#Barovian Fashion

[thecatslug]

Let’s Flesh-Out Barovia: Part 1

As an amalgamation of Polish, Romani, and Hungarian/Transylvanian ancestry, I feel it my duty to try and flesh out Barovia, because WotC does a shit job at it. This series is meant as somewhat of a love-letter to my slavic/Magyar background and to make Barovia feel real, instead of a Bram Stoker caricature. So without further ado, let’s kick things off with what should be a core part of Barovian culture: Clothing

The CoS module has a blurb about barovian clothing which- if memory serves- goes something like “they dress in shades of gloomy black and grey.” Ok WotC, I know you’re bad at portraying peoples based on irl cultures (*cough* Vistani *cough*) but what hottopic emo spirit possessed you here? Screw the “oh it’s vampire and Slavic so it’s emo” mentality. We’re going back to our roots kids, and taking a deep dive into Hungarian, Polish, and even Russian traditional clothing to make Barovia logical again.

Slavic and Magyar peoples are known for their brutally realistic and somewhat gloomy dispositions, but that doesn’t actually extend to their entire lives. Take one look at any Slavic or ESPECIALLY Hungarian clothing or folk art, and you’ll realize they are among the most creative and colourful peoples in Europe. When your people groups have struggled for centuries against horrible conditions, you tend to develop gorgeous art to combat the lingering depression and hopelessness. Barovia should be no different. Barovians may be gloomy, pessimistic, and suspicious- but they take pride in their clothing. While they might trend towards darker colors for practicality’s sake, heavily embroidered and embellished clothing should be the norm! It’s a jarring difference from the horrors of Ravenloft, and should give a sense of humanity to the people of Barovia. While they may not care for the elaborate silks and frilly fabrics of other nations, their pain stakingly hand embroidered clothing should show their industrious and creative nature- a nature which is still down to earth and practical.

So let’s do a summarized rundown of how Barovian fashion should be, in a more realistically grounded Barovia.

Hand embroidered everything. Women’s clothing will be far more extensive, but even men will have embroidery around their cuffs and collars and shirts. Formal and celebratory clothing will obviously be more heavily adorned, but even their daily clothes have some spark of personal creativity.

Now this is still an edgy gothic setting, so Barovians will trend towards darker base colors for their clothing. However this is also out of practicality, because light garments are harder to remove stains from… and dark clothing, especially blacks and reds, hides blood fat more easily.

Fabric wise, you’re looking at utilitarian cottons and linens for your base garments. They’re breathable but warm in a pinch. For vests, under garments, and insulating outer garments you’re looking at wool which might be of brighter accent colouring, depending on the person. You will RARELY see satin, velvet, or silk save for accent sashes/garments, highly formal outer garments, or styles bleeding over from domains like Richemulot. Any sort of extravagant accenting is carefully cared for, and partially influenced by the Vistani in the area. Silk headscarves and sashes are about as flamboyantly impractical as commoners will get for daily attire.

Of course, furs are a big part of Barovian clothing and fashion. Fur hats, boots, lined cloaks, etc. are ALL common to Barovia, as are lamb skin vests. Wolf fur is the most commonly used, because they’re endemic to the region. You will almost never find a barovian without at least two hearty, fur lines, winter cloaks and hats. No expense is spared when it comes to keeping warm, especially in the freezing northern regions or around the central mountain range.

So because of all these hyper specific and unique clothing traits, foreigners stand out like a sore thumb. Worse still, adventurers who poke fun at barovian fashion will quickly find themselves on the receiving end of a verbal roasting. Other domains are canonically extremely snooty and look down on Barovian culture as being “behind the times.” Barovia’s north western neighbours are general the culprits here (looking at you Dementleiu) and Barovians are fiercely defensive (because they’re right, north western Ravenloft fashion is impractical and sucks. That’s my biased slavic opinion). Needless to say, players who openly embrace Barovian attire will quickly find themselves in the good graces of the common folk (and Strahd, tbh) ESPECIALLY if they partake in trash talking other fashion trends, and adopt Barovian fashion when travelling to other domains.

When it comes to finding clothing claims/inspiration (if you’re *that* nerdy DM like me) you’re going to want to search up medieval Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian clothing, as well as Slavic folk clothing and ESPECIALLY Hungarian folk embroidery! Traditional Slavic/Magyar clothing isn’t just western clothing with some flowers on it. It has its own very unique cut and style. Please Google it! I’ll add some example pics at the end, but Pinterest is your BFF here.

To round this little article out, let’s finish up with how this effects Strahd (and the other big bad Barovian NPC’s) attire. While he is absolutely going to stick to blacks and reds where he can (it’s on brand and it hides blood) he’s going to adhere to the same hand embroidered and Slavic fashion senses as his subjects. This will make Strahd look somewhat odd to the players! He’s not going to be the gothic knockoff Dracula in a Victorian vest that they expect! He’s going to have embellishments and personal touches to his attire that could catch players somewhat off guard. It humanizes him in the weirdest way. After all, Barovians are the medieval goth kids of Ravenloft! Everything is somewhat handmade or hand modded, and Strahd is no different! Of course, this means that poking fun at his attire (or any barovian attire in his vicinity) could lead to some rather sadistic repercussions. He wouldn’t kill the players… but he might burn their clothing and put embargoes on selling clothing to the party until they learn to appreciate the local culture!

(Thank you if you’ve read this far! Welcome to my corner of Slavic/Magyar ramblings. I’m here for the long haul to help bring life to the pretty bland Barovia. I’ve got all this stuff in my DM notes, so might as well share with the world! Feel free to comment, steal, etc. y’all know the drill!)

