The town of Vallaki lies in the heart of the valley. Its burgomaster is named Baron Vargas Vallakovich.
When the characters first approach Vallaki, read:
The Old Svalich Road meanders into a valley watched over by dark, brooding mountains to the north and south. The woods recede, revealing a sullen mountain burg surrounded by a wooden palisade. Thick fog presses up against this wall, as though looking for a way inside, hoping to catch the town aslumber.
The dirt road ends at a set of sturdy iron gates with a pair of shadowy figures standing behind them. Planted in the ground and flanking the road outside the gates are a half-dozen pikes with wolves' heads impaled on them.
Vallaki was founded not long after Strahd's armies conquered the valley by an ancestor of the town's current burgomaster, Baron Vargas Vallakovich. The Vallakoviches have royal blood in their veins and have long believed themselves superior to the Zarovich line. Baron Vallakovich has deluded himself into believing that hope and happiness are the keys to Vallaki's salvation.
If he can make everyone in Vallaki happy, the burgomaster thinks that the town will somehow escape Strahd's grasp and return to the forgotten world whence it came. He stages one festival after another to bolster the spirits of the townsfolk, but most Vallakians consider these festivals to be pointless, meaningless affairs more likely to incur Strahd's wrath than to provide any hope for the future.
In the last festival, Baron Vargas Vallakovich had townsfolk parade through the streets with the severed heads of wolves on pikes. His next event, which the burgomaster has dubbed the Festival of the Blazing Sun, is soon to get under way (see the "Special Events" section at the end of this chapter). Weather worn garlands from previous festivals still hang from the eaves of Vallaki's buildings, and work has begun on a large wicker sun, to be set ablaze in the town square on the day of the festival.
In the days leading up to the festival, Baron Vargas Vallakovich has begun arresting local malcontents and throwing them in the stocks so that his efforts aren't ruined by "those of little hope or faith."
There is no light in the eyes of the mend that feed off this land. They are as dead as the dead.
-Strahd von Zarovich
Locations
TOWN GATES
Three tall gates made of iron bars lead into town:
• The north gate is sometimes called the Zarovich Gate, or "the gate to the lake," because it leads to Lake Zarovich.
• The west gate is referred to as the Sunset Gate, even though no living person in Vallaki has seen an undimmed sunset. A few abandoned cottages line the road outside this gate.
• The east gate is also known as the Morning Gate, or, as some locals like to call it, the Mourning Gate.
Heavy iron chains with iron padlocks keep the gates shut at night. During the day, the gates are closed but not typically locked.
Two town guards (LG male and female humans) stand just inside each gate. Instead of spears, they carry pikes (reach 10 ft., 1d10 + 1 piercing damage on a hit). These weapons are long enough to stab creatures through the bars of the gate. The guards greet all visitors with suspicion, particularly those who arrive at night. If the characters arrive at night, one or more of
them must succeed on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check to convince the guards to unlock the gate and let them enter.
If trouble breaks out at one of the gates, the guards there cry out, "To arms!" Their shouts are echoed across Vallaki, putting the entire town on alert within minutes.
Vallaki has twenty-four human guards, half of whom are on duty at any given time (six stand watch at the gates, six patrol the walls). The town can also muster a militia of fifty able-bodied human commoners armed with clubs, daggers, and torches.
TOWN SQUARE
The shops and homes that enclose the town square are decorated with limp, tattered garlands and painted wooden boxes filled with tiny, dead flowers. At the north end of the square stands a row of stocks, locked in which are several men, women, and children wearing crude, plaster donkey heads.
In the center of the square, peasants in patchwork clothes eye you suspiciously as they use cups and vases to draw water from a crumbling stone fountain. Standing tall at the center of the fountain is a gray statue of an impressive man facing west. All around the square are posted proclamations:
Come one, come all,
to the greatest celebration of the year:
THE WOLF'S HEAD JAMBOREE!
Attendance and children required.
Pikes will be provided.
ALL WILL BE WELL!
-The Baron-
The Wolf's Head Jamboree has already occurred, making the square's proclamations out of date. If the characters linger, they see the burgomaster's henchman, lzek Strazni, arrive with two town guards.
Izek orders one guard to tear down all of the old proclamations while the other posts the following new one:
COME ONE, COME ALL,
to the greatest celebration of the year:
THE FESTIVAL OF THE BLAZING SUN!
Attendance and children required.
Rain or shine.
ALL WILL BE WELL!
-The Baron-
Most Vallakians have no idea whom the statue in the square represents. The burgomaster claims it is Boris Vallakovich, his ancestor and the town's founder, but there's no noticeable family resemblance.
