Lady Wachter's Wish

Objective

Assassinate Izek Strazni, Baron Vallakovich’s right-hand man and Captain of the Guard, and deliver his severed head to Lady Wachter. Once Izek is removed, Lady Wachter will work to peacefully depose the Baron and assume leadership of Vallaki.

What the Party knows

The Problem with Vallaki’s Leadership

During dinner at Wachterhaus, Lady Wachter explained her concerns about Baron Vallakovich’s rule:

About the Baron:

• The Vallakovich family has ruled Vallaki for nearly 500 years since Boris Vallakovich founded the town. They claim to have royal blood and consider themselves superior to all others in the valley.
• Vargas came to power 11 years ago when his father, Baron Valentin Vallakovich, passed away in his sleep at barely 50 years old and in perfect health. Lady Wachter suspects foul play, though none was ever proven.
• Vargas believes that “happiness” may one day return sunlight to the valley, and has always hosted weekly festivals.
• Since Strahd’s awakening three months ago, Vargas’s beliefs have become an obsessive fixation. He made festival attendance mandatory and criminalized “malicious unhappiness.”
• “Lawbreakers” are put in the stocks, but some—like Udo Lukovich, a local shoemaker—have been taken to the mansion for personal “rehabilitation” and haven’t been seen since.
• Vargas has barred the Barovian refugees from entering Vallaki, causing significant suffering.
• His will is enforced by Izek Strazni.

About Izek Strazni:

• Orphaned at age 10, losing his younger sister and arm in a wolf attack. His sister’s body was never found. Both parents died of grief shortly after.
• Was often mocked for his disability, but after several tormentors went missing, the mockery stopped. Rumors say Izek—a large and violent child—murdered them himself, though no bodies were found.
• At age 11, Izek was arrested and brought to the Vallakovich mansion for an unknown crime. He was released soon after, and then-Baronet Vargas Vallakovich (then 25 years old) all but adopted him.
• At age 16, Izek somehow obtained a new fiendish arm to replace the one he’d lost—on the same day that Baron Valentin Vallakovich was announced dead. Lady Wachter is confident these two events are connected.
• His fiendish arm gave him the power to conjure fire. Vargas made him his personal enforcer and a ranking member of the town guard.
• Izek has become a terror throughout Vallaki, committing battery, arson, and extortion both at the Baron’s command and for his own purposes.
• Many townsfolk hate and fear both Izek and the Baron, but Izek’s strength protects them both.

About Stella Wachter:

• Six months ago, Lady Wachter’s daughter Stella began visiting Victor Vallakovich, the Baron’s son, against her mother’s advice.
• Just over two months ago, Izek returned Stella to Wachterhaus in a vegetative state—mindless, speechless, unable to walk, eat, or dress herself.
• Baron Vallakovich refused to discuss it in depth, suggesting only that Stella’s “fragile constitution” and her family’s “exposure to the Devil” were to blame.
• Victor has refused to speak to Lady Wachter about it at all.
• Fiona is convinced that Izek or the Vallakoviches did something terrible to Stella—and that even if they didn’t, their cold refusal to help proves their unfitness to rule.

The Conspiracy

Lady Wachter explained that many in Vallaki are uncomfortable with Vallakovich rule and would prefer new leadership. However, as long as Izek Strazni serves the Baron, any attempt to shift political leadership would be met with violent brutality.

Izek is utterly faithful to the Baron. His life is the sole obstacle to the change Vallaki needs.

The Plan:

1. Follow Izek and find a time when he is vulnerable—alone, without the guards who usually accompany him. (Any guards will fight to the death to defend him and raise the alarm, complicating the mission.)
2. Kill Izek and dispose of his body, but bring his severed head to Lady Wachter as proof. (She says this will greatly aid efforts to encourage Vargas to step down peacefully.)
3. Once the task is complete, Lady Wachter and her associates will quietly and peacefully oversee the transfer of power.

