Mount Baratok Tower
This location combines the Mad Mage of Mount Baratok and Van Richten's Tower. Its history is completely changed:
Long before Strahd arrived, this Tower was built by those who lived in the Valley in the middle of what is now Baratok Pool. It is connected to the land by an earth-and-gravel causeway. It was abandoned by those who originally built it, and has been used as shelter by many different people since then. It was briefly inhabited by servants of Strahd, then a group of adventurers, and is now home to the slumbering hulk of the Mad Mage of Mount Baratok.
Due to its safety from Strahd's gaze, the monster hunter Ezmeralda has taken up refuge in its shadow, though she is not present when the party arrives.
Approaching The Tower
The Svalich Woods have swallowed the road that once led to the Tower. Now only a wide dirt trail remains.The ground here is rocky, uneven, and tiring to navigate. Dark thundercloud sroll overhead. You come to a cold mountain lake enclosed by misty woods and rocky bluffs. Thick fog creeps across the dark, still waters. North of the lake, the trees begin their steady climb up the slopes of the mountains, their monolithic presence oppressive at this distance. The trail ends at a grass-covered causeway that stretches a hundred yards across the lake to a flat, marshy island with a stone tower on it. The tower is old and decrepit, with collapsing scaffolds clinging to one side where a large gash has split the wall. Timeworn griffon statues, their wings and flanks covered with moss, perch atop buttresses that support the walls. Parked near the base of the tower, within sight of the entrance, is a barrel-topped wagon spattered with mud.The tower stands 80 feet tall. It has four levels (each 20 feet high) and a mostly intact slate tile roof. The second, third, and fourth floors have arrow slits that are 6 inches wide, 3 feet tall, and 1 foot thick. The tower's uppermost level overhangs the levels below it and has window boxes in addition to arrow slits. The mossy griffons atop the buttresses are nothing more than decorative statues.
Fritz's Veil
Von Weerg warded his tower so that he alone can cast spells near or within it. The effect is identical to an antimagic field centered on the tower and extending 5 feet from it in all directions. The effect doesn't apply to magic traps and constructs created by Khazan, including the trap on the tower door in area V2, the golems inareas V4, and the animated suit of armor in area V7. This effect also safeguards against the scry spell being used on or near the tower. Anyone attempting to scry this location must succeed on a DC30 Wisdom save. On a failed save, they see a collapsed wreck of a tower. On a success, they see the tower as it is. The Tower is identical to Van Richten's Tower in the book except in the following areas:V1. Ezmeralda's Wagon
See Ezmeralda's Wagon .V2. Tower Door
The tower door is made of iron, with no visible handles or hinges. In the middle of the door is a large, embossed symbol-a connected series of lines with eight stick figures set around it. Carved into the lintel above the dooris a word: WEERG. The puzzle and trap operate as in the book.V7. Tower, Fourth Floor
Unlike the levels below, this room shows signs of habitation, albeit nothing recently. Once upon a time, it had plenty of creature comforts, including a large bed, a desk with a chair, moth-eaten tapestries, and a large iron stove. Light enters through arrow slits as well as through dirt-caked windows with broken shutters. Other features of the room include a standing suit of armor, which must have once been resplendant but is now caked with grime and dust. Old wooden rafters bend under the weight of the tower roof, which has somehow remained intact. Mounted to the rafters are pulleys around which hang iron chains that support the tower's elevator platform.The standing suit of armor is actually the Mad Mage of Mount Baratok. He is immediately hostile, and will attack anyone who does not immediately leave.
Fortunes of Ravenloft
If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it's in a narrow compartment hidden in the wall behind the suit of armor. If the armor is activated and commanded to retrieve the treasure, it pulls the stones out of the wall, revealing the treasure beyond. If the characters have collapsed the tower (see area V2), they find the treasure after 1d8 + 2 hours of searching through the rubble. For each hour they spend searching, they have a 10 percent chance of accidentally unearthing a clay golem (see area V4) that withstood the collapse. The golem, which took no damage from thecollapsing tower, is berserk and attacks until destroyed.Special Events
Pack Attack
If the characters blew up Ezmetelda's wagon, activated the lightning sheath around the tower, or caused the tower to collapse, the sound of their handiwork echoes through the valley as far west as Krezk and as far east as Vallaki. The disturbance attracts the attention of apack of werewolves, which arrives after 1 hour. Leading the hunt is Kiri! Stoyanovich, a werewolf with 90 hit points. Accompanying him are six normal werewolves and nine wolves. While in wolf form, the werewolves are indistinguishable from regular wolves. They either remain in wolf form or assume hybrid form. The werewolves know that the tower has magical defenses, so they are cautious. Kiri! tries to lure the characters outside for a final showdown, but pulls his pack into the woods if the characters start lobbing spells or making ranged attacks from the tower. A captured werewolf can be forced to divulge the whereabouts of the children kidnapped by the pack. They are being held at the Commune of Arad.Ezmeralda's Retreat
Ezmerelda d'Avenir (see appendix D) returns to the Tower after confronting Strahd in Castle Ravenloft and barely escaping with her life. She arrives on the back of a riding horse stolen from the Vistani camp outside Vallaki. Ezmerelda hopes that the arsenal of weapons in her wagon will be enough to protect her from the vampire's wrath. If the characters blew up the wagon, she is understandably annoyed and retreats. If the tower has also been destroyed, she doesn't stick around unless the characters are clearly her best hope of survival. Ezmerelda's altercation with Strahd has left her with only 30 hit points. She graciously accepts any healing the characters have to offer.
Founding Date
9125
Type
Tower, Mage
Parent Location
Vehicles Present