Revised Curse of Strahd – A History of Barovia

In all of Dungeons & Dragons, I believe there is no campaign as well known as Curse of Strahd. This campaign has it’s roots all the way back to 1983, in the AD&D adventure Castle Ravenloft. Since then, it has had a presence in every edition of the game. Well, like many things that go through that many revisions, it is a little inconsistent in it’s backstory.

Each edition adds something to the lore of Ravenloft, and the fifth edition Curse of Strahd made several changes. Unfortunately, after enough additions, it becomes muddled and unclear, like a painting made by five artists. You lose a consistent view. So, this is the first step in my Nerdd’s Revised Curse of Strahd, a History of Barovia.

I make a few changes to the canon, but most of these are all popular additions from Strahd community members like MandyMod, DragnaCarta, and Lunch Break Heroes. I keep what I like, discard what I don’t, and add a little bit of my own.

The History of Barovia can be split into four ages. The first, is the Archfey, when the valley was ruled by nature. The second, is the Tergs, the kingdom that first invaded the valley. The third is the von Zarovich, when Strahd conquered the Tergish Kingdom. The last is Vampyr, when Strahd turned into a vampire, enclosing the valley in mists, cut off from the world.

The Archfey

Long ago, before man walked the earth, creatures of the Fey ruled this place. With Mount Baratok to the north and Mount Ghakis to the south, both mountains were part of a larger mountain range known as the Balinok Mountains. Between these two great mountains, a small valley lay, largely unnoticed by the outside world. This place would later be called the Tsolenka Valley.

Three Archfey ruled here, and they shared control of the valley. Among the wildlife, there came a primitive community of Human Druids and Barbarians, who known to others as the Forest Folk, but referred to themselves as “The People”. These Forest Folk worshipped the Archfey, who they called the Rozana, and built for them shrines, also called Fanes.

The first of the Archfey, or Rozana, is the Maiden, or the Huntress, who ruled the Mountains. The Forest Folk built for her a Shrine within a nearby hill, called Yesterhill, on the Western side of the valley. It was called this because next to it stood a wall of fog, The Whispering Wall, which whispered voices from the past and future.

“[The Forest Folk] believed that an ancient god gave up his divinity to preserve the world from destruction and that his last exhalation as a god produced this mist. Within it were all his memories of the world and all his visions of its possible futures, and with proper preparation, a seeker could go on a vision quest within it.”

CoS pg200

Whether this was true, or myth, is lost to time. She gave a gift to the greatest hunters of the Forest Folk, the gift of Lycanthropy, to turn into Wolves, and hunt alongside her.

The second of the Archfey is the Mother, or the Weaver, who ruled the Water. The Forest Folk built for her a Shrine deep within the Swamp in the South side of the valley. She was an expert in magic and manipulation, and how that magic is the thread from which you can weave reality. This is the same view of magic that many people call The Weave. She gave Lycanthropy to those who served her, so they could turn into Bears, and defend their families from danger.

The last of the Archfey is the Crone, or the Seeker, who ruled the Forest. She could see into the Future, and the Forest Folk built for her a Shrine on the Eastern side of the valley. She gifted the wisest of the Forest Folk with the ability to turn into Ravens, a symbol of wisdom, and to always see the big picture.

The last leader of the Forest Folk, before the Tergish Invasion, was Chief Kavan, a ruthless leader who lived in the Balinok Mountains, and who wielded a great magical spear stained with blood. He terrified the Tergs with his bizarre hunting practices, such as sleeping during the day, hunting at night, drinking the blood of his prey, and living in caves, including a cavern under Yesterhill.

However, the Forest Folk didn’t know that they shared this valley with one other group, one that counted on the valley’s low profile. A secret society of wizards, their names lost to time, had created a vault, one that could contain remnants of dead, malevolent entities that they had captured, high up in the mountains. They kept these remnants, or vestiges, in huge blocks of solid amber, to be locked away from humanity, for the rest of time, and they studied their forbidden knowledge. They called it the Amber Temple.

They dedicated the temple to a god of secrets, whom they trusted to keep it hidden from the rest of the world until the end of time. Unfortunately for the wizards, even the will of a god couldn’t prevent other evil creatures from learning the temple’s location. The wizards were forced to guard the temple themselves, to keep its secrets from falling into villainous hands. The evil forces that were imprisoned within the temple eventually corrupted the wizards, turning them against one another. The last surviving wizard was named Exethanter, who allowed himself to fall to the forces, turning himself into a Lich, so that he may continue his work for all time.

