#this man is the tatyana to my strahd

[yuelaos-codex]

he’s my mansplaining manipulative malewife

[lady-violet-the-storyteller]

If my mew mew was an actual mew mew

Interview with a Vampurr

[thebeanwoman]

We were robbed of old man Strahd

[old-world-bird]

✨The BIG post✨

About flowers and symbols and details and processes to celebrate a New Year, may it be merciful upon us all. Starring this piece with Strahd, that piece with Strahd, and another piece with Strahd. Can't say I was too productive this year, but when I was - oh boi I tried my best.

We'll go in chronological order. Please don't pay attention to the fact that it's Spring already, I honestly started composing this thing in December.

Also, although all three campaigns are heavily homebrewed and this post is generally spoiler-free, I'll leave the spoiler alert here just in case.

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THE FAMILY PORTRAIT

The family portrait of Strahd and his daughter from one of Tatyana's reincarnations for @blazingemstone.

First of all,

To my shame, I still have not researched, why some mysterious unidentified vines represent intoxication, while ivy, the vine I've used here, means fidelity (it won't easily let go of something it's attached itself to), eternal life (because the plant is evergreen), and marriage. Anyway, I think it's one hilariously ironic combo of meanings, so I let them co-exist in my head and in this piece.

Love and Bravery

Roses (love) and oak leaves (bravery) make up the combo I use as Zarovich's patented trademark for some years now??? I think??? Pretentious, fancy, symbolic, and neat, looks especially nice near the Zarovich crest. In this particular piece, the roses are yellow because it's the golden embroidery, but gods bless this coincidence: yellow roses symbolize jealousy and decreasing love. Strahd is in a complicated relationship with his daughter, himself, and the world around him, and all these symbols work nicely together here.

Young Anastasia wears roses on her gown to

But rosebuds here are closed. Because, you know, immaturity. The love that has yet to unfold.

Also, hand positions. In this iteration of Barovia, Strahd is deeply possessive and protective of Anastasia because of her resemblance to Tatyana. Anastasia, in turn, interprets this as genuine care for her. She is grateful and also admires him. I tried to reflect that relationship in the way Strahd firmly grasps Anastasia's shoulders while she touches his hand gently in a responsive gesture of soft gratitude.

The portrait of an eternal love

The white lily in Tatyana's hands represents innocence; her face is covered with ivy vines and a blue veil, and we kinda can claim that all this refers to the mists that stole her life, personality, youthful innocence, etc... But actually, honestly, I just wanted this corner to look eery. On the other side, gotta trust own brain when it offers something like this. You never know what deepest meanings one can find in these random ideas later.

Some other details

I went a bit experimental with the fur lineart, using curly lines for Anastassia and pointy lines for Strahd. This was done to emphasize character differences.

Also, the spiderweb texture on Strahd's shirt references another campaign's portrait of him with his daughter. Man, my man is a parent of many children.

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THE ROYAL ONE

Lady Strahd's fancy royal portrait with the ominous shadow, some flower symbolism, and pretentious candelabra for @flyingkitesatnight

First of all,

I feel obligated to share the knowledge that the sketch where the shadow eats Strahd's head existed at some point.

Mirror strikes again

You might remember the older piece with Strahd and Alek, where there also was the mirror without Strahd's reflection.

This time, to emphasize the inhuman nature of the vampire, we added swirling fog where there is no reflection. You know, it's kinda like the mirror is showing the true nature of a vampire, which is mist, and I probably should stop seeking deep meanings in my own artworks, but it's fun, so maybe next time...

Yay, 🌸flowers🌸

A deep red carnation on the chest translates as "Alas! for my poor heart!" Fun fact: striped carnations represent refusal, and yellow carnations are said to mean disdain. Nothing good about carnations out there.

The commissioner requested something to represent Lady Strahd's softer/feminine side in opposition to the monstrosity and war-forged brutality, so in addition to a softly falling hairstyle, we chose Spanish jasmine (in the hand), which represents sensuality.

The almond tree on the wall tapestry represents hope. It's blooming in the light and is withered where the monstrous shadow is cast.

Other small details

Quite obvious references, but I'll mention them because why not.

Clothes reference the module portrait of Strahd. Almond tree tapestry is inspired by van Gogh's paintings. And yes, there is a War against Azalin book, written by this lady's own hands.

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AND THE MOVIE POSTER

For @curseofthebloodcountess's and @troubledtimeinravenloft's and their marvelous party. Oh boi, where do I even start here...

Probably with the link to the GM's post, where they dive into the details about who all these fellas are.

And once again, 🌸FLOWERS🌸

Strahd is surrounded by poisonous hemlock ("You'll be my death") and there are weeping willow branches (mourning) behind her, and that perfectly sums up her relationship with the party aka her past, present, and probably the future. Hemlock is also embroidered on her dress.

Theodora, the Morninglord's nun in the upper right corner is not only a suspiciously independent construct of the Abbot's creation but also a reincarnation of Strahd's dear friend from the times everyone was alive. Spiked Speedwell is there as a symbol of semblance, and zinnia represents thoughts of absent friends.

Alistor, the knight of Argynvostholt, bearing dragons and scales on his armor, is actually Strahd's long-lost son. Cinquefoil flowers represent maternal affection, and harebells represent grief.

There is also a frame of bramble, most of which creeps around Kolyana siblings and the last member of party, Tam. But some branches twist with Alistor's frame as well. Bramble represents envy.

Creeping willow all around the bottom corner symbolizes forsaken love. Tam, the ranger, eventually turned out to be a reincarnation of Sergei. He is surrounded by the aforementioned bramble of envy and creeping willow, and we also added a rosebay - danger - because of how paranoid his mere existence makes Strahd. You know, those flashbacks from days long gone.

