while staying at the inn, alfred develops a fondness for sarah, the overprotected daughter of the tavern keeper yoine shagal. alfred witnesses sarah being kidnapped by the local vampire lord count von krolock. crazed with grief and armed only with a bunch of garlic, shagal attempts to rescue her but does not get very far before he is captured, drained of his blood and vampirised. after shagal rises and attacks magda, the tavern's beautiful maidservant and the object of his lust when he was still human, abronsius and alfred follow his trail in the snow, which leads them to krolock's ominous castle in the snow-blanketed hills nearby. they break into the castle but are trapped by the count's hunchbacked servant, koukol. they are taken to see the count, who affects an air of aristocratic dignity while questioning abronsius about why he has come to the castle. they also encounter the count's son, the foppish (and homosexual) herbert. meanwhile, shagal, no longer caring about his daughter's fate, sets up his plan to turn magda into his vampire bride.