#Barovian Fashion #curse of strahd #ravenloft #dnd #dungeons and dungeons #barovia #LFOB #dungeon master #dnd setting

[cos-rebitten]

been thinking about barovian fashions! i like knowing the building blocks of what is standard or ideal for fashion the barovian pcs are under the cut

#cos rebitten #curse of strahd #fashion #lena rebitten #caspian rebitten #dustin rebitten #emmi rebitten

[barovianchickenandwaffles]

The Lost Manuscript: another Barovian Tale

(Dedicated to @darklordazalin )

So, there I was one night hauling trash to the heap out back behind BCnW, when a looming shadow rose from behind it. Now, as any Barovian knows, looming shadows arising from behind are bad.

But instead of some nameless horror, it was a young man in a black, uniform, stained with much blood. His own.

He collapsed in a heap, on the heap, and reached out to me. “Please,” he said weakly.

“Sorry, pal, no refunds.”

“No, my name is Domran, and I am a junior officer with the Kargat.”

Aww, crap, it was the fuzz. What did I do this time? I paid Rahadin’s last kickback on time.

Wait, the Kargat serve Lord Azalin, or as we Barovians are commanded to call him, “Stupid Face Jerk Nerd”.

“What does Stupid Face—, er, Lord Azalin want here?”

Domran the Kargat agent explained, “We Kargat agents were dispatched to Barovia to retrieve a copy of a manuscript called The Lord of the Necropolis.”

“That’s everywhere. Where do you think I get such a steady supply of toilet p-, er, reading material at BCnW?”

“No!” gasped Domran, “this one is different. It is said that this is a lost manuscript with an alternate ending, one that contains some hidden secret. Lord Azalin dispatched us to find it.”

I nodded, “cool story, bruh, but nothing like that here.”

“Please,” he said with his last breath, “help me complete my mission. Lord Azalin would no doubt be grateful.”

Well, I had always wanted to expand into Darkon. My ventures in Sithicus and Falkovnia were both spectacular failures. But this time, I could not fail.

“You got it, Donnie.”

“Domr—“ he gasped as he died.

After disposing the body in the heap, I returned to the shop.

“Gary, you’re in charge for a while.”

Gary, the High-master Illithid / barista waved his facial tentacles for a moment. “Looking for that lost manuscript, boss?” came a smooth, unnerving voice in my head.

Great. That’s what happens when you hire a powerful psychic monster as your hardworking, but traitorous employee.

“I pulled from his mind clues to help in your search,” he continued in my head, “it seems there is a ruined monastery hidden on the cliff side beneath Krezk. It is perilous to retrieve it.”

“The only thing in peril is your salary,” I said audibly, “if you don’t mind the shop while I am gone.”

Gary’s was silent. I then threw him a bone. “The body’s out back. It’s still warm. Go nuts.”

Gary’s tentacles wriggled. “I prefer fresher quarry, but it’s been a long shift and I am famished.”

As I assembled some supplies in the pantry, Viktor the Pantry Ghost / ex-intern appeared from the shadows.

Moaning, he said, “going on a quest again? It sure would be a shame if you died, and I wouldn’t be bound to this pantry any more.”

I rolled my eyes, shoving the last of the supplies in my rucksack. “Don’t celebrate my death yet, Viktor.”

And thus I set out from Barovia village to Krezk. It was a miserable journey even by Barovian standards. I made the mistake of picking up an adventuring party on my mule-drawn cart. The elderly wizard of the group, whom everyone obviously disliked but had to tolerate, wouldn’t stop droning on and on and on about his old adventures decades past. Then, he would launch into another tirade about how wizards nowadays sucked and didn’t respect magic anymore. Finally he’d complain about his knees for the 100th time. It was so bad, the usual spooks that infest the woods avoided us.

When he stopped to use the restroom in the woods, in true Barovian fashion, we took off without him. The party thanked me later.

“If he ever tracks you down, just blame it on werewolves. Works every time,” I left them some parting advice. They left me a few silver to compensate. Not bad.

Krezk, Krezk, Krezk. What can I say about it? It’s a crappy town, but then everything’s crappy in Barovia, just in different ways. The Devil Strahd holds less sway here, but the Krezk nightlife is kind of … meh. These people don’t get out much, and don’t welcome outsiders. I had to bring a shipment of syrup for trade to get in the door. This will set me back a bit.

And once I got past the village gate, that was when I ran into my rival, Vlad, owner of Barovian Weiners and Pancakes.

“Hello, Vlad” I said icily as we passed one another.

With a smirk he said, “oh hello, Oleksii. You’re looking well. Profits good?”

Of course he already knew the answer so I ignored the slight. “How’s the new barista working out?”

Word gets around, Vlad had copied my idea, and hired a barista hailing from a distant plane.

“Oh, John the Thri-Kreen? He’s great! Doesn’t say much, but with so many arms he’s twice as fast as Gary.”

“Twice as hungry too,” I thought to myself. Vlad won’t last long with that monstrosity under his employ. I wouldnt shed any tears though.

Getting to Krezk is one thing, finding the Lost Manuscript is another.

Or not.

Turns out BWnP already found it. On Vlad’s tacky storefront was a signboard: “See the lost manuscript of Lord Azalin, and its alternate ending! For a limited time with a purchase of a Vlady Big Weiner Meal!”

I swallowed my pride and went in. I purchased a meal using copper slugs, and there it was in a glass case, enshrined in a gaudy altar, surrounded by candles: Lord of the Necropolis, alternate ending!

As I filed into the queue to get a closer look, I wracked my brains for how to open the altar without being caught, smuggled the manuscript out of town, and avoid the authorities.

Then I remembered the classic Barovian gambit: the Smash N Grab.

With my trusty crowbar in my pack (never leave home without one), I yelled, “hey is that Strahd over there, wearing beach sandals?” pointing in some random direction.

As soon as everyone’s eyes were turned, I drew out the crowbar, smashed the glass, and snatched the manuscript from the altar.

