Wizard of Wines Winery

A family winery northwest of Vallaki, up near the mountains. It produces at least two notable wines: Purple Grape Mash Number Three and Red Dragon Crush. The latter comes highly recommended by Danica, who serves it at the Blue Water Inn.

The winery is owned by Davian Martikov, father of Irwin and patriarch of the Martikov family — a family of wereravens connected to the Keepers of the Feather.

Current Status

Interior and exterior fully cleared as of Session 18. All blights, druids, and the creature haunting the vineyard have been eliminated. The fermentation vats are poisoned. Davian Martikov has still not been found on the property. David and eight companions have not been told it is clear, though they may have heard the fight.

Layout

Two-story stone building. Ivy covers every wall. Iron fencing along the roof line. Ground floor: loading dock with winch and second-level platform; attached stable to the east; crumbling well and wooden powerhouse to the west. Interior door leads to interior rooms where the second druid arrived. Upper level has windows overlooking the loading dock exterior.

Session 18

The party woke from a long rest and immediately investigated the sealed secret door in the cellar dividing wall. The cave beyond was full of brown mold — it expanded toward Sable's torch and covered her for 18 cold damage across two Constitution saves before she escaped. The door was re-sealed and the cave abandoned.

Pre-dawn, the party investigated the vineyard. Sable found creature tunnel holes and bear traps (disarmed one; took it). A full-scale fight broke out in the eastern tree line when Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf paralyzed Merich on emergence from a tunnel. Killed by Celeste's cat. The vineyard tunnel network remains in place. At least two bear traps remain unaccounted for. Davian Martikov still not found.

Session 17

Interior cleared. The party explored the fermentation vat room (four 8×12-foot casks; ravens in the rafters), a bottle-making room with printing press and wine-ink labels, two bunk rooms (workers' quarters with footlockers and toys, including a Bocephalus rocking horse marked with Blinsky's slogan), and a master bedroom with four-poster bed (raven headboard), wardrobes, tapestry, rocking cradle, and a desk holding a century of wine shipment manifests. The manifests list BV (Blood on the Vine Tavern), BW K (Blue Water Inn), Vistani, and older entries marked S and FR. A locked chest in the master bedroom contained 50 gp, 270 sp, 350 cp (all stamped with Strahd's profile) and a secret compartment with a Gold Locket (Winery) and five gemstones worth 250 gold. A third druid and several needle blights were cleared from the cellar. Something with a large head was seen twice moving at the tree line — once from the veranda (Moro, Perception 17), once from the bedroom window (Merich, Perception 21) — and could not be identified.

Session 16

The party arrived and was immediately engaged by six groups of five needle blights from the vineyard. A druid on the upper level attempted Entangle and attacked Celeste with a bleeding black staff. The exterior was subjected to Spike Growth and Fireball. The interior room was held by Merich, Stanley, and Esmeralda against the second druid and her twig blight column. Both druids killed. All blights destroyed. Session ended at the conclusion of combat; David has not yet returned.

Session 14

The party chose the winery as their destination after leaving Vallaki. They departed in the middle of the night heading northwest. As of the end of Session 14 they have reached Lake Baratok on the northwest road and are taking a long rest before continuing.

First Referenced

Session 9 — by Danica during the bar conversation about the wine shortage