The Tergs

Nature could not hold the valley forever, however, as civilization eventually found it’s way in. That civilization came in the form of a minor Kingdom of the Tergs, and their King Dostron. Dostron claimed descent from a Duke of the Nine Hells, and his deeds did justice to this ancestry. Rumor has it that still within his fortress on what is now known as the Pillarstone of Ravenloft, an agent of Hell looks over his remains.

By and large the Tergs and the Forest Folk kept their distance. The Tergs founded a few villages, four to be exact, one by the Eastern pass, one by the Western pass, and two between them, one North and one South. The Tergs also brought with them worship of a new god, the Morninglord, a more organized religion, with rituals, ceremonies, and daily prayers. While Polytheism is certainly unsurprising in the world, the Tergs believed the power of the Morninglord was stronger than that of any Archfey of the valley. They built a church in three of the villages, and a full monastery in the fourth. They were not violent towards the Forest Folk and their worship of the Ladies Three, but they were certainly antagonistic. They said that to forsake the Morninglord and worship nature spirits is akin to worshipping the darkness of night itself. Over time, as often happens with faith, it was warped, and some now worship a singular figure Mother Night, though it’s roots come from the Ladies Three.

One powerful follower of the Morninglord was a Silver Dragon, named Argynvost. He followed the Tergish Kingdom into the valley, and discovered a threat to the devout, the Amber Temple. So he took on the duty of protecting the Tergish from the Amber Temple, by hiding it and stopping anyone from approaching. He brought knights from the Holy Empire of Valentia to help him create the Order of the Silver Dragon, who’s sole duty was to drive away malefactors searching for the Amber Temple.

One Tergish family is worth mentioning, however, the Martikovs. The Martikovs were winemakers, and lived where there was good soil, even though it was outside the walls of the Tergish villages. Because of this, they peacefully coexisted with the Forest Folk, and even began to worship the Ladies Three as opposed to the Morninglord, because they needed the blessings of the land to create good wine. Their worship was strong enough that they were later blessed with the gift of the Seeker, to turn into Wereravens.

von Zarovich

Then, there was Strahd. Really first there was King Barov von Zarovich, and his wife Queen Ravenia. We don’t know much about the von Zaroviches before they came to the valley, but one point we do know, is Queen Ravenia’s midwife was the great Baba Yaga. After Strahd was born, however, Queen Ravenia noticed that Baba Yaga had an unhealthy attachment to the young prince, and she banished Baba Yaga because of this.

When the Prince Strahd was an adult, King Barov led a campaign to expand his kingdom. We don’t know all of the details surrounding this campaign, but we do know that he gave his son an army to take a valley, the Tsolenka valley. One of the largest battles for the valley wasn’t against the Tergish army, but the Dragon Knights of Argynvost. Though even a great Dragon could not stop Strahd from conquering this valley.

If there were historians in Barovia, they would argue one moment of this battle. It is known that at some point during the war, Strahd took a fatal injury, and was rescued by a group of wandering merchants known as the Vistani. Some say that they helped him on the battlefield here, others say that Strahd actually dishonorably deserted the battlefield, and found the Vistani elsewhere. Either way, Strahd showed his appreciation for the Vistani, and promised them safe harbor and passage in and out of the valley for the rest of time.

Another footnote of this war, was that at some point a small kingdom of Dusk Elves were conquered, likely due to traitorous acts by a Dusk Elf named Rahadin. Rahadin was then granted a place in Court by King Barov, where he still serves to this day.

After years of war, Strahd settled the valley and named it Barovia in honor of his now deceased father. Atop the ruins of the Tergish fortress on the East side of the valley, Castle Ravenloft was built by artisans, wizards, and workers loyal to Strahd’s family, and named the castle after his mother, who died on the way to see it for the first time. The only family Strahd had to share in his achievements was his little brother, Sergei, who he had not met until now.

Strahd and Sergei both fell in love with the same Barovian peasant girl, Tatyana Federovna. Tatyana fell for Sergei, and the two were to be wed. Strahd, unable to accept this defeat by his own brother, searched for power great enough to show Tatyana that he was a much better suitor. That is when a new Archmage came to Strahd’s help.

Exethanter had lost his original vision, and now bursting with knowledge, wanted to share his expertise with someone. So, he came to Strahd’s aid, sensing that he was a man of destiny, and took the name of Khavan, and brought Strahd to the Amber Temple, so he could take this power himself. The evil powers in the temple felt something much stronger: a darkness that eclipsed their own.