Fun fact #1 - in Estonian, rosebay is põdrakanep, which literally translates to "elk's hemp". Fun fact #2 - in the early sketches, I suggested adding meadowsweet behind Ismark. It means uselessness, and it is very SAD for meadowsweet because it is pretty and smells heavenly good. Fun fact #3 - pine branches behind Tam are there because he had spent most of his life in Svalich woods, so in this particular case, pine was meant to represent, well, pine. But apparently, book says it also means "pity", and this is another neat coincidence. Does Sergey pity Strahd? Who knows. Does Tam pity himself because he is tired and simply wants everyone to just leave him be? There is such a chance indeed.

Bats, dragons, and other cute animals

The traditional fancy bat-winged candelabra is missing here. That could be a shame, so I decided to add bat wings to the frame twice and all around Strahd's gown, including the necklace. Still not as good as a pretentious candelabra could be, tho....

Then there is a wolf devouring the sun. Twice. The frame around the sun references the teeth pattern.

And then there is a small doggy paw mark on Ismark's leather armor because he is the golden retriever of the party and the best boy of the whole Barovia.

Dragons and scales all on and around Alistor, because Argynvostholt. Also, he's standing in flames not only because he and dragons are hot, but also because this fella seems to be an arsonist. "He burned down the coffin shop, he ran through fire to face Strahd at the festival" (c) their DM.

Also, the embroidery on Theodora's clothes is inspired by traditional angels and her familiar Benedict Algernon Ernest von Birdington the Fifteenth, a perfectly normal Morning Dove.

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That will be all for this time. Hope you enjoyed reading this ✨

The sourcebooks used are Language of Flowers by Kate Greenaway and Floriography by Jessica Roux.

Commission info

[double-barrel-paintbrush]

more Curse of Strahd ideas you can steal {for dms}

(again spoiler warning for the campaign also sorry I haven't given out more ideas had a bit of creative block for like...a long time also dear god this is really long so brace yourself)

Gadof Blinksy is an artificer (maybe multiclassed?) that uses his magic skills to help make toys and also has enchantments on some to help protect the children of the country well as make his toys more fantastical for the children. {I kinda fixated for a while on this silly man and wrote way too much stuff about him. I imagine he knows spells like Mending for fixing porcelain dolls and like heat metal for making toys out of well metal. As for the protective spells these enchanted toys hold one spell and can activate once per day like a banshee doll that casts Alarm or a rabbit plush that can cast expeditious retreat. Spells that also work for this are guidance, invisibility, lesser and greater restoration, rope trick, darkvision, aid, sanctuary and so on and so forth. Cuz for the love of god SOMEBODY has to protect the kids.}

The consorts of Strahd each have a magical item that tethers them to him in a sort of telepathic link so if something happens to them he'll know IMMEDIATELY. {Part of my campaign is gonna be taking down the consorts one by one either from killing them or making them turn on Strahd. And something about my version of Strahd is despite the fact his consorts are only there to fill the hole Tatyana's death created truly cares for them so anytime one of those two options happens Strahd kinda sorta maybe goes on a rampage á la Vlad Dracula Tepes from Castlevania}

The Morning Lord and Mother Night are twin deities. As well as they're also deities of the past and the future respectively. {Just thought it'd be cute. And also to explain why the Mother Night gave Madam Eva her accurate divinations. The church of the Morning Lord deal in things like funerals and memories for the past. The church of the Mother Night deals with things like weddings or births for the future. Could also be part of why Baba Lysaga worships the Mother Night)

Father Donavich's first name is Gabriel and which makes Doru's last name Gabrilovich. {Just because Father Donavich in the module doesn't really have a first name. And neither does Doru have a last name so uh yeah.}

Some characters like Victor are now neutral. As well as Helga and Piddlewick II. {Thought it'd be more interesting if these characters weren't fully evil that's all}

The older consorts Strahd has like Ludmilla are full on vampires for he trusts her not to betray him. {This is mostly so the consorts have the full capability to betray Strahd. Both the monster manual and Baldur's Gate 3 have vampire spawns be fully loyal no matter what to the vampire that sired them}

A couple group names I came up with but haven't finished making the groups are The Coven of Blood and the Court of Rats do what you will with those. {Just thought it'd be cool}

The horses that carry Ez's magic wagon are named Rubinus and Safir respectively. {They're both words for Ruby and Sapphire in different languages just like Ez's name is another language's word for emerald. Thought that'd be cute}

Also Ezmeralda has a gun as well as a crossbow that shoots wooden stakes. {I saw somebody I think on youtube have the idea that Ez has a gun to give the concept of her being the future of monster hunting while Van Richten is the past I added the crossbow as part of my own spin on that idea}

The people with souls tend to be younger as the soul gets taken to a baby maybe within a few minutes after birth and sticks there within five years. {Cuz people die all the time in Barovia the opposite I think is also true that people get born all the time in Barovia. And because of that more children tend to have souls more often than the adults. The soul not really sticking til five years is based off the idea of people "gaining consciousness" around five or six. and also to give magic users a time window to try reviving whoever had died as well as an explanation for babies dying from SIDS as the soul had returned to the body via revivify.)

Wereolf Ireena? Just a thought. {An intrusive thought I had a couple days ago}

Strahd's goal maybe instead of making Ireena into a vampire bride could try to tie the soul of Tatyana into a vessel that won't ever leave him. Aka Vasilka. {As an add on to the idea of Ireena being a werewolf Strahd may see the fact she is one as a deal breaker because Tatyana surely wasn't a werewolf. Also because I think after four or five times of getting Tatyana and then losing her has probably made him and everyone in his court tired of the cycle. So Strahd would rather end it entirely.}

the name "mongrel"folk (not sure if I'm gonna have that as their actual race name maybe like chimerafolk or something) was an insult to the Belviews by the Abbot because he just despises the poor things so much. He also created the first of this race using the bodies of the Belviews and animal corpses as an experiment for making a flesh golem that was perfect for Strahd's undead bride. {That's honestly about it. Tho if I do call them chimerafolk I will have to probably hear Nina Tucker jokes so yeh}

Volenta has a fight club. That's it.

