Vallaki

Located close to the shores of Lake Zarovich, the town of Vallaki (pronounced vah-lah-key) seemed like a safe haven against the evils of the Svalich Woods, if not Strahd himself. The town lay beyond the sight of Castle Ravenloft and didn't, at first blush, seem as depressed (or oppressed) as the village of Barovia farther east. Those who spend time in Vallaki, however, would quickly realise that there was no happiness here, only false hope—which Strahd himself cultivated.
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 had royal blood in their veins and had long believed themselves superior to the Zarovich line. Baron Vallakovich had deluded himself into believing that hope and happiness were the keys to Vallaki's salvation. If he could make everyone in Vallaki happy, the burgomaster thought that the town would somehow escape Strahd's grasp and return to the forgotten world whence it came. He staged one festival after another to bolster the spirits of the townsfolk, but most Vallakians considered 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 Vallakovich had townsfolk parade through the streets with the severed heads of wolves on pikes. His next event, which the burgomaster had dubbed the Festival of the Blazing Sun, was soon to get underway when Ace Ventura entered Barovia. Weatherworn garlands from previous festivals still hung from the eaves of Vallaki's buildings, and work had 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 had begun arresting local malcontents and throwing them in the stocks so that his efforts weren't ruined by "those of little hope or faith."

Maps

• 

  Vallaki

RUINED SETTLEMENT
8008

Location under

Old Barovia

Included Locations

• Blue Water Inn