History
The town of Vallaki seems like a safe haven from the destruction of Strahd's armies and their endless conquests. The Baron enthusiastically joins in Strahd's conquest plans, maintaining a powerful force of Vampire nobles and undead armies, along with normal human servants and soldiers.
The town lies beyond the sight of Castle Ravenloft and doesn't, at first blush, seem as depressed (or oppressed) as the village of Barovia farther east. Characters who spend time inVallaki, however, quickly realize that there is no happiness here, only false hope-which Strahd himself cultivates.
Vallaki was not destroyed when Strahd's armies conquered the valley due to the town's current burgomaster, Baron Vargas Vallakovich, bending the knee and becoming Strahd's first vassal. The Vallakoviches have been loyal to Strahd ever since, in return for eternal life as Vampires. They are very proud of the royal blood in their veins and have long believed themselves superior to the Barons and vassals of Strahd. Baron Vallakovich is a coward and deeply insecure about it. He regularly finds enemies to fight, massacring innocents or those much weaker than him in large gaudy and extravagant "festivals".
He stages one festival after another to bolster the spirits of the townsfolk, and most Vallakians consider these festivals to be their pride and joy, joining in these meaningless affairs as a way to avoid the reality of their situation and to delude themselves.
In the last festival, Baron Vallakovich had townsfolk parade through the streets with the severed heads of wolves on pikes.
His next event, which the burgomaster has dubbed the Festival of the Blazing Sun, is soon to get under way (see the "Special Events" section at the end of this chapter). Weatherworn garlands from previous festivals still hang from the eaves of Vallaki's buildings, and work has begun on a large wicker sun, to be set ablaze in the town square on the day of the festival.
In the days leading up to the festival, Baron Vallakovich has begun arresting local malcontents and throwing them in the stocks so that his efforts aren't ruined by "those of little hope or faith."
There is no light in the eyes of the men that feed off this land. They are as dead as the dead.
-Strahd von Zarovich
About:
Vallakians
The people of Vallaki are largely as described in Chapter 5: The Town of Vallaki (p. 95) and Townsfolk (p. 96). Though the town is ruled by Baron Vargas Vallakovich, the local
burgomaster, few townsfolk view him with much love or respect.
However, Baron Vallakovich commands the loyalty of Izek Strazni, a cruel and capricious brute who enforces the Baron’s will with an iron fist. Izek, as Captain of the Guard, commands the loyalty—and, more importantly, the salaries— of the town’s twenty-four guards, as described in Town Gates
Though Vallaki is far from a police state, Izek has spies throughout the town—individuals that he has threatened or intimidated into keeping him abreast of news and information. Those who speak ill of the Baron or his “festivals” (described in Chapter 5: The Town of Vallaki (p. 95)) are thrown in the stocks as described in Donkey Headed Criminals (p. 119). Those who go further may find themselves forcibly summoned to the Baron’s manor for “corrective rehabilitation,” or even left to the tender mercies of Izek himself, whose diabolic mastery of fire allows him to burn his victims’ flesh or set their homes aflame.
As a result, the vast majority of Vallakians have surrendered themselves to Baron Vallakovich’s rule, too terrified of Izek to dare speak out. The sole exceptions are Lady Fiona Wachter, as described in Vallaki Lore (p. 96), and the secret members of her devil-worshipping cult, as described in Cultists (p. 96) and N4. Wachterhaus (p. 110).
VALLAKl LORE
In addition to the information known to
• The burgomaster, BaronVargas Vallakovich, has decreed that the Festival of the Blazing Sun will be held in the town square (area NB) in three days. The previous festival, which he called the Wolf's Head Jamboree, was less than a week ago.
• Vallaki has endured at least one festival every week for the past several years.
• Those who speak ill of the festivals are declared by the burgomaster to be in league with the devil and arrested. Some are thrown in the stocks (area NB), while others are taken to the burgomaster's mansion so that the baron can purge them of their evil.
• The burgomaster's henchman, Izek Strazni, has a history of violence as well as a fiendish deformity: a monstrous arm with which he can conjure fire. Fear of Izek keeps the baron's enemies at bay.
• No one hates the burgomaster more than Lady Fiona Wachter, who is often quoted as saying, "I'd rather serve the devil than a madman." She owns an old house in town (area N4) but rarely leaves her estate. Her two adult sons, Nikolai and Karl, are local trouble makers. Lady Wachter also has a mad daughter whom she keeps locked away. The burgomaster doesn't confront Fiona or her offspring because he is afraid of Lady Wachter, whose family has old ties to Strahd.
• Purple flashes of light have been seen emanating from the attic of the burgomaster's mansion.