People in Vallaki gossip that Rudolph van Richten is in the country. Maybe making jokes about him killing Strahd. {Just wanted a reason for 1 Strahd to know about van Richten being in the country and 2 so I can have a bit of npcs making Chuck Norris jokes but with van Richten}

That's about it hope this helps

[cursedbanalities]

A (Short) Monologue of Strahd von Zarovich

***Spoilers for The Curse of Strahd Fifth Edition D&D Module

[[I wrote this after the party infiltrated Castle Ravenloft to save their NPC companion, Ireena Kolyana (Or Tatyana, according to Strahd), from the clutches of Vampire Lord Strahd von Zarovich. I've been playing Strahd as a sort of incel version of Astarion from BG3, preferring to play with his food and ducking out once any form of trouble emerges. The party climbed to the top of the highest tower and destroyed Strahd's "Heart of Sorrow" in the process. Not only did this weaken The Dreadlord Strahd, but it allowed the party access to Ireena-- Strahd's bride to be. The fight with the Heart of Sorrow greatly weakened the party, causing the Paladin to use his remaining spell slots and charges of his vampire-slaying magical items.

[[They found their way to the castle's chapel and, not knowing exactly where they are, decided to break open the boarded-up stained glass windows. After ten-to-fifteen minutes of work, and with a loud crash of breaking glass, the party begins climbing out of the window, when...]]

"Leaving so soon?" you hear a snide, booming voice echo through the chapel. The bats that once hung from the ceiling all wake up, flying about the room like a black storm of wings, fur, and fangs. Amidst the chaos, a silhouette of a man begins to form in front of you. As suddenly as it began, it ends. There's a deathly silence in Castle Ravenloft's Chapel as Strahd von Zarovich gazes upon you all, with a slight scowl on his face. "So, I see you've found Tatyana," he begins, forcing a smile. "And you've found the Heart of Sorrows, have you? Do you think that this will change any of your fates?" He takes a step towards you, ''I can always get another glass heart to restore me. I have nothing but time and power in this world, and that is merely an annoyance. However, you are all finally and truly becoming a thorn in my side!" He whips his cape up, and points a gnarled, clawed hand at you. His face contorts as he bears his fangs. Yet, with a cool voice he says, "You may be walking away with my bride, but I know you'll be back soon. I know your desires to slay me and steal my land out from under me! However, I won't let you leave with Tatyana… not without taking one of you for my own! Now… will one of you give yourself up? Or will I have to choose one to purge from Barovia?"

[[I wrote this expecting them to fight back, but they immediately let one of their NPCs (a wereraven I made on the spot named "Cleetus") sacrifice his life, believing that Strahd would let them leave the castle. However, after tearing out the throat of Cleetus, Strahd gave a bloody grin and began his assault on the party anyways. This was a fantastic session that lead to the party barely scraping by with their lives. Strahd may have let them escape for now... but who knows what'll happen now that the party has left...?]]

[campy-vampy]

wassup yall, i thought i would share this snippet of writing i did for my party to find eventually, just to be a lil funny yknow

COS AND I STRAHD SPOILERS (also if you are my players dont read because i will know if you do 😠)

450

It has been long, too long in fact. I could not bear to write, lest I see his name on the pages before. I do not see a point in leaving the castle, no matter how much any soul attempts to convince me. My studies on the arcane have been the only thing keeping me sane, preventing me from slipping off the edge of sanity. Perhaps, I think, if i try hard enough i can escape from this hell i have created for myself. I know it is in vain, I am forever cursed and nothing will free me from the dark powers grip. 

Rahadin refuses to believe this, though. I have watched him make his way to the amber temple and attempt to bargain my soul away from their claws. I pity him. He has not yet accepted that this is my fate, and it is a fate I cannot escape. He will realize someday, but some part of me, a selfish part, hopes that he never does. 

My mind wanders back to the past, to Alek Gwilym. It seems I cannot escape him, even after he has passed. I still feel his blood on my hands, his warmth. I wish I could trap it and hold it forever, just to know that he is there. Even the mention of his name brings the pang of sorrow and guilt back into my still heart. Some day I fear I will forget everything about the man; his antics, his courage and fire, and even that godsforsaken mustache he refused to shave no matter how many times I pestered him. 

Many nights I lie awake, yearning for him back at my side. I will forever regret lifting that blade towards his beating heart that held nothing but love for me and me alone. I wish it could be different, that instead of giving into my selfish desires I spent the rest of my mortal life with him. Somedays i dream, though I rarely dream at all, that this was all just a horrific nightmare and that I will wake up to his face peering down on me with that insufferable grin. Though when I do wake, I am forced with the reality of my condition. Somedays i refuse to believe he is gone, I tear open my closet to see if he really is gone, but I am always reminded with the absence of his body. I don't know why I somehow believe that if I keep checking he’ll someday appear and I'll be able to hold him in my arms once again. I was a fool, a fool to not notice how he looked at me, a fool to chase after a woman I never really loved, a fool to have not even taken a moment to wonder if this was really worth it. 

Perhaps the dark powers will show pity on my soul and return Alek back to me, perhaps as a reincarnation like tatyana. For now, I shall wait in my castle, and yearn for the days where his lousy jeers filled the halls. 

[curseofthebloodcountess]

Strahdtober: Necromancy

The Abbot's Journal Entries - @knightinkosherarmour, @morpheoussilvercreature, @thelostbarovianroyals

Journal Entry 761

Today is the fourth day of the eleventh month of the Barovian lunar calendar and my latest creation is nearly complete. She is composed of the finest limbs and organs, with russet hair and eyes that very nearly match. She is perfect. I will call her Tatyana, if it pleases Lady Strahd, and soon this land will be rid of its evils. I will it in your name, O Morning Lord. 

Journal Entry 762

I will not call her Tatyana. She only speaks in birdsong. I shall call her Moira and she will join the others in the Abbey. She will not please Strahd, but she will be useful, if you will it, O Morning Lord.

Journal Entry 802

Another of the Krezkovs has died. Praise be unto you, O Morning Lord, in the hopes that her soul will be guided to the light and rest you promise to the faithful. Her body shall be of great use to your glory. The cold preserves the dead well in the mountains of Krezk. This time will be different, if you will it, O Morning Lord.