What happened next was a good ol Barovian Cart Chase. Using some tricks I learned from a pair of Dukes reputedly from the domain of Hazárd, I eluded the Krezk constabulary, busted out of the town and managed to lose them halfway to Vallaki. Last I saw Vlad, he was shaking his fist at me, just as his Thri-Kreen employee appeared right behind him with a hungry look on its face.

Back in Barovia village, I finally could rest easy. I parked back behind BCnW and prepared for Vlad’s inevitable counterattack. Content with my defenses, I finally cracked open the book and flipped toward the end. Gary slinked behind me and read over my shoulder.

Turns out, someone had simply crossed out the last chapter or so from a regular copy, and instead added the following:

“When Azalin came to, he was lying on a bed of flowers, seared by the powerful magic he had contended with. He looked at his hands in horror, realizing that he had been thrust back into his original lich form.

“With a cry of anguish, he cursed his tormentors one more. Then he froze. This was no ordinary garden. He knew it well. It was the garden in Castle Ravenloft. What had his tormentors planned this time?

“Then he knew he wasn’t alone. Behind him, the presence of Strahd Von Zarovich oozed from below the floor like black ink. ‘So, we meet again,’ said the silky baritone voice.

“‘Once again, our tormentors have seen fit to throw us into the ring once more,’ Azalin replied in irritation, his mind racing to line up the spells he’d need to fend off Strahd.

“But Strahd didn’t attack. He held out his hand to help Azalin up. ‘I know that pain well.’

“Azalin stared into Strahd’s feral, red eyes for a long time. ‘This is what it sounds like when doves cry.’

“The two Darklords embraced for a moment, and Strahd said, ‘I know a good bratwurst and pancake place in Krezk, let’s go.’

The End.”

Dammit, Vlad.

#ravenloft #dnd #ttrpg #barovia #tumblrloft #d&d #dungeons and dragons #waffles #life in barovia #azalin rex #darkon #Kargat #weiners #barovian tales #curse of strahd

[darklordazalin]

Ravenloft Lore Tuesdays

Domain Focus for May: Barovia; The First Domain of not quite the First Vampire Domain Formation: 351 BC

Lore: The Story of Jacqueline Montarri of Krezk.

Jacqueline Monatarri is a noblewoman who lives in a lavish home in the village of Krezk. Well, lavish by Barovian standards…

A rather vain woman, Jacqueline desired eternal youth and believed the Vistani held its secret. She sought out Madam Eva the raunie of the Zarovan Vistani. It is said that the Zarovan tribe exist in non-linear time, essentially meaning they not only can travel freely through the Mists but through time as well. This makes them potent seers and one would be entirely foolish to ignore their divinations.

Madam Eva refused to assist Jacqueline in her quest for eternal youth and beauty until the Krezkian threatened her with a knife pressed up against her throat. Only then did Madam Eva inform her that the secret was in the library of Castle Ravenloft. Satisfied with Eva’s response, Jacqueline slit the old seer’s throat and proceeded to von Zarovich’s Castle.

The secret of eternal youth and beauty (if one was already beautiful before their undeath, anyway) did lie within Ravenloft’s humble library as its master was within. There, Strahd attacked the young woman, drained her to the brink of death, then threw her in a cage. One of Strahd’s servants carted her to the Village of Barovia (I suppose Krezk was too far for this idle servant) where she was beheaded for the crime of trespassing.

The Zarovan Vistani were amongst the crowd that watched her beheading and requested that her body be turned over to them for Jacqueline had killed Madam Eva. Strahd’s servant agreed on the behalf of his lord and the Vistani carted Jacqueline’s body away. The Vistani wove complex magic only truly understood by the Vistani themselves and restored Jacqueline to life.

When she awoke and found herself in a Vistani vardo, Jacqueline fled certain the Vistani had brought her back for their own ill purposes. It wasn’t until she was safety in her home that she happened upon a mirror and saw the true horror of what she had wrought upon herself. The Vistani had restored her to life, even granted her eternal life, but the head that sat upon her shoulders was no longer her own, but the head of Madam Eva fashioned onto her neck by a simple red ribbon. If she removed the ribbon, the head came off with it.

Enraged and disgusted, Jacqueline confronted Madam Eva’s kin once more. They delighted in her torment and informed her that the only way to undo her curse and gain her the eternal life and beauty she desired was to seek out and restore her true head.

Since then, Jacqueline has learned much about her condition. Only the ribbon will hold her head on securely, but she can don any human female head she desires. In doing so, she retains her own persona but learns the skills of the former owner’s. She keeps a collection of heads in glass cases at her home, though often collects those she finds visually appealing over those that may be of more use to her.

Where does Jacqueline’s true head reside? Well, there are rumors that it now lies on a shelf in Castle Avernus in Darkon. I, personally, will not confirm nor deny this accusation.

How to Use the Lore in Your Game:

Jacqueline can be added as an NPC of interest in Krezk in Curse of Strahd or any adventure set in Barovia. If using Curse of Strahd, it is feasible she may work with The Abbot, providing him with ideal body parts whereas she keeps the heads.

Jacqueline has a vorpal sword she often uses on her victims to collect their heads. A series of murders where the victims’ heads are missing throughout Barovia may be a quest for the PCs to investigate. One body found with its head no where to be found is strange but multiple? Well, that’s a pattern and likely the work of an individual.

Jacqueline herself is forever searching for her original head. She could, feasibly, hire the party to search potential locations for her. Perhaps she has information or an item the party desperately needs and is willing to trade if they find her head for her.

Potential locations include Castle Avernus in Darkon (Azalin does keep a collection of severed heads in one of his labs), The Abbey of Saint Markovia (The Abbot has his own collection of body parts and this may be a way to encourage players to seek The Abbot out in Curse of Strahd), Lamordia (let’s be honest, almost any lab or university in Lamordia has severed heads laying around), Bluetspur (Illithid experimentation may just require a human head or two), Castle Ravenloft (Strahd is not one to let go of grudges and hanging onto her head for not only trespassing but killing a Vistana under his protection may inspire him to further her torment).

