Death House

The Durst family townhouse at the end of the first lane in Barovia village. Once-white walls streaked with grime. An iron gate that opens on its own. Windows like eyes. A family crest carved into the stone gate: a golden windmill on a red field. The party arrived at dusk and the door locked behind them.

Ground Floor

• Foyer — oaken double doors; shield with windmill coat of arms; portraits of stony-faced aristocrats; mahogany double doors to main hall
• Main Hall — black marble fireplace; red marble staircase (going up); longsword with windmill cameo on the mantel (taken by Merich)
• Hunter's Den — three mounted stuffed wolves; two padded chairs; wine cask (turned to vinegar); pipe rack; locked cabinet (crossbows, 60 bolts); unlocked cabinet (wine glasses, deck of cards)
• Dining Room — mahogany table; eight high-backed chairs; crystal chandelier; full silverware service; tapestry of hunting dogs and aristocrats chasing a wolf; red silk drapes
• Kitchen — tidy; stone dome oven; dumbwaiter with bell (button in kitchen, also on upper floors); pantry with fresh food
• Closet — black cloaks; top hat; wood paneling carved with serpents and skulls amid decorative motifs

Second Floor

• Upper Hall — fireplace; oil lamps; family portrait (Gustav, Elizabeth, Rose, Thorn, swaddled baby); suits of armor with wolf-head visored helms; staircase continues up
• Library — floor-to-ceiling bookshelves (books rotted); rolling ladder; mahogany desk (iron key in drawer; letter kit with windmill seal); hidden door triggered by pulling a specific red-covered book
• Hidden Study (accessed from library) — fiend-summoning and necromantic literature; chest with skeleton (dart trap, non-functional) containing three blank books, three spell scrolls, deeds, will, and Strahd's letter; empty foot chests

Third Floor (Dusty, Less Maintained)

• Dusty Balcony — suit of black plate armor (animated construct; defeated)
• Master Bedroom — four-poster bed; tiger skin rug; jewelry box; vanity; portrait of Gustav and Elizabeth Durst; dumbwaiter access
• Servant's Bedroom — mirror frame carved with eyeballs hidden among ivy; leads to nursery
• Nursery — empty crib; nursery specter (combat unresolved)
• Bathroom — wooden claw-foot tub; non-functional cistern spigot

Attic

Accessed via hidden staircase behind the servant's bedroom mirror (found Session 1, entered Session 2).

• Main Attic Space — Empty; dust and cobwebs; four doors; window looking out to a back balcony
• Children's Room (padlocked; iron key) — Two child-sized beds; toy chest (windmills painted on sides); dollhouse (exact replica of Death House, accurate to every room); bricked-up window. Contains the skeletons of Rosavalda Durst (Rose) and Thornbolt Durst (Thorn). The dollhouse showed the location of a secret door in this room that opened onto the dungeon staircase.
• Storage Room — Old furniture, chairs, coat racks, mirrors, mannequins, all draped in dusty white sheets. Unlocked trunk containing the skeleton of the nanny (murdered with scissors; bloody bed sheet). Secret door in the east wall crumbles to reveal stairs to the dungeon.
• Small Bedroom (west) — Slender bed, nightstand, iron stove, writing desk, wardrobe (empty), rocking chair. Creepy doll in a lacy yellow dress in the window box.
• Small Bedroom (north) — Small bed, nightstand, rocking chair, wardrobe (empty), iron stove.

Dungeon Level

Accessed via 50-foot spiral staircase from the attic. Stone, clay, earth construction. Thick cobwebs. Incessant chanting audible from all sides, source unlocated. Floor thick with dust; old footprints, some newer than others.

• Crypt — Four stone slabs: Rosavalda Durst, Thornbolt Durst, Elizabeth Durst, Gustav Durst. Stone biers with coffins; all four coffins empty (bodies had reanimated as ghasts). A swarm of centipedes was concealed behind a cracked stone in Elizabeth's crypt; their exit dislodged the stone, revealing Elizabeth Durst's Amulet hidden within.
• Rotten Dining Hall — Rotten wood table and benches; bones littering the floor. A Grick was nesting in an alcove here (defeated Session 2).
• Statue Room — Moldy skeletons hanging in rusty shackles on the walls. Painted wooden statue of a gaunt pale-faced man in a black cloak; left hand on a wolf's head, right hand holding a smoky gray crystal orb. East wall contained a hidden clay-covered door revealing stairs to a landing with a trapdoor (welded shut from the ground-floor side). Touching the crystal orb triggered five shadows (defeated Session 2/3).