Journal Entry 805

The process of stitching flesh to flesh is tedious work. I would entrust the sisters to my great work, but their talents for handicraft do not - to my knowledge - extend to medicine. My human vessel is weak and the hands cramp as I sew. Clovin has brought organs from the woods. I questioned if they were human and he took great offense. Strange man. I pray that you help me make this one different, O Morning Lord. I pray. 

Journal Entry 817

Lady Strahd was displeased with her gift. Her claws rend flesh with impressive ease. The next one will be made stronger, better. There are many Krezkovs - another death will not arous suspicion.

Journal Entry 950

It is the twelfth day of the fourth month in the Barovian lunar calendar. My new creation does not breathe, but is otherwise perfect. I will not name her Tatyana, but instead have chosen to call her Theodora - gift from the gods. Let her be a gift, O Morning Lord. Let her be different than the others.

Journal Entry 1004

Theodora is different. My prayers have been heard! She speaks, sings, thinks… all on her own! She does not breathe, though, and I worry this will bring her to ruin as it did her sister. I pray for her and I tutor her as best as I can. She is outpacing the resources of the library. She will be something different. 

I do not think she will be Tatyana. 

Why must you curse me, O Morning Lord? Have you forsaken your servant in my hour of greatest need?

Journal Entry 1502

The Countess came to inspect Theodora, but Theodora has disappeared without a trace. I despair. Clovin says humans in my predicament drink. I would look for her, but the wolves will eat her once-rotted flesh and return her bones to the earth. I must not mourn. I must begin afresh. It will lift my spirits, usher joy into Barovia, and allow the people of Krezk to fulfill their divine purpose. What becomes of a herd, if a few, fine specimens are not culled each year? I beseech you, O Morning Lord, to guide my hands and hear my prayers.

Journal Entry 1750

It is the third day of the ninth month of the Barovian Lunar Calendar. Once more I have gathered the finest limbs and organs, but this time is different. This time must be different. She breathes now and dances and sews and moves with life and purpose.

I will call this one Vasilika. She is perfect, but she is mute. Perhaps this is for the best. Perhaps she will not protest when Lady Strahd one day calls her Tatyana instead.

How could I have ever thought you abandoned me, O Morning Lord? Surely you must still walk with me, if my creation is so right.

[curseofsergei]

Oh, man, I have way too many CoS stories. My current CoS game is a mix of new and old lore and there's just so much happening that it all requires so much context to explain.

In my current campaign, one of the PCs romanced Ireena (they're very cute together!) and a few sessions ago... Ireena died. (The party will be able to bring her back. Will she be whole? Who knows!) This was very sad and tragic.

The funny part: that player's love interest died in the previous campaign, too. Which was also Curse of Strahd. I wanted to run CoS again and the player was like. Can I play? And I was like. Sure.

Now, that story was quite tragic, too. (With a happy ending.) In that campaign, Escher was sent with the party as a spy (one of the PCs was Ireena) and my original plan had been for Escher to betray them and Strahd. ("If I kill this reincarnation of Tatyana, Strahd will hate me, which is better than being forgotten.") But then romance happened between Escher and this player's PC (not the Ireena!PC, of course), and, eventually, it got to the point of no return, and Escher was like. If I stay with the party, I'll have to fight them. And, frankly, I don't care too much about the others, but [PC name]? I don't want to fight him. So. He tells the PC that. And asks the PC to kill him. ♥ Because, like, it's the one choice he can make of his own free will. So, the PC almost refuses but he does it anyway. Multiple players cried. It was lovely.

THE ROMANCE...THE DRAMA.....I love it!

[tofu-bento-box]

MORE! MORE! 6 and 7!

6. Did you make any NPCs more sympathetic than in canon? Or less sympathetic?

i really tried to make victor a bitch. upon meeting the party he was a loser who was guarding the tome of strahd and admitted to killing two people within about a minute of conversation. he continues to be snarky and abrasive at every opportunity and STILL my party likes him. i can’t get them to abandon him. so now i gotta find some plot hook for him (stay tuned on that)

strahda has been changed to have a backstory that’s more sympathetic to my players. she’s a lesbian who was trapped in a marriage with sergei because she was being passed over due to sexism (in my game, sergei and tatyana are related rather than sergei and strahd), and her snapping point was that the man she’d married was upset she didn’t love him.

7. What's your named character death count so far? (Players, friendly NPCs, villains.)

hoooooh boy i gotta check my session notes

izek (confirmed) - captured in the blue water inn, taken to a cave and interrogated, then executed

lydia and vargas vallakovich (presumed) - a riot started at the festival of the blazing sun and they were thrown into the woods covered in raw meat juice. could have theoretically survived but haven’t made an appearance yet

fiona, karl, and nikolai wachter (confirmed) - off-screened by another npc for being banites

sasha (on general principle) - i may have gotten rid of baba lysaga, but i kept her house! it’s named sasha. died when the party removed the gem from inside of it to give it back to the martikovs

rahadin vhenikatchu (confirmed…?) - possessed by the warlock’s patron and then walked off the drawbridge outside castle ravenloft. his body might be mush, but maybe something could be done with his bones…

sylon donahue (confirmed) - resident of the abbey, killed to start a murder mystery. he barely counts

ezmerelda d’avenir (confirmed) - fell unconscious due to smoke inhalation during the fall of argynvostholt, then fell from the third floor to the ground when ireena’s grip slipped. the party was told she was dead before she fell…

vasilka greene (confirmed, but resurrected) - stabbed to death and hung from a tree, with a message carved into her back to bait the party into looking for her murderer. she was immediately taken up to the abbey, and her injuries were mild enough to be treated via raise dead. the abbot lost their shit and immediately resurrected her

for a grand total of 11!

