West of Lake Baratok is a cave complex that the werewolves of Barovia use as a den. Characters who interrogate captured werewolves can learn the den’s location. Most of the werewolf pack is out hunting when the characters first arrive, including the pack’s leader, Kiril Stoyanovich.
The werewolves call themselves the Children of Mother Night, because they all worship that deity. Recently, a schism formed within the pack as the result of a challenge to Kiril’s leadership. The rift began when another werewolf, Emil Toranescu, questioned the treatment of children kidnapped by the pack.
Kiril would arm the children with weapons and force them to fight each other to the death until only one child was left standing. The winner would then be turned into a werewolf, ensuring what Kiril called “the strength and purity of the pack.” Emil advocated keeping all the children alive and turning them into werewolves, thus increasing the pack’s size. Emil believed that a larger pack would ensure the werewolves' survival, whereas Kiril saw a larger pack as too difficult to control and feed.
This ideological divide couldn’t be reconciled and led to many disagreements. The other werewolves were split between the two camps, and it seemed likely that either Kiril or Emil would die before the conflict could be resolved.
The wolves began to howl. They knew me. All the wolves of Barovia did.
—Strahd von Zarovich in I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire
Then Kiril disappeared for several days, causing the other werewolves to wonder whether he had fled or had been quietly disposed of by Emil and his allies. When Kiril returned, he was accompanied by a pack of several dozen dire wolves loyal to Strahd, and he brought word from Castle Ravenloft that Strahd was not pleased with Emil’s attempt to fracture the pack. The dire wolves took Emil back to Castle Ravenloft to face punishment, and he was never seen again.
Kiril reestablished his dominance, but his ideas and tactics didn’t sit well with the pack’s older members, and they certainly didn’t please Emil’s mate, Zuleika Toranescu. She knows she can’t slay Kiril on her own, and after what happened to Emil, the rest of the pack is unwilling to challenge Kiril’s authority and face Strahd’s wrath. Kiril won’t let Zuleika hunt, so she’s more or less confined to the den.
Travel Through the Mists
The werewolves serve Strahd out of fear, believing that Mother Night has blessed him with godlike powers and eternal life. Although he can’t leave Barovia, Strahd can allow certain creatures to come and go, such as the Vistani. He periodically allows the werewolves to slip past the misty borders as well, so that they can bring or lure others into his domain. Unlike the Vistani, however, the werewolves can’t come and go as they please.
Approaching the Den
When the characters first approach the werewolf den, read:
Above the tree line, carved into the side of a rocky mountain spur, is a wide, torchlit cave that looks like the gaping maw of a great wolf.
One hundred feet above the cave mouth (area area Z1), farther up the sloping mountainside and not visible from the cave mouth or its vicinity, is a rocky ledge (area area Z8). A character can scale the slope to reach the ledge without the need for a climber’s kit or ability checks.
Areas of the Den
The following areas correspond to labels on the map of the werewolf den below.
Mounted to the walls throughout the den are iron brackets containing lit torches. All areas are brightly lit, though shadows abound.
Z1. Cave Mouth
The open jaws of the wolf’s head form a fifteen-foot-high canopy of rock over the cave mouth, held up by natural pillars of rock. The ceiling rises to a height of twenty feet inside the cave. Torches in iron brackets line the walls. From somewhere deep inside, you hear the echoing sounds of a flute. Some of the notes are discordant—painfully so.
The guards in area area Z2 spot characters in the cave mouth who aren’t hidden. Characters can track the sound of the flute to area area Z3.
Development
If the characters arrive here with Emil Toranescu (see chapter 4, area area K75a) in their company or their custody, he can command the other werewolves in the den not to attack the characters as they make their way inside.
Z2. Guard Post
Here, the cave splits to the left and right. Standing on a five-foot-high ledge between the divide are two feral-looking women wearing shredded clothing and clutching spears.
Aziana and Davanka, two Werewolf in human form, stand guard on the ledge. They sound the alarm when they spot intruders. Any loud noise here can be heard throughout the den, bringing quick reinforcements from areas Z3 and Z5. The werewolves fight to the death.
Z3. Wolf Den
Nine Wolf and a werewolf in human form are here. The werewolf, Skennis, has 36 hit points and is too old to hunt. Left undisturbed, he plays an electrum flute (see “Treasure” below), though not very well. The wolves are huddled behind him and go where he goes. Though well past his prime, he fights to the death to defend the den, and he takes umbrage at anyone who kills any of his wolf allies.
