Argynvostholt
Q1. Dragon Statue
Perched atop a ten-foot-wide, ten-foot-high cube of granite is a moss-covered statue of a dragon, its wings tucked close to its body. The statue looks east, toward the mansion.Q2. Main Entrance
Flagstone steps flanked by stone railings climb to a landing in front of a pair of tall, wooden doors with rusted iron bands and knockers shaped like small dragons. Carved into the lintel above the entrance is the word Argynvostholt.Q3. Dragon’s Foyer
This room feels like a king’s tomb. A grand staircase leads up to stone balconies held aloft by stone pillars and arches. A tall, faded tapestry depicting a nobleman in silver armor hangs from an iron rod above the staircase landing. Six sets of double doors lead from this foyer. Along the walls, displayed on marble pedestals, are three alabaster busts of handsome men. A fourth bust and its pedestal have been knocked over, and their shattered remains lie strewn across the mosaic floor. Two chandeliers of wrought iron hang from the ceiling like monstrous black spiders.Q4. Spider's Ballroom
This room is covered with spiderwebs.Q5. Ruined Stable
Here lie the blackened beams of a wooden stable, burned to its stone foundation. Looming above the wreckage is the partially collapsed south end of the mansion, all three of its floors exposed to the elements.Q6. Dragon’s Den
This wood-paneled den has been ransacked, its furnishings tossed about. A cold, dark hearth dominates the west wall between two narrow windows. Standing upright against the north wall is a sarcophagus made of black wood with a queen’s effigy carved into its lid.Q7. Parlor
Tattered velvet drapes cover the tall, slender windows that encircle this parlor. The furnishings are covered with dust and cobwebs, and lie in disarray. A damaged brass chandelier hangs from the ceiling, which is covered with a faded mural that depicts metallic dragons and colorful birds flying beneath white clouds.Q8. Iron Gate
An iron gate, chained shut, closes off a 10-foot-tall archway on the north wall of the mansion. The key to the chain’s padlock was lost long ago, but the lock can be picked by someone who uses thieves’ tools.Q9. Servants’ Quarters
Tattered brown drapes cover the windows of this circular room, and a heavy curtain hangs across an archway to the south. Strewn about the floor is the wreckage of half a dozen beds and other pieces of furniture.Q10. Kitchen
This kitchen has been plundered, its tables overturned. The floor is littered with rusted utensils and smashed crockery. Narrow windows flanking a hearth look out over a cemetery. An open iron pot hangs from a hook inside the blackened fireplace. It rattles on its hook and bobs up and down, as though something is inside it.Q11. Wine Storage
Five barrels lie in wooden braces along the walls of this dark, moldy storage room.Q12. Dining Hall
A twenty-foot-long table with sculpted dragons for legs stands in the center of this hall. The chairs that surround the table have backs carved to resemble folded dragon wings, and several of the chairs have been overturned or smashed to pieces. Suspended above the table is a crystal chandelier that glows with a soft white light. Standing in windowed alcoves are two life-sized statues depicting knights with dragon-winged helms and shields. Rainwater trickles through cracks in the ceiling, flowing down the west wall and adding to a large puddle on the floor. Five sets of wooden doors lead to this hall. The doors in the northeast corner hang open. A pair of leaded glass doors, their panes cracked and broken, stand open between panels of stained glass set into the east wall. These panels depict silver dragons in flight. Beyond the glass doors lies a dark, misty room that appears to be a chapel.Q13. Chapel of Morning
Cracked wooden pillars support a wooden, U-shaped balcony that overhangs this stone-walled chapel. Narrow archways lead to spiral staircases that curl up to the balcony, and a door set into the north wall has a wooden beam barring it. At the east end of the chapel rests a stone altar flanked by iron candelabras. The altar is carved with a rising sun bas-relief. Tall, arching windows set with panels of stained glass decorate the walls behind the altar. One of the windows has been shattered, covering the chapel floor with shards of colored glass and allowing thick fog to enter and fill the room.Q14. Chapel Staircases
Narrow windows allow dim light to enter this five-foot-wide spiral staircase.Q15. Cemetery
Tucked behind the mansion is a fog-shrouded cemetery enclosed by a seven-foot-tall fence of wrought iron. In the northeast corner stands a mausoleum.Q16. Dragon’s Mausoleum