• Wolves and dire wolves prowl the woods and aren't afraid to attack travelers on the Old Svalich Road. Well-armed groups of hunters and trappers have managed to kill several of the wolves, but more keep coming.
DM Notes:
Side Quest: St Andrals Church The bones of Saint Andral has been stolen by Milivoj and sold to Henrik van der Voort at Voort Coffin Makers.
Side Quest: Blue Water Inn The inn's wine supply is almost depleted, and the latest delivery from the Wizard of Wines winery is overdue. If the characters claim to be adventurers, Urwin asks them if they would be so kind as to find out what's holding up the latest shipment, promising them free room and board if they return with the wine.
Side Quest: Willemina Rikalova's son, the shoemaker Udo Lukovich, has been imprisoned for speaking out against the Burgomaster.
Side Quest: Gadof Blinsky wants the players to retrieve a clockwork man from Castle Ravenloft
Side Quest: Vistani Camp meet Kasimir Velikov and learn about / accompany him to the Amber Temple
Side Quest: Vistani Camp meet Luvash and learn about his missing daughter Arabelle
Special Event: Attend the Festival of the Blazing Sun and see what happens to the guard Lars, which also leads to Tiger Tiger
Special Event: St Andrals Feast
SPECIAL EVENTS
Any of the following events can occur while the characters are staying in Vallaki.
Prison Break
DONKEY-HEADED CRIMINALS
The townsfolk in the stocks were arrested for "malicious unhappiness" (spreading negative opinions about the upcoming festival). An iron padlock secures each set of stocks, and Izek Strazni carries the keys on an iron ring.
Three men, two women, and two boys are trapped in the stocks-all of them tired, wet, and famished. The five adults have the statistics of human commoners, and the children are non-combatants. The plaster donkey heads they wear are meant to encourage ridicule. Freeing one or more prisoners without the baron's consent is a crime. If the characters are witnessed doing so, Izek rallies the town guards (twenty-four in all) and orders the characters to leave town at once or suffer the consequences. If the characters stand their ground, Izek orders the guards to beat them into submission, seize their weapons, and cast them out of Vallaki to be "food for the wolves."
If the characters are exiled from Vallaki without their weapons, the Keepers of the Feather (see area N2) snatch the party's belongings from under Izek's nose and see them safely returned to the characters. If the guards fall to waylay the characters, Izek (if he's still around) flees to the burgomaster's mansion, giving the characters the run of the town. The townsfolk lock themselves in their homes, fearful that the characters aim to murder them.
DEVELOPMENT
FESTIVAL OF THE BLAZING SUN
The Festival of the Blazing Sun takes place three days after the characters first arrive in Vallaki. You can delay the festival if the characters get waylaid or drawn elsewhere, or you can advance the timeline if the characters seem to be in a hurry. Under threatening skies, a parade of unhappy children dressed as flowers trudges through the muddy streets, leading the way for a group of sorry-looking men and women carrying a ten-foot-diameter wicker ball. The burgomaster and his smiling wife, who holds a sad bouquet of wilting flowers, follow the procession on horseback.
As weary spectators watch from their stoops, the ball is borne to the town square. There, it is hoisted and hung from a fifteen-foot-high wooden scaffold, and townsfolk take turns splashing it with oil. Before the wicker sun can be set ablaze, the sky tears open in a sudden downpour. "All will be well!" cries the burgomaster as he brandishes a sputtering torch and marches defiantly through the rain toward the wicker ball, only to have his torch go out as he thrusts it into the sphere. A singular laugh erupts from the crowd, drawing the burgomaster's fiery gaze as well as gasps from the townsfolk.
The laugh comes from Lars Kjurls (LG male human guard), a member of the town militia. The other guards are aghast at Lars's ill-timed outburst. The burgomaster immediately has Lars arrested for "spite." Unless the characters intervene, Lars is bound at the ankles and wrists, then dragged behind the burgomaster's horse for the "amusement" of all. The burgomaster rides the horse himself.
DEVELOPMENT
If the characters challenge the burgomaster in any way, he orders them banished from Vallaki. If they protest, he orders the guards to arrest them, deprive them of their weapons, and force them out of Vallaki at sword point. If the characters lose their weapons, the Keepers of the Feather (see area N2) eventually steal back the weapons and return them to the characters If the guards fail in their duty, the burgomaster retreats to his mansion and the townsfolk flee to their homes, giving the characters free rein in town.