[theundeadgospel]

sobbing as everyone talks about their dnd party so here’s my group of misfits I love sm and the npcs that have been with us

🗡️ KNIGHT BETHANNE VLADISLAVA DROZDOV. 🗡️

We all know this bitch. Zealot barbarian, death knight to Lady Zarovich, oathbreaker. Champion of Lord Myrkul. Nosferatu spawn. In some sort of weird love triangle with her now resurrected first love interest (Laurent) who doesn’t even remember her and pining HARD for Lady Strahd.

🗡️ YONA GLAMOURHOOF. 🗡️

Grave domain cleric and champion to Lord Kelemvor. Satyr. She’s our detective and an INSANELY PHENOMENAL note taker. Like, she takes notes during session and always has them revised and up within minutes after session is done in a doc. Beth adopted her as her child.

🗡️ APHRODITE. 🗡️

Gloom stalker ranger. Dhampir. She has multiple attacks and hits so fucking hard. Love interest to Nadja, Lady Strahd’s daughter. Nadja doesn’t seem to be aware of being her daughter — because her mind was altered. By Strahd. Like a bitch. The biggest lesbian vibes next to Bethanne tbh. Always doing some assassin shit.

🗡️ OREN. 🗡️

Aberrant mind sorceress. Changeling. Doesn’t recall her actual identity, always changing. The voice of reason. Love interest to Ingrim, this warforged that got slaughtered by Noctus (Beth’s vampire lord) and then resurrected as a human. Has a sparrow bird son, Caleb — who was the ghost boy in the murder house and then resurrected as a sparrow. The daughter to Laurent, who has no fucking idea she’s alive, and Oren doesn’t even remember who she was or looked like.

🗡️ MORIAN CAVEBEARD. 🗡️

Life domain cleric. Dwarf. Thank god we have an ACTUAL healer. He cooks good shit. Can switch to a full on TANK (glass cannon) when he goes into PTSD mode (dude literally has war flashbacks). Gives amazing advice.

🗡️ NOVA ESPIRITU. 🗡️

College of spirits bard. Half elf himbo. The cinnamon bun. He’s like our medic. Love interest to Ireena. Beth adopted him as her child too. He’s starting to get physical though, which is something he hasn’t ever done — mans finally throwing hands.

🗡️ ELIAS IRONHOOF. 🗡️

War domain cleric. Chosen to Lathander (for now). Centaur. Hits so hard because he has a warhammer and divine does extra damage. Somehow, despite Beth originally being a BITCH to him over his religion, became best friends with her. Lathander never bothered to resurrect his dead husband and then Myrkul went okay I’ll do it then, fuck him LMAOOOO so Beth has been slowly trying to convert him to her ways.

🗡️ LAURENT. 🗡️

Originally a human(?) oathbreaker and was Beth’s first love interest. Frenchie. He convinced her to get closer to the party and helped her through her initial anxiety after being freshly turned and alone for years. He never got to admit his feelings — got kidnapped, experimented on, then murdered. He then got resurrected as an aasimar at one point. Doesn’t remember jack shit (pray for me next session when Beth sees him again).

🗡️ LADY STRAHD. 🗡️

Yes. Our Strahd is a woman. God she’s so hot. Ours is on a redemption arc though (thanks to me convincing the entire party and my DM that I can fix her). She’s done a LOT of fucked up shit in the past and is still extremely bitter over Tatyana killing herself because she went from loving wife to hellbent, tyrannical ruler and Tatyana literally chose to die than be wed to someone who was no longer the person she fell in love with. Strahd’s still a bitch even if she is on her redemption arc — sasses everyone, Beth and her bicker like an old married couple, murdered Aphrodite during one of her PTSD fits, hurled a whole fireball at Beth’s face bc she smart mouthed her when she was already pissed. You know. Lesbian shit. She’s so tired of everyone’s and her own shit and wants to die but can’t so she’s spiteful LMAO

🗡️ IREENA KOLYANA. 🗡️

She’s like a pretty little scholar. Nova’s girlfriend. Usually is just minding her business for the most part. Contrary to original lore (can you tell we’re heavily homebrewed yet), Strahd doesn’t give a shit about her. We were supposed to get more time with her, but Noctus decided to spite Nova by rendering Ireena feeble minded knowing our weak leveled asses couldn’t rouse her from a high leveled spell. For 10+ sessions. Like the piece of shit he is.

🗡️ NOCTUS. 🗡️

A piece of shit vampire lord. Beth’s vampire lord. A bitch. He owns an army of nosferatu beasts. Slaughtered two Vistani settlements (one of which was Beth’s family). Tried to tpk the party — TWICE. A BITCH.

🗡️ THE INNKEEPER / STRANGE. 🗡️

The domain lord of Hallowbrook. Oathbreaker human. He’s like Jade’s mascot because he runs The Rosewood Inn — her social media handle. Former knight in command to Lady Strahd when she was a tyrant. Father to Vashka — and had no idea about any of that until recently because Strahd altered his mind. Like a bitch. He then tried to beat the shit out of Strahd for this. He’s a tired man.

🗡️ VASHKA. 🗡️

She was a child sacrifice vampire for the dark forces. A trade in — she was forced to become Barovia’s new domain lord while her mother, Strahd, got to roam freely. Strahd created her by taking the blood of Strange and mixed it with her own to create a living spell component sacrifice — a child born of only both of their negative attributes, then abandoned entirely for the dark forces. Vashka is our actual BBG. She is not redeemable. This whole campaign now revolves around undoing Strahd’s FUCK SHIT.

[anantplayingdnd]

1, 13, 14

ahhhhhh ty ty for asking! okay! so! answers under the break!!

[also spoilers. obviously]

1. How much of your campaign is RAW, how much is other people's homebrew, how much is your own homebrew?

I’d say probably somewhere around 50% of it is RAW, maybe 15-20% other people’s homebrew, and 25-30% my own. Especially early on, I pulled a lot from the works of Lunchbreak Heroes for the Death House, and have taken a good bit of lore and inspiration from MandyMod. My game has uses the Three Ladies (MandyMod’s version specifically), though I’ve taken them and added a lot of my own lore to them. At this point in the game we’re honestly past the point where like… 70% of the module has already occurred so I’m largely on my own at this point haha.