The Headless Horseman is also a Darklord in Ravenloft and travels along The Winding Road, which can appear in any Domain at any time. The Horseman is, obviously, in search of his own head. However, in his wake, a small army of floating heads follows him. One of these heads could be Jacqueline’s.

#Ravenloft #Barovia #Jacqueline Montarri #Ravenloft Lore Tuesdays #lore #Madam Eva #Strahd von Zarovich

[hiscet]

Hello! I just wanted to say I love your strahd designs!!! I love the decision to make Ez’s hair baubles lie flat around her bandana a lot, the bat wing shape in Strahd’s cape, and overall how versatile every design is. You have a great range and the care you put in shows :D i was wondering, what do you take into consideration when designing, and are there any elements you’re particularly proud of? Have a lovely day!!

thanks! :D

uhhh gee i've never really tried to explain my process before, but i guess the main thing i've been doing with my curse of strahd designs is trying to combine real world culture with fantasy stuff. for the most part i was just building on preexisting designs— i found a lot of the character designs in cos were just sort of generic in terms of costuming, which is disappointing since the setting is so blatantly inspired by eastern europe and theres no shortage of folk costumes to be inspired by

i will put the rest of this in a readmore bc it's kinda long haha

i would say the main thing i try to do is try to find real world influence for a lot of my designs but to also tailor them specifically to the character's function? i watched an interview with matt rhodes several years ago where he explained his character design process as reverse engineering real world concepts for fictional purposes and that's always kinda stuck with me. obviously a lot of characters ive illustrated for cos are very influenced by costumes from east/southeast europe, ie for ismark i was very into doing something with stroj krakowski, but i wanted to make the frock coat into a gambeson to more suit his character.

and then similarly ofc characters like ireena and strahd were also riffed off of real world costumes from different regions in eastern europe. in particular i was really proud of what i did for the martikovs; since they're wereravens i thought it would be interesting to put some shiny stuff in their costumes, so i added some decorations to them very loosely based off the coin ornamentation that's very common in many folk costumes from the balkans (although i changed them to be pieces of metal and ceramic, since i don't think barovians would be fond of flaunting precious metals lol)

then for the brides, i actually ended up working in the opposite direction, i wanted their costumes to be very different and kind of high fashion by contrast, just to emphasize how different they are from the rest of the setting/reflect their personalities. ludmilla in particular wears a very asymmetrical and sort of layered gown, b/c in my campaign she's very independent and introspective. and otoh, anastrasya is wearing a lot of jewelry and has a very dramatic silhouette because her personality is very flamboyant and glamorous (also, her design was specifically inspired by both jessica rabbit and morticia addams. hehe).

ez and van richten i didn't alter a ton because i already really like their designs, but i did want to emphasize more of the monster hunter/adventurer stuff by adding scars/weapons to their designs and tattoos to ez and making her more muscular. i developed sort of a headcanon that vistani sometimes do tattooing similar to real-life sailor tattoos. also for rvr, i definitely wanted him to look more world-weary and cautious, bordering on paranoid.

the abbot is basically just medieval papal garb with more fancy fantasy style stuff added but it was really fun to design. and godfrey is my party's fated ally, so he felt deserving of a fullbody illustration. his armour was very much influenced by @/grace-sketches fantastic work, and i also wanted to overall make him look more weathered and corpselike.... so i also chopped his nose off. lol

#ask #huntedsmark #my apologies i took so long to respond to this T__T didn't see it at first and then i spent forever picking away at a concise response #but i'm very bad at being concise. lol

[tea-with-eleni]

Work in progress: Ireena Kolyana

I really liked this picture of Tatyana, but wasn’t as big a fan of their work for Ireena... tried to use a lot of the same imagery, make it look like the same girl, but also look more like the Ireena from our campaign. 

Also, I think that after 700 years, Barovian fashion would have trended towards high collars...and Ireena in particular would favor high collar shirts. Every little helps, right? 

#curse of strahd #ireena kolyana #ireena kolyana art #dnd character

[prose-priest-potentate]

All the new outfits! In Order:

- Casual base layers, just the comfortable new clothes they have made and wear on the daily in the style of normal Barovian fashion. They need to look nice.

- Festival attire in the style of the Mulani people, back in Imrath’s home city. Imrath’s clothes are made specifically to match his friends’ clan colors, while Izek’s are designed to match Imrath’s holy armor. It’s all about interconnectedness and matching who you belong with. Note, their matching bracelets.

- Adventure gear! Izek deserves a cool ass jacket, and Imrath adopts a slutty little waist cincher with fire motifs.

- Dragonborn Formal Wear! Beautiful, carefully crafted scalemail in various metals that match the dragonborn they’re made for, meant to shine and make noise in traditional dances. Imrath’s has been altered by his aunt to match his new god’s colors, and Izek’s are embroidered with shining golden feathers to match Imrath and his family.

- The boys’ new armor! Imrath finally got platemail, and decided to lean back into his ancestry with the motifs. Izek gets fire and wolf motifs to match his new White Wolf themes.

#imrath amauna #izek stazni #my art #outfits

[lawful-evil-novelist]

✍🏽 how long do you plan ahead for fics? And if i may, is there a point where you know an idea is going to end up in writing?

How much I plan ahead heavily depends on the fic. I have two fics, Birds of a Feather and A Hunter in the Mist, that have alphas to plot out direction and general dialogue. A Hunter in the Mist required a lot of planning hence the alpha and Birds of a Feather is for a property I have never written in so I want it perfectly polished before I post it. The Smiling One was originally started with the idea that it would be finished before I posted it, but it's defaulted to the same mode as most of my fics: Generally I like to have a buffer of 4-6 chapters prewritten before I post anything so I can edit and fix up stuff before I post.