Resources Provided:

• A bottle of poisoned wine that will impose the poisoned condition on Izek for 1 hour after he drinks it, dulling his senses and making him more vulnerable.
• Information about Izek’s schedule and habits (to be delivered by Ernst Larnak, Lady Wachter’s associate).

Compensation Offered:

• Your selection of silvered weapons and ammunition from the town guard’s stores.
• Izek’s silvered battleaxe and any valuables from his person.
• Additional 100 gp (if negotiated successfully).
• The Barovian refugees will be permitted to safely enter Vallaki as soon as Baron Vallakovich is removed from power.

Lady Wachter’s Loyalty to Strahd

When asked about her loyalty to Strahd von Zarovich, Lady Wachter explained her position:

The Lesson of Berez:

• Barovia, Vallaki, and Krezk are the valley’s three lights of civilization. There was once a fourth: Berez, a fishing village on the banks of the Luna River.
• More than 300 years ago, Berez’s burgomaster defied Strahd von Zarovich. The details are lost to time, but the histories make clear Berez thought itself able to challenge Strahd’s rule.
• Strahd did not argue or negotiate. He simply commanded the river Luna to rise, and it obeyed. The waters swallowed Berez whole. No building was left standing, and few lives were spared.
• What did defiance earn Berez? A marsh and broken stone. A stark warning to anyone who would follow their path.

Her Philosophy:

• Lady Wachter is a realist. They live under Strahd’s rule, and must learn to come to terms with it. Unlike Vargas, Strahd is at least capable of reason.
• As a child, she once heard tales of a sword that shone with the fury of the sun—a weapon that would dawn a new age for Barovia. But “a lady cannot waste time on fairy tales or fools’ errands. She must take the world as it is, not the way she wishes it to be.”
• Survival requires pragmatism. A lord at peace can be reasoned with—even ignored, with sufficient assurances paid. But a vengeful lord cannot be put aside so easily.
• Defiance leads to destruction. It is their duty—to both ancestors and children—to take that lesson to heart.

House Wachter’s History with Strahd:

• Lady Wachter follows Ezra, goddess of the Mists, who teaches her followers to look past their hopes (which cloud the mind like fog) and see the world as it truly is. Ezra teaches endurance: “the oak fights the wind and is broken, but the willow bends when it must and survives.”
• Centuries ago, Lady Wachter’s ancestor, Lady Lovina Wachter, served Strahd faithfully as his vassal.
• When a traitor and assassin named Leo Dilisnya murdered Lovina’s husband and attempted to kill Lovina as well, Strahd defended her and hunted Dilisnya down to punish him for his treachery.
• House Wachter has remained loyal to Strahd ever since.

Her Request:

• Lady Wachter does not begrudge others their hope that the valley may escape Strahd’s control. She doesn’t seek to destroy that hope or bring unnecessary pain.
• She simply asks that the party bring no harm to Vallaki as they pursue their goals.
• She admits she may be more willing to believe arguments against Strahd’s invincibility should the fabled Sunsword itself be found.

The Traitor

If asked about the “ancient foe of an old and noble house” from Madam Eva’s Tarokka reading regarding the Tome of Strahd, Lady Wachter hesitated and promised to tell the party all she knows about her family’s history if they successfully defeat Izek.

Leads & Progress

Initial Leads

• Ernst Larnak, Lady Wachter’s associate, will deliver information about Izek’s schedule and the poisoned wine the morning after the dinner.
• Izek is known to be a heavy drinker, making the poisoned wine an effective tool.
• The party should look for opportunities when Izek is alone, away from the guards who usually accompany him.

