully when he is drunk, and the music help puts his half-formed head to sleep.
Hidden Upper-Floor
under the furs of his cot are three bottles of Purple Grapemash No. 3. Several empty wine bottles are strewn about the floor around the cot.

ROLEPLAYING CLOVIN
Clavin stands 4 feet, 7 inches tall and has a barrel-like shape. His right head is fully formed and combines the features of a patchy-haired man with those of a goat, complete with stubby horns. His left head is about half normal size and has a soft, cherubic face partly covered with crocodilian hide. Clavin has a crab's pincer in place of his left hand and a bear's paw where his right foot should be. He wears an ill-fitting monk's robe with a belt made of hempen rope.

Clavin is The Abbot's faithful martinet, but he is despised by the other mongrelfolk, who accuse him of hoarding food and slowly starving them to death. He would let them starve, but The Abbot has forbidden it. Clavin has the Two-Headed feature (see the mongrelfolk stat block in appendix D). His madness is embodied in the following statement: "Being drunk keeps me sane." He is drunk most of the time, but not to the extent that it impedes his combat ability, and his musical performance improves when he is inebriated.

The larger head does all the talking. The smaller head has a forked snake's tongue and can't do anything except hiss and make other horrible sounds.

TELEPORT DESTINATION
Characters who teleport to this location from area K78 in Castle Ravenloft arrive at the point marked T on the map.

THING ON THE TABLE
If the characters lift the black shroud covering the larger table, read:
Beneath the shroud lies a creature made of stitched-together body parts. All of them taken from cold, gray, lifeless women, all of them waiting to be stitched
together into something horrid.

The body parts were plundered from graves in Krezk. They are leftovers-pieces the Abbot didn't use in the creation of Strahd's bride (see area: S13).
 
If anyone rings the bell, a cacophony erupts from the courtyard and the east wing as the mongrelfolk cry out, "Food!" The cries last until the creatures are fed. Clovin Belview, the Abbot's manservant comes to investigate.

S18. CURTAIN WALL
Scarecrows line the abbey walls, looking outward. They wear tattered chain shirts and carry spears with rusty heads. The courtyard below is blanketed with fog. The scarecrows are lashed to wooden stands. Though fearsome from a distance, they have no life to them.

S19. BARRACKS (ALLY: Ezmerelda)
Bunk beds that have disintegrated with age lie in heaps I along the walls of this mouldy, thirty-foot-square room. Long ago, the abbey employed guards to defend its
walls, and they were quartered here.

S20. UPSTAIRS OFFICE
A wooden counter shaped like an L stands at the front of this spacious office. All the other furniture has rotted away, leaving heaps of mouldy wood and faded cloth.
The wood of the counter is old, soft, and easily broken. Nothing of value remains here. If the characters haven't already cleared out the madhouse (area S15), they can
hear the whoops, laughter, and screams of the mongrelfolk below. The clamour continues as they explore areas S21-S24 to the east.

S21. HAUNTED HOSPITAL (ENCOUNTER: SHADOWS)
This spacious chamber contains bed frames of wrought iron arranged in two neat rows. Cobwebs and bits of rotten mattress cling to each frame. Three doors are spaced along the south wall, each with a plaque mounted on it. From west to east, the plaques read OPERATING ROOM, NURSERY, and MORGUE.
Six shadows haunt this room. They are the remnants of dark souls that perished here long ago. The creatures wait until one or more characters are at least 10 feet inside
the room before moving out from within the normal shadows to attack. The shadows can't leave this room.

S22. OPERATING ROOM
A bloodstained table stands in the middle of this otherwise empty room.
The first time a character touches the table, read:
A scream fills the room-a scream that echoes through time. It is followed by other, fainter screams of those who died under the knife. The screams fade until they are
nothing more than haunting memories.
There is nothing of value here.

S23. NURSERY (ILLUSION, FORTUNES OF RAVENLOFT)
This room contains the wreckage of old wooden cribs. I If the characters search the room, one of them (determined randomly) sees a figure reflected in the window
glass: a nun in white robes, standing in the doorway. A look back toward the door reveals nothing there, and the reflection can't be seen again.

SOMETHING OLD

This event can occur if the characters don't or can't raise the burgomaster's son, Ilya, from the dead. If alive, the Abbot learns that Ilya died recently and, in his human guise, visits the urgomastet's cottage. If one or more characters are trying there, they hear a knock at the door. Without bothering to introduce himself, The Abbot tells the burgomaster and his wife that he wants to raise their son from the dead. He claims that the "gods of light" want the Krezkov bloodline restored.

The characters can try to interfere in the raising of Ilya Krezkov. Otherwise, the burgomaster digs up his son's corpse. Without needing the requisite material components, The Abbot casts a raise dead, returning Ilya to life with 1 hit point. Anna Krezkova praises The Abbot and Saint Markovia for this generous act before tending to her son. The burgomaster, his grief dispelled, fears that he has misjudged The Abbot and has no way to repay him for this supreme act of kindness.

DEVEOPMENT
Ilya Krezkov returns to life with a random form of indefinite madness (see "Madness Effects" in chapter 8, "Running the Game," of the Dungeon Master's Guide). The Abbot uses the raising of Ilya as leverage to get the burgomaster to undertake an unusual quest (see "Something Borrowed" below).