13. How did you play Strahd? What's his attitude towards the party, Ireena, the world in general?

Our Strahd is, in short, entirely unredeemable. He’s horrifically narcissistic, to the point that when he talks, he almost always makes himself the subject (grammatically) of the sentence. It’s never “You remind me of myself” it’s always “I am reminded of myself when I see you.” For most of the campaign so far, he’s seen the Wildflowers as nuisances and pests, but they’ve been obedient enough that he hasn’t been outright aggressive toward them. As of last session though, they outright started fighting him and refusing to do what he told them to, so now they’re properly on his bad side. Ireena is his prize, his one true love. He sees charming her as a means of helping her get over all of the baggage of their past so she can see his true self. He fully, completely believes Tatyana was in love with him. The world revolves around him and his will, and he has the utmost confidence that he is the most powerful man in existence.

14. How did you play Ireena? Did she stay with your party much of the time, or did they stow her someplace while they went off adventuring? (Or did she get kidnapped early on?)

Ireena is absolutely my self-insert character haha. She’s the party’s fated ally, and she’s been with them the whole time! At this point, I’ve actually handed mechanical control of her over to the players so I can focus on running the enemies. I changed things so she’s actually the older sibling to Izmark, and she plays into a lot of the eldest daughter traits. The Wildflowers aren’t the most charismatic, so her political power and knowledge have definitely come in handy. Her main struggles have been feeling really responsible for all the problems the Wildflowers have had, since in her mind, Strahd is only chasing them because of her. She just hit her second rogue level after finally standing up to Strahd and telling him, point blank, that she thinks he’s ugly and ancient and a disgusting unlovable monster. The party also did just have to convince her not to take a deal with the Dark Powers, soooo. Oh! and she’s aroace and has zero problem telling anyone who hits on her to fuck off.

[godfreygwilym]

some notes on how i've been running the brides

when i first set out to dm cos, one of the first things i was really determined to do was give them more in-depth backstories, since— with the exception of escher getting like one paragraph lol— they're basically just. creepy dolls. which i GUESS works with gothic horror but man i would really like to have female characters with personalities!!!!

*combination of my own interpretation as well as concepts ive integrated from other dms, so if you recognize something specific i probably got it from elsewhere

ludmilla vilisevic

physically in her mid-30s, and is aged roughly 230. i play her with an rp english accent, although in my mind she has a nigerian affect. she is very poised and calculating, and always tries to be the one in control of any situation. has a talent for shadow magic, and her own sentient shadow is the closest she has to a best friend. she also has a barn owl familiar named amicus and a cat named eupraxia. when she takes a human disguise, she goes by the name of filena voltanescu.

before ludmilla married strahd, her name was lumina. she is a wizard apprentice who was lost in the mists and stumbled into barovia. naturally very curious, brave and shrewd, she marched up to ravenloft despite all the warnings. her and strahd ended up having a very romantic relationship (despite lowkey reflags from strahd the whole time lol) for a long time since there had been a long spell of no tatyana reincarnation, although they eventually began to fall apart, partially spurred by her feelings of isolation and longing for her family outside of barovia.

at the point that cos takes place, ludmilla is very distant from strahd and is really only going through the motions/trying to stay useful, though she is determined to remain a step above his other partners in terms of superiority. she spends a great deal of her time researching and experimenting on mostly-unwilling test subjects (she is well aware at this point that what she is doing is cruel, but after two centuries she's become rather indifferent). she's very fascinated by the abbot's work.

in my game, strahd has given her emil toranescu, who is imprisoned in tsolenka pass. she is working on developing a method to transfer souls from one body to another— in my game, ismark is the true reincarnation of tatyana, and ireena merely looks like her.

anastrasya "anya" karelova

physically in her early 30s, anya is just over a century old. barovian accent, and extremely flamboyant and charismatic, she loves being the centre of attention. she has a natural talent for communicating with ghosts, who are often her captive audience. not much combat skill beyond what abilities she has as a vampire, but she has a wicked skill for charming people. in human disguise, she goes by ekaterina bogdana.

anya is from minor vallakian nobility, which comes with all the trappings of petty inter-family squabbles. she has had a terribly unfortunate string of bad luck with marriages, all of her betrotheds have met poor fates or ran off. on a fourth attempt, her parents arranged for her to be married to an older landowner who she did not care for at all.

while she was engaged, anya ran into ludmilla (in human disguise) by chance. they grew close quickly and began having an affair. eventually, ludmilla introduced her to strahd, and she was instantly enamoured. before the wedding, anastrasya's betrothed "mysteriously" died, and she was whisked away to ravenloft. at this point, ludmilla and strahd's relationship was very cold, and he became preoccupied with anya.

volenta popofska

physically in her mid-20s, and is about 65 years old. barovian, and has a very floaty and whimsical way of speaking, though very soft spoken and rather self conscious. she often comes off as eerie. her vampiric abilities are amplified, making her a very good rogue/assassin. in "human" disguise, she is called violet spivakhofska.

volenta is a tiefling who was born in a small fishing village on lake zarovich. her parents did not want her, and so she was raised by the village elder. when she passed away when volenta was a teenager, she no longer had any protection from the animosity of the villagers, so she fled. eventually she was picked up by a small group of bandits, who would've attacked her, but she convinced them to let her join.

she bounced around various groups of bandits and thieves for several years, finding a place but never truly fitting in. after one traumatic rejection, she went to ravenloft in search of strahd, who she had heard stories of since she was a child, and had often wished would come and take her away. to volenta's joy, strahd took a liking to her and made her his bride.

even still, volenta is an outcast due to her awkward and sometimes unsettling behaviour and knack for the macabre. strahd enjoys her, but does little to try and ingratiate her with his other partners, and so she remains self-conscious and eager to win his favour.

escher gerst

physically in his late twenties, escher has been a vampire for just over a decade. i play him with a german accent. he is usually very distant and melancholy, though he becomes much more playful when not around strahd. a bard by trade, as a vampire he discovers a natural aptitude for shapeshifting, spurred by a bit of neuroticism over not being able to see his own reflection. in human disguise, he goes by claudius belasco.