TYGER,TYGER
Karl and Nikolai Wachter (see areas N2 and N4) are young, foolish men from a proud noble family. The · drunke·b.rothers sneak into'.Arase){s.:Stockyarci (area
-- NS) while everyone else is. a.ttc;'ripig·'te festival in th_: . . town scj11ani: On·i:par orie'ofthM- roks the\vagon,: · ·, . . Th sabei-'.tooth·;d tiger- locked inside b°econ:ies enraged" . . ·. and sahis· thrhgh th '.wa'gon. d0oi:.' The characts .. . and e;eryone else in twii iiea th 'shJas'of.the young men as the tiger escapes. Tfie l:iger flees the stockyard without harming the Wachters and begins to prowl the streets, looking for an escape. Reports of a tiger running loose in the streets ruin the festival and send townsfolk scurrying for their homes. The saber-toothed tiger doesn't harm anyone until it takes damage, hereupon it attacks the perceived source of the damage. If he is still alive, Izek Strazni gathers six town guards and hunts down the beast with best to lure the beast back to his wagon while assuring townsfolk that it won't harm them.
DEVELOPMENT
If he's still in power, the burgomaster conducts an investigation to find out where the tiger came from. Guards and local witnesses are questioned. The Wachter boys feign innocence, insisting that they were at the festival, but Gunther and Yelena Arasek (area NS) admit to hearing "evil growls" and scratching sounds coming from inside the carnival wagon parked in their stockyard. When pressed, the Araseks admit to seeing the wagon's "weird owner" routinely drop food into the wagon through a
hatch in the roof. They also confess that the half-elf paid them for their silence.
After the burgomaster learns that the tiger belongs to Rictavio, he commands his guards to arrest the mysterious bard. If Rictavio thinks the characters can help him, he asks them to distract the burgomaster and the guards while he gathers his horse, wagon, and tiger (in that order). If the characters ask Rictavio where he plans to go,
he tells them about an old tower to the west where he can lie low (see chapter 11, "Van Richten's Tower").
LADYWACHTER'S WISH
Ernst Larnak (see area N4) begins shadowing the characters. Characters who have a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 14 9r higher notice him doing so. If they confront him, he claims that he keeps a watchful eye on all strangers, though he doesn't mention the name of his employer. If the characters threaten him, he backs off
and reports to Lady Wachter after he believes he's not being watched or pursued.
Lady Wachter is looking for powerful allies to help her oust the burgomaster. If Ernst tells her that he thinks the characters fit the bill, Lady Wachter has Ernst or her
sons invite the characters to a private dinner at Wachterhaus. During the dinner, Lady Wachter determines whether the characters have the ability and theresolve
to crush the baron. If the characters refuse he in:vitation, or tf hey profess to be enemies of Strahd, LadyWcl!t.i- marks-them as her enemies and sets outtci-ifestroy t)lem whhout incriminating herself.
DEVELOPMENT
Once she determines that the characters.a're her·enemies, Lady Wachter hands Ernst a bag of 100 gp (taken froin area N4q) and instructs him to deliver it to the ;vistani camp outside town (area N9), ai'ong with a letter jrorri her that asks the Vistani to dispose of the charac: ters once they have left town. The Vistani burn the letter ·
after reading it, as per Lady Wachter's request.
If the characters have rescued Arabelle (see chapter 2, area L), the Vistani return Lady Wachter's gold to Ernst and do nothing. Otherwise, a Vistana bandit watches the road east of Vallaki and reports back to camp if the characters are sighted leaving. The Vistani, worried that the characters might be more than a match for them, send one emissary on horseback to race ahead of the characters and inform Strahd. If Arrigal is alive, he makes the ride himself. Otherwise, the rider is a young Vistana bandit
named Alexei (see area N9c).
ST. ANDRAL's FEAST
The characters can prevent this special event from occurring by returning the bones of St. Andra! to the church (area Nl) or by destroying the vampire spawn hiding in the coffin maker's shop (area N6). If the characters stay in Vallaki for three days or more and don't retrieve the bones or destroy the vampire spawn, Strahd visits the coffin maker's shop the following evening and orchestrates an attack on the church.
The vampire spawn begin the attack that night. They cling to the outer walls and roof of St. Andral's church while four swarms of bats enter the church through the belfry and terrify the congregation. As the townsfolk flee the church, the vampire spawn leap down and attack them.
During the chaos, Strahd enters the church in bat form, then reverts to vampire form and attacks Father Lucian. Unless the characters intervene, Strahd kills the priest before returning to Castle Ravenloft. If Father Lucian dies, locals bury his body in the church cemetery, whereupon it rises the following night as a vampire spawn under Strahd's control. If Rictavio (area N2) learns of the priest's death, he suggests that the characters burn the priest's body to ensure that it doesn't rise from the dead.
