Town of Vallaki

Located close to the shores of Lake Zarovich, the town of Vallaki (pronounced vah-LAH-key) seems like a safe haven against the evils of the Svalich Woods, if not Strahd Von Zarovich himself. The town lies beyond the sight of Castle Ravenloft and doesn’t, at first blush, seem as depressed (or oppressed) as the Village of Barovia farther east. Characters who spend time in Vallaki, however, quickly realize that there is no happiness here, only false hope-which Strahd himself cultivates. A 15-foot-high wall encloses the town, its vertical logs held together with thick ropes and mortar. The top of each log has been sharpened to a point. Wooden scaffolding hugs the inside of the palisade twelve feet off the ground, enabling guards to peer over the wall there.

Town Square

The shops and homes that enclose the town square are decorated with limp, tattered garlands and painted wooden boxes filled with tiny, dead flowers. At the north end of the square stands a row of stocks, locked in which are several men, women, and children wearing crude, plaster donkey heads.
In the center of the square, peasants in patchwork clothes eye you suspiciously as they use cups and vases to draw water from a crumbling stone fountain. Standing tall at the center of the fountain is a gray statue of an impressive man facing west.

Donkey-Headed Criminals

The townsfolk in the stocks were arrested for “malicious unhappiness” (spreading negative opinions about the upcoming festival). An iron padlock secures each set of stocks, Izek Strazni and Baron Vargas Vallakovich both carry the keys on an iron ring.