A five-foot-high stone ledge overlooks this large cave, which has a smoldering campfire at the far west end. The floor is covered with gnawed bones.
If Skennis is reduced to 0 hit points, read:
The old man cackles. “When Kiril returns,” he says to you with his last breath, “he’ll skin you alive.”
Treasure
Skennis’s electrum flute is nonmagical and worth 250 gp. Skennis also carries a pouch containing four 50 gp gemstones.
Z4. Underground Spring
A gash in the rocky ceiling allows the gray light and cold drizzle of the outdoors to seep into this dank, torchlit cave, where an underground spring forms a pool of water roughly forty feet across and ten feet deep. A five-foot-high ledge to the north overlooks the pool. A similar ledge spans the eastern wall, with a rough-hewn staircase leading up to it. A few crates sit atop the eastern ledge.
The water is fresh. The ceiling is roughly 20 feet above the surface of the pool. The fissure in the ceiling is 3 feet wide at its widest point, and 6 inches at its narrowest.
The crates on the eastern ledge contain heaps of adult-sized clothing.
Z5. Deep Caves
A maze of torchlit tunnels and caves expands in front of you. Bones lie strewn upon the floor.
The ceiling here is 10 feet high. The bones on the floor are a warning system. They crunch loudly underfoot, and creatures have disadvantage on Dexterity (
Z5a. South Cave
Bianca, a white-haired werewolf in wolf form who is Kiril Stoyanovich’s mate, sleeps here. She reacts quickly to sounds of alarm, attacking any intruders she sees.
Z5b. North Cave
Wensencia, a werewolf in wolf form, sleeps here with Kellen, a ten-year-old werewolf in wolf form. Kellen is a noncombatant with AC 10, 2 hit points, and a werewolf’s damage immunities. He hugs a wooden doll that eerily resembles one of the characters, but is painted and dressed to look like a zombie. A tiny slogan etched into the zombie doll reads, “Is No Fun, Is No Blinsky!”
When an alarm sounds, Wencensia takes Kellen to area area Z7, locks him in one of the empty cages, and tells him to take human form, which he does. She then joins her fellow werewolves in the den’s defense.
Kellen was kidnapped from his home in Liam’s Hold, a hamlet near the Misty Forest in the Forgotten Realms setting. He was afflicted with werewolf lycanthropy after winning one of Kiril’s despicable contests. Wencensia has been tasked with training this newest member of Kiril’s pack. Casting a
Z6. Kiril’s Cave
At the back of this cave hangs a curtain made of human skin.
When home, Kiril Stoyanovich sleeps here in wolf form.
Behind the ghastly curtain of stitched flesh is a 10-foot-high, 10-foot-wide tunnel with rough-hewn stairs leading up, interspersed with landings. The tunnel ends at a secret door, beyond which lies area area Z8. The secret door is easy to spot from inside the tunnel (no ability check required).
Z7. Shrine of Mother Night
Rough-hewn stairs lead down to a torchlit cave and a bizarre sight: wide-eyed children stand behind wooden bars and stare at you in terrified silence. The cave holds six wooden cages, their lids held shut with heavy rocks. Two of the cages are empty, and each of the others holds a pair of frightened children.
A crude wooden statue stands between the cages. It bears the rough likeness of a wolf-headed woman draped in garlands of vines and night flowers. Piled around the statue’s base is an incredible amount of treasure. A woman in shredded clothes kneels before the statue. Behind the statue, two maggot-ridden corpses hang from iron shackles bolted to the wall.
The ceiling here is 20 feet high. The statue is a crude depiction of Mother Night. Kneeling before it is a werewolf in human form named Zuleika Toranescu, who is the wife of Emil (see chapter 4, area area K75a). Believing her mate to be dead by Strahd’s hand, she prays to Mother Night for guidance, hoping that the goddess might hold enough sway over Strahd to persuade him to free her beloved.
Kiril has ordered Zuleika to guard the prisoners. If the characters rescue Emil and return him safely to Zuleika, she gladly releases the children. If the characters confirm that Emil is truly dead, either by their hand or Strahd’s, she still might let the prisoners go if the characters help her deal with Kiril Stoyanovich, whom she blames above all. Zuleika sees the characters as the answer to her prayers and asks them to kill Kiril when he returns from his latest hunt (see “area Leader of the Pack” in the “area Special Events” section below).
