Rudolph van Ritchen

The Ione guest of the Blue Water Inn at present is a colorfully dressed half elf bard who goes by the name Rictavio a false identity adopted by the legendary vampire hunter Rudolph van Richten (see appendix D). He regales tavern patrons with stories so outrageous as to be hardly believable, yet he asserts they are true indeed. Rictavio claims to be a carnival ringmaster from a distant land. He's been staying at the inn for almost a month, taking advantage of Urwin Martikov's generosity and good nature. When he arrived, he was accompanied by a monkey named Piccolo. The monkey wasn't welcome at the inn, so Rictavio gave it to the local toymaker: Gadof Blinsky (see area N7). Rictavio admits to having no musical talent but manages to entertain locals nonetheless with his stories of faraway places. Twice each day, at dawn and again at dusk, he leaves the inn with a couple of apples and a cooked wolf steak wrapped in a handkerchief: He claims the food is for his portly friend, "the destitute toymaker" (area N7) and his pet monkey. In fact, the apples are for his horse Drusilla (area N2f), and the steak is for his captured saber toothed tiger (area N5). During his stay at the inn, Rictavio is quietly gathering information on the Keepers of the Feather, trying to figure out the identities of all the wereravens in town. He's also trying to learn as much as he can about the Vistani, particularly the ones living in the camp just outside town (area N9). Once he concludes that they are in league with Strahd, Rictavio plans to unleash his trained saber-toothed tiger upon them, with or without the support of the wereravens. Rictavio wears a hat of disguise and a ring of mind shielding to conceal his identity. He carries an iron key that unlocks the door to his carnival wagon (area NS).