Alphas usually go through dialogue and description changes before they translate to a written copy. A Hunter in the Mist's alpha has Barovian fashion in a strictly medieval style but I already know the beta will pivot to a more Victorian style.

Honestly, I'm never sure when things go to paper. I have a few AUs that are still in plotting stage but I haven't started writing them. Eventually an idea will become an early concept, and how I'll write it comes out of how much planning is necessary.

#asks #answered #writing

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without Context

Ravenloft edition, Dementlieu 10.5

Here in Port-A-Lucine, THE event is the grand Masquerade hosted by the Duchess Saidra D’Honaire at her palatial island estate.

And now, from this week's Town Scrier, a glimpse at the latest in Dementlieu fashion, as worn by the enigmatic adventurers who have taken the city’s gossip by storm

First we have Jonathana, She Who Makes Torches Of Men, consort of the Ifreeti Princess Leshavna

Dame Jonni is wearing a stunning gown that mixes both Borcan and Hazlanti stylings, as beautiful as she is deadly

Up next is local musician and bon vivant Irost Coldplay, who most recently played the title role in a sold-out one-night only production of Fortunato’s Follies

while normally clinging to the long-outdated ‘Kartakassan look’, for tonight, Master Coldplay has adopted traditional Barovian. Many try to emulate the famed Count Zarovich, but only the Duchess can say if he succeeds.

Following behind him is the enigmatic Mister Gorbash, who single-handedly saved the aformentioned production, yet still arrived in style and a very nice hat

Gorbash is sporting a stylish yet practical I'Cath-inspired ensemble, capped off with an ever fashionable Port-A-Lucine captain's hat.

and bringing up the rear we have Sri Marshal, who was first seen arm-in-arm with Madame Y, one of Dementlieu’s own beloved Three Godmothers, before his debut during a fete at the  Bonniville Museum of the sea, refusing to be upstaged by Marquis Calix, before stunning everyone by visiting the Duchess herself the day before the ball, an unprecedented power move in our illustrious socal politics for his survival.

this armored gentleman is sporting a ceremonial cape and armored surcoat in Sithican dark elf fashion

Finally, walking arm in arm with the black knight is his plus one, Ms. Nyx Folkor, a professional treasure hunter whom while present at tall of these events the past week, was outshone by her companions.

regardless, Ms. Folkor has followed Dame Jonni’s example, sporting a Mordent/Borca fusion. hopefully it will be enough to meet the satisfaction of the Duchess

#dungeons and dragons #dnd 5e #quotes without context #ravenloft #fashion week

[rahadaddy]

Ismark: lilac + chrysanthemum

HCs about NPCs: Saturday Game Edition | Accepting!

lilac :   what was your muse’s childhood like ? how has their upbringing affected them as they’ve aged ?

The village of Barovia is no place to bring up children - it is a place to bring up warriors, if you are lucky. Ismark was lucky. The son of the burgomaster, one of the few remaining barons in the valley of Barovia, he was tutored in letters, numbers, government, and swordplay. He had one younger sister, Ireena, who was his best friend and one of the few children in the village with whom he could spar and play and talk. He would not call it a lonely childhood, but it was. The Kolyanaviches wanted to keep their children safe from the Devil Strahd and, in the end, might have failed. This means that though Ismark trained with a blade for many years and dreamed of cutting down the tyrant himself, that outcome seems doubtful. This means that though Kolyan wanted his son to be a great leader after him, the people began calling Ismark "the Lesser" before he was put into the ground. This means that Ismarks adulthood has been spent knowing he is no match for the Count when it comes to keeping his sister safe. He was raised to hold impossible goals and dreams dear to his heart and the older he's gotten, the more bitter he has become. He has fought hard not to despair as other Barovians do and crawl into a bottle, but, well... the party meets Ismark in a tavern for a reason and it isn't that this is D&D and all great quests begin there.

The weight of leadership weighs heavily on Ismark in ways echoed throughout a valley of young leaders, but perhaps in a special way, too. Of the new generation of burgomasters, he rules the kingdom most full of ghosts. Barovia Village is described in the book as a place full of wailing and zombies and boarded doors and windows. In my game, it is where the Blood Tax takes the bloody form of The Purge as Volenta and her army descend upon villagers, scenting out souled Barovians to bleed dry. The people, even the sun-touched souls, are less a community than in Vallaki or Krezk than a sheep pen of livestock who know they are safer from wolves in numbers. What is Ismark meant to do with that? His father had a good rule until his last days, but though those last days were at most four weeks ago, people are already discussing Kolyan's failings and Ismark's. And now that Ismark has disappeared from Barovia Village, I'm sure many argue that he truly was too soft to rule and not the swordsman his father had hoped. If they knew where he was, what he was doing, I think his people would either praise it as the savviest political move they've yet seen or else mark it as the end of the line and remind each other that Ismark the Lesser was always a fool with foolish ambitions. If Doru could not take on the Devil and live, why should Ismark? I think if Barovia Village could have had its way, they would have installed Ireena Kolyana as burgomaster and bid her marry Doru Donavich because they had inspiring, passionate, sun-touched souls that outshone Ismark's quieter, but still sun-touched nature. Ismark knew he did not shine like his sister and that even as a child, his community dreaded the day he led them, but they accepted him as Kolyan's heir and that would be sufficient and they would pray that the Morning Lord could guide him since Ismark Kolyanavich was fashioned to be second to others, not their leader. He watched people and understood them, especially his people and the adventurers passing through their gates, and he understood them all too well. He was not the inspiring leader his father was, who could protect Barovia Village through ravaging Blood Taxes. He was not his mother who was valued for her beauty and gentle spirit. He was not his passionate sister, who was odd and wondrous and plucked from the brightest pages of a fairy tale. He was not the headstrong son of a priest, who would claim the right hand of a foreign wizard to lay siege to Ravenloft. He was Ismark - just Ismark on a good day and Ismark the Lesser when people thought he couldn't hear. He channeled his childish dismay into sword fighting and research of the history of Barovia and into art. He became good at it all. He has read and dreamed of great battles and has practiced with any manner of sword or shield he could lay his hands upon. He is a deadly fighter, a wealth of knowledge, and a thoughtful man. He has a talent, an appreciation, and a love for art and even knows how to make his own paints and dyes from Barovian plantlife. His mother was a painter - Barovia village's last.