Strahd found the dark vestige by the name of Vampyr, and forged a deal for strength and immortality. In order to seal this fell deal, Strahd would have to kill his own brother, Sergei, and drink his blood. So on the day of Sergei and Tatyana’s wedding, Strahd slayed and fed on him, turning him into a Vampire. He became the Ancient. Unfortunately, a side effect of this deal included sending the entire valley of Barovia into it’s own pocket dimension, called the Demiplane of Dread. Tatyana, in an attempt to hide from Strahd, feasting on his own brother, accidentally fell off the courtyard of Castle Ravenloft, falling down a massive cliff to her death.

Vampyr

Strahd has returned to the Amber Temple several times to learn new magic and to find a means of escaping his fate, but the Dark Powers have no intention of giving him up. One way Strahd had attempted to make himself stronger is by finding, corrupting, and stealing the power of the Archfey that lived in this valley. So one by one he found their shrines, deconsecrated them, and performed rituals to give himself control of the valley itself. He became the Land.

When the Ladies Three realized that Strahd was recruiting the Forest Folk to his cause and attempting to usurp their power in the valley, they saw the Martikovs as an honorable family, and gave to them three gems, one from each of them, that would preserve natural life. This represented a hope that one day they would return to power in the valley. The Martikovs took this honor with dignity, and committed themselves to surviving, and gathering information, so that one day, when the opportunity to fight Strahd came, they would be ready to lend their aid.

During Strahd’s desecration of the shrines for the Archfey, two priests of the Morninglord died defending them. They have been canonized for their sacrifice, and now the Abbey is named after St. Markovia, and the church in Vallaki is named after St. Andral. Strahd still formally recognizes the power of the church here, even though these names are an insult to him. He is a prideful man, but he sees this as an act of his great honor.

Evidence of their failure can be seen at Yesterhill. As part of Strahd’s desecration of the Mountain Fane, he fed undead minions to the great tree that grew above the Shrine, turning it into a Gulthias Tree, or Vampire Tree, known for spawning Blights (Vine, Needle, Twig, etc). Not to be confused with the first Gulthias Tree, which was grown from a stake that was used to kill a vampire named Gulthias, from which the magic gets it’s name.

Soon after Strahd’s new position of power was made clear, a woman from a local Dusk Elf community attempted to woo Strahd, and take Tatyana’s place by his side. Theoretical historians would once again disagree, whether Patrina Velikovna did this for the power of being the bride of Strahd, or to uncover secrets to kill him and free the now imprisoned valley and her people. It is clear, however, that the other Dusk Elves of her community believed her intentions to be for personal power, and so killed her for betraying her people. Unfortunately, Strahd was intending to make her his bride, and his wrath was great. He commanded that all Brides of the Dusk Elves would be put to the death, now and forever. And so, Rahadin, Dusk Elf traitor and servant of Strahd, carried out this order and murdered every married female Dusk Elf. There is only one female Dusk Elf of note left, Anya, who has banished herself from her community to avoid temptation. She now lives in Vallaki, and has a shop called Third Eye Potions and Sundries.

Over time, Strahd realized that the souls of all who die in the valley of Barovia never leave, and simply recycle, to be born again. Another unintended consequence of his condemnation of the valley. He learned this when he found Marina, the daughter of the Baron in Berez, who had a striking resemblance to his lost Tatyana. He quickly became infatuated with the girl, which terrified the Baron so much, he killed his only daughter. Once again, Strahd would have love ripped from his grasp. He summoned a flood to destroy Berez and everyone in it. But now he knew, it was possible to find Tatyana again, in her next life.

To pass the time, and increase the souls in the valley, Strahd allows people from beyond the mists to enter. Most of these “Outsiders” simply agree to their fate, and become a new citizen of Vallaki, as it’s the largest city here. Some of the Outsiders fancy themselves as heroes, and attempt to kill Strahd and free the valley. They inevitably die, and overtime their souls are so focused on their goal, that every night they rise up from the cemetery, march to the Castle Ravenloft, and fail once again, in a Sisyphean curse. However, there has been at least one group of Outsiders who successfully killed Strahd and freed this valley. Unfortunately, Vampyr did not allow this to last. He brought back the mists, rose Strahd from the dead, and ensured that no one would remember. This was roughly 400 years ago. There are only three souls in the valley that truly know how long the curse has lasted. Strahd, Sergei, and Tatyana.

Recent History

As we get closer to the start of this campaign, the details become a bit more important.