escher is also from outside the mists, the son of poor farmers who ran off to join a bard troupe. he loves stories and music, and has a knack for various instruments, but particularly enjoys the lute and the violin— strahd has gifted him two exquisite models. his troupe was caught in the mists, and unbeknownst to him, strahd began spying on them. outside the village of barovia in the svalich woods, strange orchestrated a wolf attack on the group, sparing escher so that he could swoop in and save him. when escher awoke in a plush bed in ravenloft, he became deeply enamoured with strahd, who he saw as a fairytale prince. they had a very passionate relationship with strahd lavishing many gifts on escher before convincing him to let him turn him into a vampire.

despite not being together long, however, strahd has quickly become rather bored of escher's antics, who became desperate to stay in his good graces to avoid being sealed into the crypts. after the revolt in the village of barovia, strahd took doru as a vampire spawn. escher and him would have been close friends, if escher wasn't so deeply self-conscious and paranoid over his own status. eventually, he convinced strahd to starve doru to the point of madness and return him to his father at the church. escher would feel guilty over this, were he not so deeply concerned over his own self-preservation.

also due to strahd's coldness toward him, escher developed a fascination with vallaki, where he often goes in human disguise. here, he took a human lover, a painter named anton. anton became involved with the feast of saint andral, when escher gave him a bag (secretly containing the bones) and had him deliver it to the coffin shop. during the chaos of the feast, unfortunately, strahd had anton killed— escher beseeched the party to bury him properly and behead him so he would not return as a vampire spawn.

[strahdapologist]

just some tatyana & strahdyana thoughts from me and my gf @tatyanafederovna​

narratively tatyana has to embrace the monster the vampire because that represents breaking away from the oppressive gender roles that have been placed upon her

there’s smth beautiful about not being the delicate princess and embracing volatility and violence and i think in the choice between strahd and sergei it can be read as a choice between mother and monster. even though strahd is a liar his form of feral and self destructive love feels more genuine than the fairytale love sergei seems to impose onto tatyana (ignoring the preconceived notions strahd seems to have for her for a moment because this narrative isn’t just about him just as dracula isn’t just about the vampire it’s about mina murray)

sergei to me represents traditional life and societal norms and acceptability and i think its why i rebel against him as a character and his ending so much whereas strahd represents hidden desires and the otherness and pushing against those boundaries / the transgressions of social norms (like exploring sexuality) which is what the monster is supposed to represent

i say mother versus monster because traditional societal norms expect women to be mothers and be pure and nurturing and caring which ties into compulsory heterosexuality and how it affects even straight women it’s just this very strict assumption that romantically and emotionally women are only supposed to be oriented towards men and reproduction rather than themselves because that would be monstrous or whorish for lack of a better word and then motherhood is associated with a gentle maternity and everything that isn’t violence

it’s the madonna-whore duality. women were either pure and virtuous like a madonna or corrupt and sexually available like a whore and the duality suggests that women cant be both at the same time

it’s why i adore yellowjackets because as teenagers going into womanhood instead of motherhood they’re thrust into monster-hood to survive the wilderness and there is something to be said about violence and rage and hunger being natural (woman is wolf)

and that’s why i also think ladies loved 1930s dracula so much it was sensuality and terror all in one. we see this a lot w/ post bram stoker dracula which is far more romanticized and shows a world where the monstrous (whore) side is allowed love. with bela lugosi!dracula it was like this vampire (monster) is a man who will love me for my feminine sensibilities but also my feminine violence and feminine fury

acceptance from a monster feels like recognition and love from a hero feels like expectation

[tea-with-eleni]

What's next for Strahd?

Traveling for the holidays, so we're a bit unable to do DnD at the moment... which gives me time to Plan.

My players should have learned by now: bad things happen when the DM starts Planning.

To my players, keep the fuck out or I'm gonna make one of the brides replace or turn your character and you have to turn traitor to your party.

The current situation as it stands:

The players and Tatyana are about to head into the Amber Temple. They're currently navigating Tsolenka Pass.

Ludmilla is trying very, very hard to get on their good side; she thinks she stands a better chance with Tatyana than Strahd himself. She's probably right. Strahd doesn't like it, but also knows that Ludmilla is utterly and completely loyal to him.

Strahd, Ludmilla, and therefore all of Ravenloft knows what the party is up to. The other relevant players are Rahadin (utterly DESPISED by the party, they will kill on sight) and Volenta (the wildcard) and Doru (the pathetic trapped vampire spawn).

The current problem for Party Ravenloft is that Party Players will do something stupid in the Amber Temple and get Tatyana killed.

The secondary goal is that Vampyr is still in the amber temple... and there isn't anything explicitly preventing Tatyana from making a deal with it except, obviously, Tatyana herself. After all: assuming the deal went a bit like Strahd's, it would accomplish the overall goal of turning Tatyana. Strahd is convinced that given enough time he could win her over, he's just never had enough time.

The best person to convince Ireena to do anything is Doru Donovich. He knows her from this life; he loved her in a past life. The party pities him. He already was within a single roll of convincing Tatyana to stay at Ravenloft.

Which brings us to another problem: Strahd blames one of Doru's past lives for killing Tatyana. The blame isn't entirely fair, but it's only Ludmilla keeping Strahd from going full Leo Dilisnya on him. He was only turned into a vampire spawn by accident; he was part of the assault Mordenkainen lead on the castle last year and Ludmilla was feeling a bit peckish at the time. Escher and one of the players freed him from the church basement. Ludmilla has since argued he's too useful a tool to keep around.

So. What does Strahd do? Does he send the real Doru Donovich to try to persuade Tatyana to make a deal with Vampyr? Does he go himself? Does he send Ludmilla?

Strahd has shown that he's very good at making rational decisions except insofar as they concern Tatyana, especially referencing the 2e books for more insight into the man's personality. There's no reason to think this is inaccurate; perfectly sane people like Fiona Wachter are loyal to him for entirely rational reasons.