Truthfully, Ismark takes after his and Ireena's mother and Ireena takes after their father. Though Ismark and Ireena are both talented fighters, Ismark would rather make art as his mother taught him and Ireena to, and Ireena would be better off carving up vampire spawn. He's a good and sensitive man and there is a streak of hardness and battle in him that he swears up and down is simply his destiny. Is it, Ismark? It may also be of interest to note that Lady Karelova-Indrevna was the last mortal to go to Castle Ravenloft to paint its inhabitants and return unscathed. Perhaps Ismark's ability to survive there this long speaks to some inner strength, some teaching of his mother's, or something else altogether. He, like his mother, is calm, reserved, and enjoys the little pleasures of life with immense gratitude. He learned from her to be brave and to enjoy the little things because the world is full of big evils and tomorrow is no guarantee, Isya, so we must live today and thank the gods for the good.

chrysanthemum :   how does your muse express romantic love ? how do they feel about love as a concept ?

I don't think Ismark has ever really carved out time for romantic love. I think he wishes he could have - could still - but such wishes are neither here nor there, given his current predicament. As I said, he is a sensitive soul, an artist, and a fighter. He would see romance as an extension of these things. He'd want to take care of his lover, provide for them, and protect them while creating little reminders of the beauty in the world for them. I think he would absently sketch the object of his affections with the tenderest care, but insist that, truthfully, how he will show his devotion is by protecting them from all of Barovia's horrors. I think if he was softer, he'd fancy himself a white knight, but this is Barovia. He's not softer. He's practical. Providing for one's lover and protecting them from all the horrors of a Barovian night is how one shows love. Art is how one may woo in a world where beauty is hard to find. There are few he wants to woo if anyone at all.

Love is not something that he has had the luxury of indulging in, as I've said. He has always known that as the future (now current) burgomaster of Barovia, he would have to take a wife to carry on the family line. It would be nice to love his wife romantically, but he does not think that that's strictly necessary, as there is no guarantee his wife would have a soul or be a romantic match. He expects marriage to be political and, indeed, I do think he half-expects to marry Rozaliya Krezkova, who is barely more than a child, so he does not expect a grand romance with her. Therefore, he's not opposed to looking beyond the marriage bed for romantic companionship, but, again, he has been so preoccupied since Strahd began his assault on the family home that neither romance nor sex has been at the forefront of his mind.

I think if you were to ask him at the dinner how he feels about romantic love, he would either not know how to respond or have a complicated and possibly uncomfortable answer.

#ch: ismark kolyanavich #g: saturday #hc: ismark kolyanavich #ask: headcanon

[thatunaturalmango]

Wild D&D Session

I'm currently playing Curse of Strahd with my D&D party and my DM is either a Sadistic man or a genious, maybe a little of both. I'm playing a Bloodhunter (Order of the Lycan, He's currently LVL. 4) with the Haunted one background, not to go super deep into his backstory he was dishonerably dischared from military service becasue people thought he was crazy. He joins the order of the Lycan to gain strength and expertise to hunt monsters, and in particular vampires.

The session started out normally enough and we were sent to the Watcher house to find blackmaill regarding the Stella Watcher (the daughter), we did what we asked and told him something that was close to the truth but skirted around a lie (we told him at the Sun festival she had extreme eye rot) as to not casue out right war or destruction of the Watcher house or to the Burgomaster's house.

Yesterday at the the wollf's head Jamboree Alexander (that's his name) ran into an old war time friend who rose thrugh the ranks and promised to change his status of discharge to honorable, but first they need to talk. The day of the meeting came and he followed him to a military outpost they were setting up in just outside of Vallaki, the music was creeepy as hell and the Role Play was magnifique (chef kiss) and an offer was given, fight his son (who I punched the day previous, don't ask). I am to fight his son and if I win (it was a death match) he will give me an offer that would change my characters life for the rest of time.

The fight in game took somewhere like 2 - 5 minutes (but it took 1h and some change) but the highlights of the fight went as follows:

1. My sword and sheild were thrown into a hole

2. I threw him into that same hole and light it on fire

3. After he got out I crucified him to the ground with three stakes (a stake to the heart, and one to each of the hands)

4. He got out but still had the stake in his heart which turned off his regeneration

5. He risked running away and I killed him in the most brutal fashion (I learend that he was a Vampire Neonate) (started the fight with 50HP and ended with 32 HP)

As I won, the offer was given to me, work for Strahd. Oh hell no. I threw holy water in his face and dashed out of there. I got hit with a spell as I left, and another one once out of the facility; I escaped by jumping off a clff into the trees (leaving the encounter with 3 HP).

TL;DR : My 4th level bloodhunter 1v1 a vampire Neonate and won, but had to escape an actual vampire and just barely escaped. Now he's alone in the Barovian woods at night with three HP left, the nightmare begins now.

#D&D #Curse of Strahd #D&D story #Bloodhunter #Order of the Lycan #Vampire #Werewolves

[inkswitchy]

My characters in my current D&D games!

