Larders of Ill Omen

The Larders of Ill Omen (map 11, areas K61 through K72) are identical to the book except in the following areas:

K61. Elevator

This is an actual elevator.

K62. Servants' Hall

This hall stands in silence. Heavy beams support a sagging, ten-foot-high ceiling. Fog clings to the floor, obscuring everything that lies less than three feet above it.

This hall is empty, but well-kept.
Stairs at the east end of the north wall lead up to K23. Along the east wall is a rusty but sturdy iron portcullis that bars the way to area K63. The characters can see through the portcullis. The portcullis can be lifted with a successful DC 20 Strength check. A set of heavy double doors at the west end of the hall open to area K67.

K65. Kitchen

The sound of soft weeping fills this steaming hot room. A huge pot bubbles over a fire pit in the center of the room. The far wall is lined with pegs, hanging from which are numerous cooking instruments--some of which could easily double as instruments of torture. Sitting in a corner of the room, hands in her head, is an old human woman. A chain runs from her ankle to the wall.

The weeping woman is Elene, the cook Strahd has employed. She has been here for almost thirty years, and has no hope left for her life, having long given up the dream of escaping to find her children and husband again. She will neither aid the party nor betray them.

K66. Butler's Quarters

This twenty-foot-square room is filled wall to wall with clutter. A long sagging bed sites to one side under a faded tapestry that depicts Castle Ravenloft. Large dented pots are being used in place of planters, and several wooden crates sit in a corner, emanating a nauseating stench.

One of the witches uses this as her room. If the players are in need of someone to escort them around the castle, she will do so.

K69. Guards' Quarters

Sickly yellow lichen covers the ceiling of this cold, damp ten-foot-wide passage running east and west. Opening off both sides of this passage are ten-foot-square alcoves that contain dusty cots. Some of these cots have trunks and clothing tucked inside, as if they are still in use. One alcove has a table with two small stools, on which is a set of playing cards, some dice, and a filthy notepad.

Strahd's vampire guards spend their time here, when they are not resting in their coffins or on duty. When the party enters, 1d4 vampire guards are present.

K70. Kingsmen Hall Witches' Hall

This thirty-foot-square-room is a mess. Piles of broken furniture and bones line the far wall. At the center of the room, a trio of large black cauldrons sit on fat bent legs over intricate circles of runes burned into the stone floor. Several tables stand throughout the room, weighed down by stacks of glass jars and bottles, each one bearing labels written in messy, quick handwriting.

This room is used by the witches. It replaces the Cauldron, Familiar, and Element rooms. When the party enters, 1d4 witches are in the room either brewing or taking inventory.
If any of the three cauldrons are touched by someone who speaks the command word ("Gorah"), it magicaly heats any liquid placed inside it, and keeps it hot for three hours or until the command word is spoken again by someone within five feet of the cauldron.
Captured witches will trade information for their lives and freedom. They know the location of several trap doors around the castle. Each of them has a potion of healing on her person.

K71. Kingsmen Quarters Witch Quarters

This dark passage runs for twenty feet, connecting an archway to the west with an ascending stone staircase to the east. To the north and west are four ten-foot-square alcoves cluttered with cots and personal belongings. Three of these alcoves are obviously in use.

The rest of Strahd's witches sleep here. When the party enters, 1d4 -2 witches are present, either sleeping or resting.