The Ruins of Berez
The ruins of Berez are now home to Baba Lysaga, an almost mythic figure tied to Strahd von Zarovich's ancient past. A hermit, she spends most of her time crafting and animating scarecrows to hunt down and kill the ravens and the wereravens that infest his domain. When she isn’t working evil magic, Baba Lysaga sacrifices beasts to Mother Night and collects their blood, then bathes in the blood on nights of the new moon in a ritual to stave off the effects of extreme old age.
Baba Lysaga recently stole a magic gemstone from The Wizards of Wine, in the hope that the wereravens who protect the vineyard will try to reclaim it. She keeps it in her hut as bait to lure her enemies to their deaths. The gem has given her hut a semblance of life.
Approaching The Ruins of Berez
The trail hugs the river for several miles. The dirt and grass soon turn to marsh as the trail dissolves into spongy earth pockmarked with stands of tall reeds and pools of stagnant water. A thick shroud of fog covers all. Scattered throughout the marsh are old peasant cottages, their walls covered with black mildew, their roofs mostly caved in. These decrepit dwellings seem to hunker down in the mire, as though they have long since given up on escaping the thick mud. Everywhere you look, black clouds of flies dart about, hungry for blood. The fog is much thinner on the far side of the river, where a light flashes amid a dark ring of standing stones.The Town
As you approach this cluster of ruined cottages separated by low stone walls, you see a short stretch of dirt road that has remained intact. Toward the south end of the village lie the remains of a mansion built on higher ground. It has been reduced to piles of stone and rotting timber. Empty, arched windows stare at you. South of the ruin, an untamed garden runs rampant, surrounded by broken walls that are no longer able to contain it. East of the ruin, someone has erected a crude wooden fence, forming a circular yard in which several goats are penned. Surmounting the fence posts are human skulls. Swampwaters This deep, sludgy, area is difficult to traverse. In the middle of this area Baba Lysaga's hut used to stand, until it was later destroyed in Yester Hill.The Churchyard
Through the fog you see the empty shell an old stone church, north of which is a cemetery of leaning gravestones enclosed by a disintegrating iron fence. Half of the cemetery has sunk into the mire.Fauna & Flora
The entire area, with the exception of the pathways or differently described parts by the DM, counts as difficult terrain.
History
Long before Ireena Kolyana, there was a peasant from Berez named Marina.
The vampire Strahd first met Marina in this small village on the shore of the Luna River. Marina bore a striking resemblance to Strahd’s beloved Tatyana, both in appearance and manner, and she became Strahd’s obsession. He seduced her in the dead of night and feasted on her blood, but before she could be turned into a vampire, the burgomaster of Berez, Lazlo Ulrich, with the aid of a local priest named Brother Grigor, killed Marina to save her soul from damnation. Enraged, Strahd slew the priest and the burgomaster, then used his power over the land to swell the river, flooding the village and forcing the residents to flee. Later the marsh crept in, preventing the villagers from returning. Berez has remained mostly abandoned since.
The vampire Strahd first met Marina in this small village on the shore of the Luna River. Marina bore a striking resemblance to Strahd’s beloved Tatyana, both in appearance and manner, and she became Strahd’s obsession. He seduced her in the dead of night and feasted on her blood, but before she could be turned into a vampire, the burgomaster of Berez, Lazlo Ulrich, with the aid of a local priest named Brother Grigor, killed Marina to save her soul from damnation. Enraged, Strahd slew the priest and the burgomaster, then used his power over the land to swell the river, flooding the village and forcing the residents to flee. Later the marsh crept in, preventing the villagers from returning. Berez has remained mostly abandoned since.
