St. Andral's Feast

The characters can prevent this special event from occurring by returning the bones of St. Andral to the church (area N1) 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 Petrovich. 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 Rudolph van Ritchen (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. Where he hides is up to you, but likely locations'include Old Bonegrinder (chapter 6), Argynvostholt (chapter,7), or the ruins of Berez (chapter 10).· If the characters thwarf the attack on the church and protect Father Lucian, Slrahd pays a visit to Wachterhaus (area N4) and there composes a letter, which he asks Lady Wachter to deliver to the characters. The letter is written in Strahd's hand and extehds an invitation to the characters to come to Castle Ravenloft. Lady Wachter orders her spy, Ernst Larnak, or one of her sons to take the letter to the characters. If the characters open and read it, show the players "Strahd's Invitation". If the characters head toward the castle, they have no threatening random encounters on the way.