Sixteen years ago, the newest incarnation of Tatyana is born, as Ireena Kolyanovich. She is the trueborn daughter of the Baron of Barovia, and younger sister to Ismark. It wasn’t until her sixteenth birthday that Strahd recognized her for who she truly is. Her sixteenth birthday, incidentally, is the same day our adventurers enter the mists, and are trapped in Barovia.

Ten years ago, a group of Outsiders came in that can still be found. The leader of this group is a famed scientist, Dr. Viktra Mordenheim, from the land of Lamordia. Her traveling companions included Lief Lipsiege, an accountant, and Escher, a bard. These were not mercenary monsters hunters, they were not a group. They were little more than people travelling between major cities together. So when they arrived together in Barovia, their goals were not the same. Escher, having heard stories of famous monster hunters, wanted to become famous, and attempted to defeat Strahd. He was so under prepared, that Strahd found it amusing, and actually turned him into a Vampire Spawn Consort for his own entertainment. However, Sergei was successful in one way, in destroying the Heart of Sorrow, a magical regenerative crystalline heart that is able to absorb damage that Strahd might take. Strahd was able to repair the heart, however, by finding and stealing one of the gems of the Martikovs. Strahd charmed the whole family one night, forced them to tell him where he could find one, and then Modified their Memory with a magical spell, so that none of them would remember what truly happened.

Lief is imprisoned to pointlessly count Strahd’s wealth until he naturally dies of old age. The Doctor, however, Strahd had different plans for her. You see, The Doctor was famed for her scientific achievements in bringing someone back from the dead without the use of Divine Magic, or any magic for that matter. So Strahd made her a deal, the same deal he has given every Outsider. If they are able to get Tatyana back to Strahd, then he will free them from Barovia in exchange. The Doctor took up residence in the old Abbey in Krezk, and Strahd even has given her a gift to help with her work. Every day at 3pm, a bolt of lightning will strike the Abbey, to give The Doctor the power she needs for her work. She has been practicing ever since on other Outsiders, seeing if she can successfully combine body parts from a corpse into working condition. When she is confident, she will gather the pieces to match the description she has learned of Tatyana, and see if her Flesh Golem creation is good enough to win her freedom.

One year ago, another powerful Outsider made her way into the valley. A great archmage named Tasha, or Iggwilv in some circles. Tasha is actually the daughter of Baba Yaga, and wants to find why she hides in this gods forsaken valley, and return to her place as Mother of All Witches. Baba Yaga is still obsessed with Strahd, and has lived in this valley almost exclusively, hoping to earn his love. During a fight between the Mother and Daughter, Tasha damaged Baba Yaga’s hut so it could no longer move of it’s own accord. During Tasha’s attempts to convince her mother, she revealed a secret she had discovered, the truth of the Martikovs and their wereraven lycanthropy. So Baba Yaga has since made it her mission to create constructed living Scarecrows to capture and torture every Raven she sees in the valley.

Tasha decided it would be best for her to just kill this Strahd person, besides, how powerful could one vampire be? Extremely, it turns out. Even though she managed to convince a number of local villagers to join her in storming Castle Ravenloft, Strahd defeated her, and threw her from the balcony. The same balcony that Tatyana fell from that fateful day. He also sent back one of the villagers, Doru, the son of the Priest in Barovia, as a Vampire Spawn, to remind them what he can do to those who misbehave. Tasha was presumed dead, until people noticed her north of Lake Zarovich by Vallaki, and now has the reputation as the Mad Mage of Mount Baratok. Her spellbook was unknowingly found by the Baronet of Vallaki, Victor Vallakovich.

Three months ago, famed monster hunter Rudolph van Richten made it his mission to defeat Strahd von Zarovich. He donned a disguise as Rictavio, the Carnival Barker, and found a Vistani named Yon who he convinced to take him into the hidden valley. Three weeks ago Rudolph’s old protoge, Ezmerelda d’Avenir, heard that her old mentor took on such a difficult challenge, and has followed him there. She has yet to find him.

Five days ago Baba Yaga managed to make a deal with the Forest Folk to raid the home of the Martikovs and find one of the Gems that help their vineyard. She then used that gem to repair her hut so it may move again.

Today, on the 16th birthday of Ireena Kolyanovich, our party enters the mists on the western side of the valley, near Krezk.

This is a lot of history, and it does not all match up with what is written in the official campaign, but I believe that as you go through the adventure, these changes won’t be unmanageable, and will in fact help make the story more cohesive in general. If you find something important you believe should be included, or severely contradicts this history, please let me know.