Sub-Basement Level

Accessed via staircase from the dungeon level. Darker, less used than the dungeon proper.

• Well Room — Central room with a 4-foot-diameter well shaft (3-foot stone lip; descends 30 feet to a water-filled cistern; wooden bucket and pulley). Five adjacent servant cells, each with a moldy straw pallet and a rusty padlocked chest. Chests contained: gold and silver in a human leather pouch, a moss agate and garnet in black embroidered cloth, an ivory hairbrush with silver bristles, an eye patch with a carnelian, and a silvered short sword.
• Cult Master's Bedchamber — Wardrobe, large wood-framed bed with rotted feather mattress, two iron candlesticks, an open crate (30 torches), a leather sack (15 candles), and a foot locker at the bed's foot. The foot locker (unlocked) contained: a wooden box (4 potions of healing, chain shirt, mess kit, alchemist's fire, bullseye lantern, thieves' tools), a cloak of protection, and a spellbook with a yellow leather cover. Opening the foot locker triggered the emergence of Gustav and Elizabeth Durst as ghasts from the walls.
• Dining Alcove — Table with two high-backed chairs; empty clay jug and two clay flagons; iron candlesticks. Connects to the cult master's chamber.
• Reliquary — Chamber lined with alcoves containing cult artifacts: dried hand on rope, goblin bone knife, rat-skull dagger, varnished orb (materials unknown), aspergillum carved from bone, leather cloak (odd material), frog tied to a rod, bag of unspecified contents, severed human finger, wooden mummy figurine, iron devil pendant, shrunken halfling head, small wooden box. Left untouched.
• Spike Pit Trap — South hallway leading toward the prison contains a concealed 5-foot-long, 10-foot-deep pit with sharpened wooden stakes at the bottom. Sable discovered it via a natural 1 dexterity save; saved from falling by spending a Lucky point (rolled natural 20 on reroll).
• Prison — North hallway. Alcoves with rusty shackles bolted to walls; bones littering floors. One cell contains a skeleton still chained to the wall in a tattered black robe (similar to robes found in attic wardrobe). A key was found inside a bone pile. A key-shaped notch was found in a wall, disguised as resting stone.
• Ritual Chamber — 40-foot square room. Smooth masonry walls with excellent acoustics. Stone pillars. Murky knee-deep water covering most of the floor (undisturbed). Stone ledges along the walls. Octagonal dais rising above the waterline, with rusty ceiling chains and shackles above a carved stone altar (ghoul carvings; dry blood). East wall: portcullis with wheel mechanism (raises when operated; falls when released; propped open by jamming a silver knife into mortar). West wall: cave mouth containing refuse heap (Lorgoth's dormant location). Thirteen spectral apparitions appeared on the ledges when the dais was approached without a sacrifice — black-robed figures with black-fire torches. Chanted One must die until the party declined, then summoned Lorgoth the Decayer. After Lorgoth was defeated, apparitions chanted The end comes, death be praised and vanished.

Key Details

• Doors lock; windows won't open; party is trapped inside
• Mist surrounds the house but does not enter past the gate
• The dumbwaiter runs from kitchen through second and third floors; serves no apparent purpose yet
• Iron key from library desk opened the attic children's room padlock (Session 2)
• The family crest is a golden windmill on a red field
• The house reshapes itself — the attic staircase did not exist until Rose pointed to it in the dollhouse
• The dollhouse in the children's room is an exact replica of the house, including secret rooms
• Items removed from the house age rapidly upon leaving, including paper goods, leather, and metal; magical items and well-bound books are spared
• Anyone who has been inside long enough is claimed by the house — Danki Kane could not leave; her hand began to wither when she tried to cross the threshold
• After the party escaped, the house reset: the exterior hole closed, items returned to their rooms, windows unbricked, but the ghost children remained visible in the attic window

First Seen

Session 1