Tarnished, silver-plated gargoyles shaped like dragon wyrmlings cling to the stone-tiled roof of this mausoleum. An eight-foot-tall, four-foot-wide white marble door set into the southwest wall is engraved with a name: Argynvost. The interior of the mausoleum is dark and dusty. You see four empty alcoves with raised floors. Etched into the far wall is a verse written in Draconic: Here lie the bones and treasures of Argynvost, lord of Argynvostholt and founder of the Order of the Silver Dragon.Q17. West Staircases
Narrow windows illuminate this dusty, five-foot-wide spiral staircase.Q18. Balconies
Two stone balconies flank the main foyer. Balusters carved to resemble knights in shining armor support their elegantly carved stone railings. Weapons and shields festoon the walls along each of these walkways, while alabaster busts of handsome men flank hallways that lead north and south away from the foyer. At the west end of each balcony is an archway that leads to a spiral staircase going up.Q19. Ruined Bedchambers
There are two of these rooms. The south end of this room has collapsed, exposing the chamber to the elements. A few furnishings lie broken under fallen debris from the level above.Q20. South Alcove
A red velvet curtain hangs in front of an alcove in the southeast corner of this hall. It ripples ever so slightly.Q21. North Alcove
A red velvet curtain hangs in front of an alcove in the northeast corner of this hall.Q22. Bathroom
The room contains an iron tub and has wood paneling on the walls that rises to a height of three feet. Above the paneling, the walls are painted with a continuous, faded mural of a mountainscape.Q23. Storage Room
Rainwater seeps through cracks in the ceiling and flows into a pool on the sagging wooden floor. The pool fills about half the room. Bare stone shelves line the walls.Q24. Chapel Balcony
This wooden balcony overhangs the mansion’s chapel. An exquisitely carved wooden throne rests at the west end between two doors, and narrow archways lead to spiral staircases going up and down. Hanging from the high ceiling is an iron chandelier with candle holders shaped like tiny silver dragons.Q25. Trapped Hallway
This T-shaped hallway has branches to the west, east, and south. Three arched windows in the north wall look out over the foggy grounds.Q26. Northeast Guest Room
The door to this room hangs open. Two beds with torn canopies stand against opposite walls with a tattered rug lying on the floor between them. Set into the far wall is a fireplace black with soot. A soft hiss issues from the hearth.Q27. Knights’ Quarters
This room is littered with the wreckage of ancient bunk beds. Five dirt-caked windows allow precious little light to enter, and between them are four empty armor stands. Empty torch sconces line the walls.Q28. Knights’ Quarters
Tattered and faded drapes cover the windows of this circular room, and empty torch sconces line the walls. Broken bunk beds and armor stands are strewn on the floor.Q29. Northwest Guest Room
The contents of this room are draped in cobwebs. Between curtained windows stands a black marble hearth with a sculpted mantelpiece, above which hangs a framed portrait of a handsome, well-dressed man with a wry smile and a thick mane of thistledown hair. Opposite the fireplace is a large bed with a rotting mattress and wooden posts carved to resemble dragons. Across from the double doors stands a tall wardrobe, its doors hanging open, revealing a dark and empty cavity. The only other piece of furniture is an overstuffed leather chair that faces the hearth.Q30. Curtained Staircase
A tattered black curtain conceals an archway leading to a spiral staircase that descends to area Q17. At the top of the stairs is a secret door that can be pulled open to reveal area Q36 beyond.Q31. East Staircases
A round-topped wooden door opens to reveal a spiral staircase with narrow windows set into its walls. The stair connects the third floor and the mansion’s roof.Q32. Ruined Bedchambers
These two rooms stand across from each other, separated by a ruined corridor that abruptly ends to the south of their doors. Most of this chamber has collapsed. The wooden floor is strewn with rubble and falls away into a foggy abyss to the south. The roof overhead is jagged and broken.Q33. Ceiling
This previously ruined area still has a broken ceiling, but the rubble has been clean cleaned up.Q34. Ruined Bathroom
This room has a tiled floor and an iron bathtub filled with debris from the collapsed roof. A torn curtain hangs in an open doorway in the center of the east wall.Q35. Upstairs Gallery