DEVELOPMENT
The attack on St. Andral's church terrorizes and demoralizes the town. After a few days, fear turns to misdirected rage as townsfolk blame the burgomaster. Baron Vallakovich's "All will be well!" mantra can't protect him from their wrath. Barring intervention by the characters, the burgomaster's mansion is set ablaze, and the baron, his wife, and his son are dragged to the town square, thrown in the stocks, and stoned to death. If he is alive, Izek Strazni flees the town to avoid a similar fate. He is likely to hide at Old Bonegrinder, or the ruins of Berez. If the characters thwart this attack on the church and protect Father Lucian, Slrahd pays a visit to Wachterhaus and asks Lady Wachter to deliver an invitation to the characters to come to Castle Ravenloft. Lady Wachter- orders h'er spy Ernst or one of her sons to take the letter to the 'characters.
Arabelle
At the nearby Vistani encampment, the players will have an opportunity to prove themselves heroes by finding and rescuing Arabelle following her mysterious disappearance—and receive a mysterious prophecy if they do.
DEVELOPMENT
Izek
At Wachterhaus, the ancestral home of House Wachter, the players will be given a choice: slay Izek Strazni and allow Lady Wachter to seize power—or do nothing, and allow the Baron's mad reign to continue.
DEVELOPMENT
Blood Tax
If the players assisted Lady Fiona Wachter in becoming Burgomaster in Act II, Vallaki's forthcoming "Blood Tax" can provide a night on which Strahd will be absent from the castle—and therefore present a perfect opportunity for a heist.
DEVELOPMENT
Stella Wachter
Meanwhile, one of the players begins to experience haunting apparitions, leading them to discover the tragic fate of Stella Wachter's soul—and an opportunity to restore her broken mind. Simultaneously, a nocturnal killer haunts Vallaki's streets, secretly working to drive the disguised vampire hunter Dr. Rudolph van Richten out of hiding.
DEVELOPMENT
Tome of Strahd
Through it all, the players will have an opportunity to seek out clues leading to the hidden location of the Tome of Strahd, which—depending on the Tarokka reading they received—may be hidden in the Baron's mansion or in Wachterhaus.
DEVELOPMENT
Circus in Vallaki
Upon receiving a warning and invitation sent in a dream from the Vistani seer Madam Eva, the players go to a circus set up by the vistani. Following a brief encounter with Fiona Wachter, the players receive a mystical Tarokka reading from Madam Eva, who foretells the location of three mystical artifacts and companions who will help them defeat Strahd.
DEVELOPMENT
Dream Pastries
There's Nothing Batter
Flour Power
Knead Bread
Sweet Dreams
This event occurs as the characters make their way through the village.
Morgantha, a night hag in the guise of an old woman, has come to the village from Old Bonegrinder to sell her dream pastries for 1 gp apiece (see chapter 6 for a description of the pastries).
DREAM PASTRIES
This event occurs as the characters make their way through the village. You hear the sound of small, wooden wheels rolling across damp cobbles. You trace the lonely sound to a hunched figure bundled in rags, pushing a rickety wooden cart through the fog.
Morgantha, a night hag in the guise of an old woman, has come to the village from Old Bonegrinder to sell her dream pastries for 1 gp apiece (see chapter 6 for a description of the pastries). She goes from house to house, knocking on doors. Most of the time, no one answers. When someone does, Morgantha tries to peddle her wares, offering customers an escape from the misery and despair of everyday Barovian life. If the characters shadow her for a while, she collects payment from one household in the form of a seven-year-old boy named Lucianjarov (LG male human noncombatant). Lucian's parents plead with Morgantha not to take their boy, but she snatches the crying child from their grasp, stuffs him in a sack, straps him down to her peddler's cart, and casually makes her way back to Old Bonegrinder.
Morgantha recognizes that the characters are strangers and does her best to avoid them. If the characters demand the release of the child, she grudgingly complies, knowing that she can always come back for the boy later. She fights only in self-defense and offers the following information in exchange for her life:
• Strahd has mastery over the land and the weather, and his spies include the Vistani.
• There's a Vistani camp to the west, on the shores of Tser Pool (chapter 2, area G), and another on the out skirts ofVallaki (chapter 5, area N9). Strahd has undead enemies in Barovia, namely the fallen knights of the Order of the Silver Dragon. These revenants cart be found in a ruined mansion west of Vallaki (see chapter 7, "Argynvostholt").
• Strahd's most carefully guarded secret is a temple of forbidden lore hidden in the mountains (see chapter 13, "The Amber Temple"). The temple can be reached by following the long and winding Tsolenka Pass (see chapter 9).
DEVELOPMENT