Each of the eight children imprisoned here has AC 10, 1 hit point, and no effective attacks. To determine a child’s age in years, roll
The corpses hanging on the wall behind the statue are two Barovian adults, a man and a woman, killed by the pack and presented as offerings to Mother Night. The werewolves consider the feasting maggots to be emblematic of Mother Night’s “feedings.” When the flesh of these corpses has been eaten away, the pack searches for new offerings to take their place.
Treasure
The treasure piled around the base of Mother Night’s statue includes:
- 4,500 cp, 900 sp, and 250 gp (all coins of mintages foreign to Barovia)
- Thirty 50 gp gemstones and seven 100 gp gemstones
- Twelve pieces of plain gold jewelry (worth 25 gp each) and a finely wrought gold cloak-pin inlaid with shards of jet (worth 250 gp)
- An ivory drinking horn engraved with dancing dryads and satyr pipe players (worth 250 gp)
- An ornate electrum censer with platinum filigree (worth 750 gp)
Anyone who steals from Mother Night is cursed. The werewolves know this, and thus don’t go out of their way to guard the hoard.
Any creature that takes treasure from this pile is haunted by horrible dreams every night lasting from dusk until dawn. The curse affects only the creature that did the pilfering and isn’t passed on to anyone else who might come into possession of the item. Returning a stolen item to the treasure pile doesn’t end the curse.
A creature cursed in this way gains no benefit from finishing a short or long rest at night (resting during the day works normally, since the curse is dormant from dawn to dusk). A
Fortunes of Ravenloft
If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it’s lying amid the other items at the base of the statue. The curse described above applies to this treasure as well.
Z8. Ring of Stone
A twenty-foot-diameter ring of stones dominates a rocky ledge on the mountainside. Within the ring, you see spattered blood and small, gnawed bones. Lying on the ground outside the circle are several spears stained with dry blood.
The werewolf pack convenes here to watch their young prisoners fight with spears in the stone ring. The last child standing is bitten and turned into a werewolf; then the bodies of the dead are devoured, their bones picked clean.
Set into the mountainside is a secret door that can be pushed open to reveal a tunnel with rough-hewn stairs leading down to area area Z6.
Special Events
You can use one or both of the following special events while the characters are exploring or resting in the den.
Leader of the Pack
This event doesn’t occur if the characters previously encountered and defeated Kiril’s hunting pack (see “area Pack Attack” in the “Special Events” section in chapter 11).
Every hour the characters spend inside the werewolf den, roll a
If the wolves can see evidence of an assault on the den (such as if the guards at area area Z2 are absent or dead), the werewolves assume hybrid form. Kiril sends three werewolves up the mountainside to area area Z8 to enter the den from above while he and the remainder of the hunting party make their way deeper into the den.
Development
As long as Kiril lives, the characters can’t negotiate with the werewolves. If Kiril dies and the characters have the upper hand, the pack is willing to negotiate with them.
If Emil Toranescu is present when Kiril returns, Emil is determined to kill his rival and become the new pack leader. If he succeeds, he allows the characters to leave the den unmolested but refuses to release the kidnapped children unless Zuleika is present to convince him otherwise (because she fears that the characters might kill her husband if he doesn’t let the children go).
If both Kiril and Emil die, Zuleika becomes pack leader and cuts all ties to Strahd. The ordinary wolves leave the pack once Strahd becomes aware of this development. If the characters were drawn into Barovia by the “area Werewolves in the Mist” adventure hook, the werewolf attacks on the Sword Coast come to an end under Zuleika’s leadership. If she is also dead, a young but fierce werewolf named Franz Groza becomes pack leader. He is vicious and treacherous, showing the characters no mercy.
Die Kinder
If the characters get the children away from the den while Kiril is alive, Kiril reassembles his hunting party and pursues the lost prisoners relentlessly. If Kiril is dead, the werewolf pack is too preoccupied with determining Kiril’s successor to organize a hunting party.
If the characters aren’t sure where to take the children, a wereraven (see area appendix D) that has been spying on the den in raven form assumes hybrid form and suggests that they take refuge in the nearby village of Krezk (chapter 8). If the characters head that way, the wereraven scouts from overhead until the characters reach the village, whereupon it flies south to the Wizard of Wines winery (chapter 12) and reports what has happened to Davian Martikov.
The children are understandably traumatized by their imprisonment in the werewolf den. They cry and scream the whole time they’re with the characters. A
If the characters take the children to Krezk, the villagers there look after the children and see that they are fed and properly clothed. If the characters take them to Vallaki instead, the Martikovs allow the children to stay at the Blue Water Inn until the characters return to collect them.