Going clockwise:

Nedda Greenbottle, lvl 8 halfling rogue thief (seen here sporting this season's hottest anti-vampire Barovian fashion)

Wrenn, lvl 6 half-elf warlock of the Raven Queen (not pictured: her very good boy Goose, the raven)

Cassiopeia "Cass" Lamassu, lvl 3 aasimar Circle of Stars druid (both in and out of her Radiant Soul/Wild Shape form)

(Made using Picrew, edited in Photoshop.)

#dnd #nedda greenbottle #wrenn #original characters #picrew #halfling #half elf #aasimar #spending quarantine with dragons in dungeons #cassiopeia #dnd 5e #circle of stars

[dicecharmer]

Episode Two

If Barovia was hiding any joy it was certainly not to be found in the tavern.  Three colorfully dressed women seated at a table near the entrance observed the group as they entered.  Liran strode to the counter and placing a single gold piece down with his finger, ordered a glass of wine for himself.  The party looked on in astonishment at the apparent generosity of the bard in light of his lack of thought for them. Despite pocketing the gold (surely enough for a thousand glasses of wine), Arik the barkeep was bewilderingly tight lipped.

The three Vistani women were more garrulous. “Dragon, who are your friends?” they inquired of Azgard whom they recognized. He dismissed the vistani and headed to the bar for a drink of his own.  The others engaged the women and learned more of the land.  The vistani are travelers of the roads who come and go as they please.  While they are all given to their own opinions, most vistani do not fear (as all Barovians do) the castle Ravenloft nor the “Devil, Strahd” who dwells within as he has traditionally been good to their people. Alenka, Mirabel, and Sorvia encouraged the newcomers to Barovia to visit Madam Eva to have their fortunes read. They explained that she has great abilities, and the party must visit Tser Pool to see her.

A man sitting in the corner beckoned the party away from their conversation with the vistani.  Like the women he was far less dour than most Barovians the party had met so far. He introduced himself as Ismark the Lesser, or, Ismark Kolyanovich, the son of the burgomaster, Kolyan Indirovich. Ismark had need of a team of powerful adventurers to escort his adopted sister, Ireena Kolyana, out of Strahd’s fearsome reach.  Recognizing Kolyan’s name from the letter they were given Liran, Hella, Talia, and Ifor inquired with Ismark about the distress.  Ismark inspected the letter they were given and revealed they had been mislead. This was not his father’s handwriting.  Bruize and Azgard explained their employment to Ismark. The courier Vasili von Holtz hired them to protect carried a similar letter authentically penned by the burgomaster. The letter was meant to be placed outside the gates to Barovia as a warning to all travelers not to enter.  It pleaded for no one to enter and forfeit their life. Ismark could see the party was confused.  He explained that the fog and mist create an impenetrable barrier around the valley--the party was trapped.

Back to Ireena’s plight: Ismark told the party of the devil, Strahd’s fascination with his sister.  Twice Strahd, a vampire--the vampire--had bitten his sister. While vampires are not able to enter residences without an invitation, Strahd has powerful abilities to charm and dominate others.  Ismark wished, with the party’s help as escort, to move Ireena to the town of Vallaki.  He had heard that Vallaki is well fortified and out of Strahd’s reach (not sitting 1,000 feet below the dread castle as the Village of Barovia was).  The party was begrudging, and it took great convincing, but finally they agreed to help Ismark and Ireena.

They followed Ismark to the burgomaster’s mansion and found the exterior heavily mangled by claws and fangs. Every window was boarded, and the grass around the perimeter of the house was matted down and muddied by footprints.  Inside they met Ireena, a fireball of a woman, and were shown the burgomaster, Kolyan Indirovich, dead in a handmade coffin on the floor. The siblings recounted the nightly attacks the mansion had endured for months now. Three nights previous, the burgomaster’s heart gave out.  Tactless, Liran pressed the new “burger-master” Ismark for a taste of his grilling abilities at supper.  Ismark’s burgers did not disappoint.

Ireena refused to travel until her father had been buried in the cemetery at the church on the north side of town.  It was agreed upon to perform the burial in the morning before setting out for Vallaki. The party were given two rooms to retire to for the night, but all were uneasy about Kolyan’s body in the open casket.  This talk of vampires was not lost on them.  A watch was set, and the night passed without violence. Ifor was woken by an eerie green light seeping into the room from the cracks around the boarded window.  He cast a darkness spell and went back to sleep.

The party set off the next morning to bury the late burgomaster.  Hella more or less carried the coffin herself with the men running behind attempting to keep a hand on it.  They entered the church before going straight to the cemetery.  It was in great disarray, and the priest, Donovich, was in quite a state.  His incessant chanting prayers were punctuated by muffled cries from the basement, “Help me, Father! Please, I’m so hungry!”  A plan was set: burial first, then deal with the screaming. Without Donovich officiating the burial was quick.  Bruize, having spent a week or two in Barovia already, skipped the burial in favor of leaning against the church doors and fashioning a wooden stake from a broken pew leg.

Inside the church again the party made a quick search for tools before heading into the basement.  Still, the cries startled them: “Please help! I’m starving!!” Hella retrieved a few candlesticks for her supply.  Liran and Bruize came upon a pitiful library and collected books for themselves.  Liran stole Hymns to the Dawn, a volume of chants to the Morninglord; Bruize, The Blade of Truth: The Uses of Logic in the War Against Diabolist Heresies, as Fought by the Ulmist Inquisition, a strange book the mixes logic exercises with lurid descriptions of fiend-worshipping cults.

Ismark remained above. Hella positioned herself at the base of the stairs.  The others slowly approached the now quiet figure cowering in the far corner of the basement.  The low ceiling and church above was held up by wooden columns in a ten foot grid. “I can smell your blood.” The cowering figure threatened. Talia cast an illusion on herself to make the vampire spawn see her as Strahd. She demanded, as Strahd, answers from the boy-spawn. “No! I’m so hungry! You’re not him--I can smell your blood!” As the party moved closer the spawn edged to the left. Ifor moved to cut him off, and that is when the boy made his move.  He went straight for Ifor then continued on to Hella’s position. He flew to the ceiling and made for the stairs, but upon seeing the blinding sunlight turned and flung himself on Hella instead.  Hella defended herself without suffering a bite wound.  Bruize hurriedly employed his new stake in stabbing the vampire spawn’s heart.  He was stunned to find it still fighting. After some struggle Talia dispatched the spawn.