Progress Updates

Planning Phase (Neyavr 5, Morning)

Ernst Larnak delivered the poisoned wine (labeled “Red Dragon Crush”) and detailed intelligence about Izek Strazni’s daily schedule:

• 11:00 AM - Izek wakes and takes morning meal at the mansion with two guards
• 11:30 AM - Inspects town gates (Sunset, Zarovich, Morning) with the guards
• 1:00 PM - Eats lunch and drinks first bottle of wine in town square (delivered by cook Tereska)
• 2:00 PM - Visits informants/spies around town with guards
• 4:00 PM - Second round of gate inspections
• 5:30 PM - Dismisses guards and goes alone to Lake Zarovich to drink second bottle of wine
• 10:00 PM - Returns to mansion for evening meal

The party formulated a plan with Victor Vallakovich’s assistance to plant the poisoned wine while Tereska prepared Izek’s lunch.

Execution: Planting the Wine (Neyavr 5, Midday)

The operation was flawless:

• Victor Vallakovich cast Greater Invisibility on Fig Fleetfoot
• Varnish Gothorn, disguised as Amal (the former head butler), distracted Tereska at the kitchen’s back entrance
• Fig, invisible, swapped one bottle of Purple Grapemash No. 3 with the poisoned Red Dragon Crush
• Tereska noticed the different label but dismissed it as her own forgetfulness
• The poisoned wine was successfully included in Izek’s lunch delivery

Trailing Izek (Neyavr 5, Afternoon)

The party followed Izek throughout the day, observing:

• Him extorting “informants” for coins and gossip
• Threatening refugees at the Morning Gate with conjured flames
• A detour to Blinsky Toys where he collected an Ireena doll, clutching it possessively by the hair
• His dismissal of guards at 5:30 PM and journey to Lake Zarovich

The Assassination (Neyavr 5, Evening)

At Lake Zarovich, Izek drank the entire bottle of poisoned Red Dragon Crush while staring obsessively at the Ireena doll. The party emerged from the tree line, and Arden Nalero threw a paper airplane made from Ireena’s written endorsement and Ernst’s schedule, striking Izek in the chest before the battle began.

Phase One:

• The party’s combined assault reduced Izek’s first form to 0 hit points
• Choppy Gibbles’s Fireball proved ineffective due to Izek’s fire resistance
• Izek caught Arden’s greatsword with his fiendish hand, superheating it and forcing Arden to drop the weapon

Phase Two:

• Izek erupted into his second, more powerful form—wreathed in flames, skin smoking, eyes blazing
• He targeted Choppy with devastating waves of fire, nearly killing the sorcerer
• Fig Fleetfoot landed a perfectly placed Stunning Strike, freezing Izek in place
• Choppy delivered the killing blow with a Chromatic Orb of ice, freezing Izek’s neck solid
• Choppy then brutally chipped away at the frozen column with daggers until the head separated from the body

Recovered Items:

• Izek’s severed head (placed in burlap sack)
• Izek’s fiendish arm (severed by Arden as evidence/trophy)
• Silvered battleaxe
• 35 gold pieces
• Mysterious amber shard radiating abjurative magic

Quest Complete

The party returned to Vallaki carrying Izek’s frozen head in a burlap sack, ready to deliver it to Lady Fiona Wachter and claim their reward.

Appearance in Sessions

• Session 14 - Dinner and a Show (Neyavr 4, Evening) - The party dined at Wachterhaus where Lady Wachter revealed the conspiracy and asked them to assassinate Izek Strazni. They agreed to the mission in exchange for silvered weapons, safe passage for the refugees, and compensation.

• Session 15 - Killing Izek (Neyavr 5) - Ernst Larnak delivered the poisoned wine and Izek’s schedule. With Victor Vallakovich’s magical assistance, the party successfully planted the poisoned wine in Izek’s lunch delivery. After trailing him throughout the day, they ambushed him at Lake Zarovich where he’d drunk the poisoned wine. Following a brutal two-phase battle, Choppy Gibbles beheaded Izek with a combination of ice magic and daggers. The party recovered Izek’s head, his demonic arm, his silvered battleaxe, and a mysterious amber shard. Quest completed.