SOMETHING NEW

The characters learn that a Krezkite woman named Dimira Yolensky (LG female human noncombatant) is about to give birth. A local midwife named Kretyana Dolvof (LG female human commoner) is summoned to the mother's cottage to deliver the newborn. In the absence of a priest, the burgomaster's wife, Anna Krezkova, is called upon to supervise the blessed event and offer prayers for the health of the mother and the child. Dimira gives birth to a healthy baby boy, but the baby doesn't cry. While the mother coddles the infant, characters who succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check can see that Kretyana is deeply troubled. If the characters question the midwife, she tells them in confidence, "That child has no soul. Very sad." Kretyana was raised to believe that newborns are soulless if they don't cry, and she has come to believe, rightly, that most Barovians lack souls.

SOMETHING BORROWED

The Abbot needs a bridal gown. He doesn't trust the mongrelfolk to find one, so he pays a visit to Burgomaster Krezkov and instructs him to obtain a gown within a month, either as compensation for raising his dead son (see "Something Old" above) or on pain of death. No one in Krezk can fashion such a gown, leaving the burgomaster with no choice but to look elsewhere. His wife, Anna, says she should personally lead a wellarmed group of Krezkites to the east to Vallaki.

Anna Krezkova (LG female human noble) bids her husband farewell and leaves with_ two guards, four commoners, and a mule laden with provisions. If the characters are present, the burgomaster urges them to provide escort. If the guards at Vallaki can be convinced to let them in, Anna and the characters can begin searching for a bridal gown or a dressmaker. Local dressmakers are willing to fashion a gown for 50 gp, but Anna can't afford it, and the dress wont be finished in time. The dressmakers are quick to point out that Baroness Lydia Petrovna, the wife ofVallaki's burgomaster, owns a beautiful white bridal gown (see chapter 5, area N3p). The baroness, eager to please, is willing to give up her dress for a good cause, although her husband won't allow it and could care less about Krezk's problems. If the characters don't accompany Anna on her quest, her expedition falls prey to the perils of the wilderness and never returns. Krezkov sends more villagers to find them, and these villagers are also lost. Unwilling to risk any more lives, Krezkov visits the abbey for the first time in his life and makes a desperate plea to The Abbot, who ignores the plea. Characters can escort the burgomaster to the abbey or eavesdrop on the burgomaster's conversation with The Abbot. If they do, they hear The Abbot|the Abbot]] promise "divine retribution" as punishment.

The evening after the burgomaster's visit, The Abbot releases all the mongrelfolk in the abbey's madhouse (area S15) and sets them on the village. They steal pigs, chickens, and anything else that's edible. None of the villagers are harmed, but their food supplies are depleted, and 2d6 mongrelfolk are killed. The surviving mongrelfolk return to the abbey with their plunder. The burgomaster is so distraught that he hangs himself from the rafters of his cottage a few days later. The characters can stop all this from happening by delivering the dress to The Abbot. They can also stop the mayhem by halting the mongrel folk as they descend from the abbey or by killing the abbot beforehand.

DEVELOPMENT
If Lydia Petrovna's bridal gown is delivered to The Abbot, he honors whatever deal he made with the characters. If the characters resort to magical trickery (for example,
creating an illusory dress), The Abbot becomes hostile toward them once the deception is revealed.

SOMETHING BLUE

This encounter occurs if the characters bring Ireena Kolyana to Krezk, as the priest Donavich suggested (see chapter 3, area E5f).

BARONESS KRE"lKOVA
Ireena hears a gentle voice calling to her. It leads her to the edge of the blessed pool (area S4). If the characters follow her, read:

As lreena reaches the pool's edge, an image appears in its sparkling blue waters: a handsome youth of kind and noble visage. The sadness in his eyes turns to sudden joy.
"Tatyana!" he says. "It has been so long! Come, my love. Let us be together at last."

lreena gasps and puts a hand on her heart. "My beloved Sergei! In life, you were a prince and a man of faith. We were to be married long ago. Has this blessed pool called your spirit to me?" She reaches toward the water's surface as a hand of water rises up to take hers. If the characters intervene, pulling Ireena away from the water's grasp, the hand sinks back into the pool, Sergei's image fades, and she cries as she screams his name.

If the characters allow her to take the hand, read:

lreena is pulled into the pool and embraces Sergei beneath the rippling water. You have never seen a happier couple as they both begin to fade from view. The spirit of Sergei takes Ireena to a place where Strahd can't harm her. She is safe with him. Whether or not Sergei takes Ireena, Strahd senses that the two have found each other. He reacts as follows: A peal of thunder shakes the land, and the dark clouds coalesce into a terrible visage. A deep, dark voice from beyond the mountains cries out, "She is mine!" A terrible crack resounds as blue lightning splits the sky and strikes the pool.

Each creature within 15 feet of the pool must make a successful DC 17 Dexterity check or be knocked prone. The blast knocks down the old gazebo as well. A creature
in the water when the lightning strikes must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 44 (8d10) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Strahd's wrath destroys the blessing on the poql,.rendering its waters nonmagical and prenenting the spirit of Sergei from manifesting in.therjtagain.

DEVELOPMENT
If Sergei and Ireena are brought together, Ireerna is no longer within Strahd's grasp. Strahd blames the characters for his loss and seeks to destroy them from this moment on. Not long afterward, he has one of his servants deliver a letter to the characters, inviting them to Castle Raven loft. If the characters open and read the letter, show the players "Strahd's Invitation" in appendix F. If the characters head toward the castle, they have no threatening random encounters on the way.