This is a decision heavily concerning Tatyana. I don't think Strahd is capable of making the rational decision here and I don't think anyone in Party Ravenloft could or would point out that he's making a mistake. I do think he's clever enough (and potentially kinky enough) to convincingly play the part of one of his wives' spawn.

I suppose he would (at this point) Leo Dilisnya Doru. Sorry kid.

[unusualindigo]

My Escher Backstory

At 63 years old, Escher is the youngest, and perhaps most free-spirited, of Strahd’s consorts.

Growing up as the son of one of Barovia’s former Burgomasters, Escher was once fast friends with the son of the village priestess, Alexi Donavich.

As the pair grew, they both discovered a talent for the esoteric. Whilst Alexi found himself following his mother down a holy path, Escher discovered his own affinity for the spirits of the departed. Through listening to them, he could channel their stories into hymns, then poems, then songs.

Using his talents, Escher found himself a controversial figure in the village, to his father’s dismay. Alexi and he, though lovers in secret, soon had a falling out as Alexi, grieving the loss of his mother and angry at Escher’s continued use of spiritual energy in his music, led a group to cast him out of the village.

Escher felt his heart die there, watching as the boy he loved spat venom at him from on high, saying that he should be lucky that they only broke his harp, and not his body.

Seeing no future for himself, Escher began to trek to the last place any sane Barovian would tread; Castle Ravenloft itself.

Arriving uninvited, Escher was let in only on the sadistic graces of Anastrasya and Volenta, each looking forward to seeing him crumble before their Lord, Strahd. 

Escher asked only for a harp to play for the Lord of Ravenloft, and left quite an impression as he channeled the raw loathing and hopelessness of the Lord’s treacherous soldiers from that night so long ago.

Six years would pass, and Escher would find himself growing closer to the ladies of Ravenloft. In Ludmilla he found someone to debate the nature of his magics with, and in Volenta an equally mischievous force to contend with. Anastrasya, for her part, was always his harshest critic, though the banter soon became rather catty and playful between them.

In the Lord of Ravenloft himself, Escher found a vigorous philosophical opponent, and the two would spend long hours debating the nature of the spirit and of conflict. Escher always reveled in what glimpses of the man Strahd used to be would filter through.

Once his twentieth birthday began to approach, Escher began to envy the close, if unconventional ties between the vampires of the castle. He began to make overtures in his performances to Strahd, begging a chance to become one of his consorts.

Escher could tell that Strahd had some growing interest in him, but the man was stubborn to a fault, and thought it unseemly to turn him at so young an age, especially given the base of their relationship.

Escher, frustrated, began to scour the castle for ways to make Strahd see things his way. His searches were short lived, as the chamberlain, Rahadin, had never taken a liking to him, and took the opportunity to suggest of removing him from the castle entirely.

Escher’s blood froze as Strahd contemplate that notion. However, Strahd offered him one last chance. He had exiled the werewolves from Ravenloft after one of their prior leaders, Gorick, had slaughtered a reincarnation of his beloved Tatyana.

If Escher could convince their current leader, Amalric, to agree to a meeting with Strahd, and convince Strahd himself of the werewolves worth as agents again.

Before he left, Volenta told him of Amalric’s weakness to the pleasures of the flesh, and with no other options of ease in this trial, Escher acquiesced to the beast’s hunger. He spent many vigorous nights sating the bastard, whispering in his ear of the glories awaiting him in Strahd’s service.

It didn’t even take but two seasons to bend the fool to his whims, and Escher soon found himself contending with Strahd’s iron will, not truly for the wolves, but for his own worth.

To his delight, not only did Strahd agree to let the wolves back in, and to sire Escher at last, but to Escher’s poisoning of Amalric in one year’s time.

Soon, Escher found himself awakening to periwinkle eyes as Strahd cleansed him of the filth of that loathsome man.

Anastrasya also rewarded him quite harshly for his efforts, and the two soon settled into a comfortable distance, trading barbs and competitively seeing who could bend such and such lord over a barrel first, sometimes quite literally.

Volenta made him her greatest asset, a spy who can move wherever he likes in the castle and beyond, and allowing him to hold sway over the wolves, making them his spies in turn. Thus, did he oust Rahadin from his spying duties, though the crotchety old elf is content with that outcome.

Ludmilla and he, sharing a bloodline, collaborate on occasion to perform certain rituals, and still enjoy debating their philosophies and such to this day. Escher even felt comfortable enough to participate in her experiments, so strong is his trust in her.

For forty years Escher served Ravenloft and Strahd in this manner, keeping the wolves in line and gathering information and favor from the broader populace. It was on one such venture that word reached Escher of an assault on the keep.

Rushing back, Escher found only the bodies awaiting him. Strahd dismissed him with nary a glance, throwing himself into an effort to expand the mists around Barovia. Deeply hurt at being cast aside once more, Rahadin took delight in reminding Escher of the reincarnations of Tatyana and their hold on Strahd. One such man had been born outside the mists, and had brought a vampire from there upon their door, who Strahd had slain.

Brooding over his loss of affection, Escher began to recede from public life earlier than expected, watching sullenly as Strahd grew ever more distant from them.

A few years into his seclusion, Escher found a young boy whilst he watched Barovia from a nearby hill. He had auburn hair.

Escher wearily told Volenta of his findings, having also seen the boy’s playmate, the spitting image of a young Alexi. Heart still broken over his first love, Escher took to spying on Doru and his father, enviously watching as they paid tribute to the boy’s departed mother.

When Doru was brought into the Mad Mage’s rebellion, it was only by Escher’s grace that he was merely turned into a vampire spawn, rather than slaughtered like the other fools. However, Strahd’s turning of the boy was interrupted by the Mage, turning the boy into one of the Deamhan line, the most savage and miserable of the lot.

Though he’s sure he should feel guilty, Escher was delighted as he watched Alexi turn to murder and deceit to keep his death seeking boy alive. A cold vengeance, for his broken heart.