#this man is the tatyana to my strahd

[yuelaos-codex]

he’s my mansplaining manipulative malewife

[baellielurk]

makes me insane when ppl try to "fix" fictional characters and make them less "problematic" by giving justification to their evil deeds, or just straight up removing some of their wrongs. congratulations you've just made them boring

[sugar-and-spite]

tbh i keep thinking abt how so many people in the curse of strahd community talk about running strahd as a woman (or are in campaigns with a female strahd) but i literally, in like 2+ years, have never once seen anyone suggest running ireena as a man. and like i feel like there must be reasons for this but fuck if i know what they are. men can't be victims of stalking/abuse? ireena can't be a man bc tatyana was a woman? ireena has to be a woman bc she has to be Frail and Helpless? who knows

[thebeanwoman]

We were robbed of old man Strahd

[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...?]]

[astral-dragons]

Best moments in I, Strahd (but it's mostly Strahd being a dramatic bitch):

"I could scale this tower instead of taking the stairs, but I'm wearing my nice clothes today sooo..."

"At least you wore black for the funeral." "I always wear black. I just like wearing black." "... You do look good in black" "Right??"

Strahd wins the award for worst wedding gift ever.

"Lord Strahd? What happened to Sergei?" (too busy being an emo motherfucker to respond)

"Lord Strahd! We're under attack!" (too busy being a horny motherfucker to respond)

"Well, the love of my life may be dead and her corpse mysteriously gone, but at least the bats have accepted me as one of their own."

That very awkward interaction where Strahd just chucked a letter at a dude's face and ran away

Strahd becomes a furry, aka "On all levels including physical, I am a wolf. awoo"

The implication in chapter 8 that whenever Sergei and Tatyana went out for like. a romantic thing together, Strahd came along with them ("I can't believe it's finally me and you, and you and me, just us, and your brother Strahd.")

"I can't BELIEVE this man would take Tatyana into his home and treat her as family just so he could betray her trust and MARRY her. What kind of monster does that??"

Every time Strahd goes "This is it. This is how I die" like, he's just ready to give up on life at the drop of a hat

[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.

[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

[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

[mx-lamour]

25 - Mirror

Alek slouched forward, arresting Strahd’s face in both his hands, and kissed him.

Strahd pulled away sharply. Alek’s hands fell to Strahd’s chest instead, catching his fingers on cording and buttons. “Unhand me,” Strahd muttered.

“Is that really what you want?”

Dark eyes flitted over Alek’s face. “Scrape that rug off your lip,” Strahd said, not quite as tersely as intended. “Then ask me.”

. . .

The next morning, Alek hunched over a small mirror propped against the stump of a fallen tree, and used the sharp edge of his dagger to scrape gingerly over his upper lip. The group gaped when he rejoined them.

“Trying to look younger?” Ivan Buchvold japed to cover his shock.

Alek snorted. “No. Is it working?” His lips were quite thin. Somehow his long face seemed even taller. He turned to Strahd, arms held out from his sides in casual display. “Well, my lord?”

Strahd was stone-faced.

He strode up to Alek, calmly grasping the man’s smooth jaw in his hand. He guided the tilt of his face one way, then the other, appraising.

Then he patted Alek’s cheek. “We move in ten minutes,” he said to the assembled group. “Look your fill now. We’ll need keen eyes on the road ahead.” Strahd allowed his own gaze to linger on Alek’s mouth just a moment too long before turning away. Those lips pulled into a self-satisfied grin—Strahd cut a fine figure from the back.

When the others had gone to make their final checks of supplies, Ilona cast him a skeptical look. “You play a dangerous game, Commander.”

“My Lady?” Alek said innocently.

Ilona sighed and shook her head gently. “I would be glad to see the old vigor of life return to him. But be cautious. He is a wounded man still.”

“You know best.”

They nodded courteously to each other, and departed.

. . .

When again the party had stopped to rest, and the fire burned low as embers, Alek sat down close to Strahd. Nudged the side of Strahd’s leg amicably with the back of his hand. “Well?”

“Well?” Strahd echoed blandly.

“I would kiss you again,” said Alek, directly, “if you'll permit me.”

Strahd’s throat moved as he swallowed, but the rest of his body was formally tense. “I would,” he conceded, voice low. Unwinding his own hands from their pensive grasp on each other, he placed one on Alek’s knee.

Alek let his leg fall to the side, so that more of his thigh made contact with Strahd’s. Strahd’s hand dipped toward his inseam.

Strahd’s lips were dry and chapped from travel, but he found Alek’s less so when they connected. Perhaps there was something to be said of facial hair, he considered, although in his mind the drawbacks still outweighed the benefits.

Alek inhaled through his nose. Pressed his hand to Strahd's low back and shifted closer, a full-body kisser. A low, dignified hum issued from Strahd’s throat when Alek dragged his pliant mouth over his jaw. He tilted his head, allowing Alek to lavish kisses beneath the hard line of bone, and massaged the meat of Alek's inner thigh, raking his fingers higher up the man’s leg.

Is this what you desire?

Tatyana’s voice, a note of sorrow and betrayal.

Strahd’s eyes flew open. His grip on Alek's leg turned to a vice. Alek felt the tendons in Strahd’s neck tighten under the tip of his nose. He looked up. “What is it?”

Strahd felt a deep ache within his quickening heart. “It's here,” he hissed.

Alek went on full alert. He would have stood, but Strahd’s fingers dug into his thigh like claws. Instead, he held Strahd in return, a firm hand resting on the back of his neck.

They sat, frozen and waiting, all senses piqued, for what could have been hours. They heard no further sound. No voices. Not even the snap of a twig.

Until old Gunther Cosco snored suddenly in his tent. They both jumped.

Alek chuffed. “Well,” he said quietly, “on that note.” He rubbed Strahd’s back idly, then patted it. “Perhaps we should get some rest.”

Strahd nodded stiffly. Moments passed.

“Strahd.” Alek’s voice, in gentle good humor.

Jolted from his internal focus, Strahd looked around again, then back to Alek, who gestured downward with his eyes, toward the hand with its white-knuckled grip still on his leg.

“Ah. Of course.” Reluctantly, Strahd released him.

“Thank you.” Alek rose and stretched. “It’s not how I would have preferred to earn this kind of bruise…” he said cheekily, rubbing the tender spot on the inside of his thigh. Then he paused. Strahd had clasped his hands together again and was resting his chin on them.

Alek retreated to his tent, but he did not stay there. Instead, he reemerged with his bedroll and a woolen blanket. The latter, he doubled up and draped around Strahd’s shoulders. He moved his sword, unstrapped from his belt, within easy reach between the two of them. “Since you have so graciously volunteered the first watch,” he said, settling onto his bedroll, “I'll take second.”

Strahd glanced down at Alek, shifting into a more or less comfortable position near Strahd’s feet. Alek Gwilym, playing guard dog. Would he never cease?

He reached down, experimentally, to touch Alek’s hair.

“Something wrong?” Alek mumbled.

“...No.”

Alek turned his head, catching Strahd’s fingers in his hand as he did so. He pressed them briefly to his naked lips. “Good night, Strahd.”

A dark shape loomed within the deep shadows of the forest. Strahd stared it down, until it seemed to finally retreat.

“Good night,” he whispered.

* * * [Ao3 Collection] [prompt list by @syrips]