Donovich thanked the party for their work, “I have been constantly praying for deliverance. I did not expect it to come like this, but thank you nonetheless.” After hearing of Ismark’s plan Donovich encouraged them to not settle for Vallaki, but to convey Ireena further to the Abbey of Saint Markovia in Krezk, a bastion for good.

While heading back to the burgomaster’s mansion to collect Ireena, the team observed an old woman selling pastries door to door.  After a few houses and a couple pastries sold the woman arrived at a house where a man and woman took two pies. The party could not hear the exchange, but it ended with the old woman yanking the couple’s child from their hands and throwing him in a sack strapped to her cart.  The couple called after her crying.  Liran called the woman and inquired about her actions. She claimed she was selling dream pastries for one gold piece each.  Curious, and beguiled by the delightful, savory smell, Liran purchased a pastry to try.  After a couple bites he offered it to the others to taste.  Hella and Ifor each had a small bite before handing the pie back to Liran who finished it quickly.  The effect of eating most of the pie was immediate, and Liran slipped into a trance.  In his mind he was in paradise.  The others stared on at his frozen figure still holding his hand near his mouth enraptured by the pastry.

Talia noticed the old woman pushing her cart away down the street. Talia flung a well rehearsed thorn whip that wrapped around one cart handle and wrested it from the old woman nearly knocking her over. Some dream pastries fell into the street and the woman busied herself collecting them and righting her cart. While she was distracted, Bruize stealthily collected the “sack child” and returned him to the parents.  He only took their remaining pie as payment.  Ifor placed the pie onto Liran’s hand, but Bruize did not approve. He flung the pie with surprising dexterity down the street and into a lamp post where half of it remained as if embedded in the post. The old woman made her exit.

Donovich met the party in the street.  “I owe you an explanation for your trouble.”  He told the party of a wizard who came through Barovia a few months ago and rallied quite a following to depose the vampire Strahd. Donovich did not know what became of the wizard, and assumed most of his militia destroyed. His son, Doru, however, returned to him as the monster the party dispatched.  Donovich thanked the party for not allowing Strahd to fully break him.  Hella asked if Donovich possibly knew how to help the still entranced Liran.  Donovich inspected Liran before finally giving the bard a strong slap across the face.  Liran fully returned to the group, but immediately felt a longing to return to the paradise given to him by the dream pastry.

By the time the party returned to the mansion Ireena was beside herself with impatience.  They all set off again westward on the Old Svalich Road.  The road turned southwest and bridged the river before coming to a crossroads where a single gallows stood by a small cemetery.  The signpost indicated BAROVIA VILLAGE to the east, TSER POOL to the northwest, and RAVENLOFT/VALLAKI to the southwest.  Ismark was anxious to make further progress, but the party remembered the encouragement to visit Madam Eva at the Tser Pool and headed northwest.  As they passed the cemetery the party heard a creaking from the gallows.  They turned to see a corpse hanging from it where none had been before.  The wind turned the corpse to face them.  It appeared to all but Bruize as an unrecognizable figure.  Bruize very clearly saw himself.

The party found a vistani camp at Tser Pool.  Five colorful tents were pitched outside a ring of four barrel-topped wagons.  Inside the ring of wagons was an unlit fire circle with vistani gathered around telling tales and sharing drinks.  As the party lingered near the campfire a vistani addressed them all, perhaps for the party’s benefit, but it was unclear.

“A mighty wizard came to this land over a year ago. I remember him like it was yesterday. He stood exactly where you’re standing. A very charismatic man, he was. He thought he could rally the people of Barovia against the devil Strahd. He stirred them with thoughts of revolt and borethem to the castle en masse.

“When the vampire appeared, the wizard’s peasant army fled in terror. A few stood their ground and were never seen again.

“The wizard and the vampire cast spells at each other. Their battle flew from the courtyards of Ravenloft to a precipice overlooking the falls. I saw the battle with my own eyes. Thunder shook the mountainside, and great rocks tumbled down upon the wizard, yet by his magic he survived. Lightning from the heavens struck the wizard, and again he stood his ground. But when the devil Strahd fell upon him, the wizard’s magic couldn’t save him. I saw him thrown a thousand feet to his death. I climbed down to the river to search for the wizard’s body, to see if, you know, he had anything of value, but the River Ivlis had already spirited him away.”

The party listened patiently to the story and remained by the circle a moment before entering Madam Eva’s tent. As they broke to approach the tent, however, Vasili von Holtz emerged and greeted them.  He understood the looks Azgard and Bruize gave him to know that the mission had failed.  He gave each of them a pouch of 25 gold pieces for their trouble, but not before making slights of their abilities as warriors and escorts.  Von Holtz left in his large black iron carriage which he pointed out to the party was insufficient to carry them all to their destination otherwise he would offer them that hospitality.

Madam Eva welcomed the party individually by name when they entered her tent.  She welcomed Hella, Liran, and Talia back to the land of Barovia.  She inspected Ifor’s spellcasting focus orb and noted how sad it was that it was empty.  She chided Bruize and Azgard for taking so long to come see her.  Eva performed a tarot reading for the party which pointed to powerful artifacts that would help them in their quest: a source of knowledge of their enemy, a powerful holy symbol of hope, and a sword of sunlight.  Another card indicated an ally to the party. A final card: the location of their confrontation with the enemy.

#curse of strahd #d&d 5e #dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons #spoilers