This room has dark wood paneling on the walls that rises to a height of three feet. Above the paneling, the walls are painted with murals of religious figures performing holy rites. In the center of the west wall is a tattered curtain hanging in an open doorway. Three tall, slender stained-glass windows set into the opposite wall depict figures in white robes with orange sunrises behind their heads. From north to south, the three stained-glass windows portray Saint Andral, the Morninglord, and Saint Markovia.Q36. Dragon’s Audience Hall
The west wall of this fifty-foot-long, thirty-foot-wide audience hall has crumbled, leaving a gaping hole and a pile of rubble. Weapons and shields that once hung from the walls have fallen to the floor and succumbed to rust. A large, wooden throne carved to resemble a dragon with unfolding wings faces three tall windows to the west. The party defeated Vladimir Horngaard in this room.Q37. Knights of the Order
The leaders of the Order of the Silver Dragon used to convene here, including Sir Godfrey Gwilym. Through the dust and cobwebs, you see faded war banners adorning the walls of a spacious chamber, in the center of which stands a heavy wooden table. An iron chandelier hangs above the table, which is surrounded by six high-backed chairs with wood-carved dragons perched atop them. Slumped in five of the chairs are skeletal humans in tattered chainmail.Q38. Closet
This dusty closet has a slender window set into the north wall. The room is otherwise empty.Q39. Vladimir’s Bedroom
Light enters this circular room through five cracked windows. The light falls on a large, dust-covered bed in the center of the room, its posts topped with wood-carved dragons. Two large animals flank the double doors. One is a brown bear standing on its hind legs, its claws outstretched. The other is a dire wolf, its face frozen in an evil snarl. Near the wolf lies an empty wooden chest. This room once served as a bedchamber for Sir Vladimir Horngaard and Sir Godfrey Gwilym. The bear and the dire wolf are stuffed and harmless. Looters ransacked the chest long ago, leaving nothing of value.Q40. Argynvost’s Study
This room is a haven for dust and cobwebs. Three narrow windows allow slivers of light to illuminate bare oak shelves along the walls and a torn, padded chair lying on its side near a cavernous hearth. A picture above the mantel has been slashed, its lower half hanging down below the frame like a torn piece of flesh. An iron door set in the south corner of the west wall hangs open on one hinge.Q41. Dragon’s Vault
The iron door leading to this room hangs open on a single rusty hinge. It has obviously been forced open and no longer closes properly. The walls of this room are lined with lead. Emptied chests and shattered vases lie strewn upon the floor, their contents plundered. This vault once held a dragon’s trove but was stripped of all valuables long ago.Q42. Argynvost’s Bedroom
Rich drapes, faded by time and neglect, hide the windows of this otherwise empty room.Rooftop
This rooftop is heavily damaged because of combat. You can walk across it, but you need to be careful.History
When Strahd von Zarovich drove his enemies into the valley long ago, determined to annihilate them, the last thing he expected to encounter was a silver dragon.
The dragon, who called himself Argynvost, had come to the valley years earlier in the guise of a nobleman named Lord Argynvost. The dragon didn’t lair in the valley solely because of its idyllic beauty. He knew of a place called The Amber Temple — a repository of evil power guarded by the forces of good.
Like many silver dragons, Argynvost was extraordinarily wealthy, and he was comfortable living among humans while disguised as one of them. He used his resources to attract other champions of good, and valorous knights flocked to the valley to join Lord Argynvost’s prestigious Order of the Silver Dragon. Only those who were initiated into the order were told of Lord Argynvost’s true nature.
During the war between Strahd von Zarovich and his foes, the Order of the Silver Dragon drove away malefactors searching for the Amber Temple. It also sheltered Strahd’s enemies and proved more than a match for Strahd’s battle-weary soldiers. But the early victories of the order didn’t win the war. Even with Argynvost on their side, the knights were ultimately overwhelmed when Strahd von Zarovich's reinforcements swept into the valley. Those forces slew the last of the knights and battled the dragon inside Argynvostholt. After the dragon was slain, Strahd von Zarovich had its corpse hacked to pieces, stripped to the bone, and transported to Castle Ravenloft as a trophy.
Since the dragon’s death, Argynvostholt has become a haunted ruin, a former bastion of nobility and light turned into a place of desolation and unrest.
