Wizard of the Wines

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Wizard of the Wines ambience by Sword Coast Audio

Notes

/u/paintraina does a good job of discussing the mechanics of running the Winery, but I've noticed that not a lot of people seem to have delved into the narrative issues of this quest. Let's see what we've got: (reddit)

An abandoned location infested with enemies (reddit)

A refugee family taking shelter in the forest (reddit)

A stolen magical item (three, actually) (reddit)

All of this is great for the skeleton of this location's adventure. But a lot of the meat is missing. Why are the druids here? Why are they here now? What are the Martikovs doing while they wait for the adventurers to arrive? And how can we strengthen this questline's ties to other locations throughout Barovia? (reddit)

The Impetus of the Moment

When you're writing a story or a screenplay, a common question for an editor to ask is: "Why now?" Why is Luke Skywalker going on adventures to become a Jedi? Because R2-D2 just crash-landed into his backyard with highly dangerous battle plans. Why does Frodo leave to destroy the Ring in Mordor? Because, now that Bilbo has left the Shire, Gandalf is finally able to confirm his suspicions of the Ring's true identity. (reddit)

There's always some kind of trigger in these adventures - a reason for something to happen now, rather than later. But there's nothing of the kind in the Wizard of Wines plotline. By all accounts, the Martikovs have been here for decades, if not centuries. Strahd has been here even longer, and the druids longer still. Yet not three days ago, the druids finally decided to strike - and won. (reddit)

So why now?

Gift of the Wereraven

Aside from proximity, there's really little reason for the druids of Yester Hill to be interested in the winery. Sure, they're Strahd's creatures, and Strahd would likely be briefly amused by the winery's destruction. But (cultured, aristocratic) vampire lords drink wine too, and Strahd isn't nihilistic enough that he'd drive his domain further into the mists for no reason. (reddit)

So what's the motive? Well, here's another mystery: From whence comes the Martikovs' lycanthropy? (reddit)

The druids, the module notes, are of an older tradition than even Strahd. Like the Barbarians, they were here first. So why not tie them to a deeper primal tradition? (reddit)

The source of the wereravens' lycanthrophy is not a curse, let us say, but a gift. The source of that shifting power is an artifact - specifically, the carved wooden totem of a raven, hidden within the secret cavern beneath the winery. (reddit)

The totem, I decided, holds a vestige of the spirit of Brother Raven (or the Morrigan, or Mother Night, or whichever raven-associated deity you wish to use). One hundred years ago, Davian Martikov's ancestor stole the totem away from Yester Hill, rescuing the power inside from the druids' corruption. (reddit)

A few weeks ago, the module notes, Baba Lysaga discovered the true identities of the Order of the Raven. In her crusade to protect Strahd, it certainly makes sense for her to tip off the druids, and to coordinate her efforts with theirs in order to destroy the Martikov family. (reddit)

The Frosted Cavern

That brings us to the start of the chapter: The druids, with the aid of their blights, have raided the winery, stolen the final wine-gem, and torn the building apart. Why have they torn it apart? Because they're looking for the totem - which is hidden in area W15, the Brown Mold. (reddit)

You can hide the totem elsewhere, if you like. I chose the secret cavern because I enjoyed the payoff for my players, who rarely get rewarded for searching for secret doors. It also allows you to throw in a final encounter: the spirit of the totem, who appears to the PCs as a snow-white raven. (reddit)

You can also throw in a test, or a puzzle of some sort. Ravens are famed for being tricky and mischievous, yet wise creatures. You might even choose to have the spirit ignore them if the PCs have harmed any ravens or carry the Gulthias Staff. (reddit)

What does the spirit want? Perhaps it desires an artifact still held by the druids - the god Raven was heavily associated with the sun, moon, and stars in northwestern Native American mythology, so perhaps a wooden talisman containing astronomical iconography. What can it offer? Perhaps, if the PCs are still surrounded by the army of needle blights, it can provide safe escape through a temporary transformation and escape amongst a swarm of friendly ravens. Or perhaps this artifact it seeks is in the building, held by a druid, and if reunited, the great spirit of the raven can ascend triumphantly to destroy each blight surrounding the winery. (reddit)

At least until Wintersplinter arrives. (reddit)

Other Small Changes

A few other notes and ideas to spice up this chapter:

Don't forget the spiral staircase and barrel-ramp. These connect the three floors very easily, and it's quite common for a single combat to involve multiple floors at once. The basement druid is especially likely to send blights up the ramp to flank the PCs around the back of the fermentation vat room. (reddit)

My PCs were awful about the needle blights outside. Once they'd gotten the idea that they should hide inside, they neglected to close the doors, went back outside and nearly died in mid-combat with the twig blights, and were generally dumb. This might not be common for everyone, but you might want to strongly hint that they need to lock themselves inside - perhaps hide a needle blight in the loading bay, and have him slow-walk toward them, TWD-style? (reddit)

The Gulthias Staff is great, but don't underestimate the ability of wizards to stubbornly stick to any magical item, no matter how evil or consumable. Your magic-users will attune to it if alerted to its nature, and will refuse to break it, even if surrounded by several hundred needle blights. (reddit)

If the druids are actually here on a mission, there's a chance for you to offer the PCs a diplomatic route. Help us find the totem, one druid offers, and we'll leave the winery peacefully. Of course, the wine is still poisoned, and removing the totem also robs the PCs of a key ally (g'bye, raven lycanthropy!), but that's a punch in the gut to save for later. (reddit)

I really love the Ruins of Berez chapter, but unless there's a treasure there, it's pretty far out of the way. Perhaps one of the Martikov children was kidnapped by raiding scarecrows while the druids attacked, and several members of the Order are searching the swamp now. Call me twisted, but I love the idea of Baba Lysaga cackling as she torments a small, sad-looking young raven in a bone-sculpted cage - a raven that warns the PCs to flee when they get too close. There's something so wonderfully Grimm about it. Just be forewarned that Berez is a higher-level area; I might save this until the next time the PCs meet up with the Martikovs. (reddit)

I actually disagree with /u/paintraina - I wouldn't place the druid random encounter en route to the Winery. My players complained that they were getting tired of facing the same enemy over and over again. Instead, I'd suggest using two other encounters: the bundle of clothes, and the following ravens. This sets up the raven motif nicely, and primes the PCs for the wereravens. (reddit)

I did not expect this, but my PCs actually were suspicious of the ravens when they entered the winery - the wizard even fried a few with a Firebolt spell. I'd advise you to have Davian explicitly treat the ravens as pets when the PCs enter the Martikovs' grove, to reassure the PCs that they're friendly. (reddit)

If your PCs lack the Purify Food and Drink spell, they will return to Vallaki empty-handed (unless they don't realize that the wine is poisoned, which is even worse). While this fits neatly with the "everything in Barovia sucks" angle, it does make the whole experience feel rather pointless. While I certainly wouldn't remove this problem, I would provide some help here, especially as few PCs take on such a rare-use utility spell. Perhaps they find a spell scroll in Death House containing this magic, or perhaps an NPC gives it to them as a stay-safe gift for the road. (reddit)