The lord of Barovia. His profile is stamped on most of the coins in the valley, and it was the Senostrov brothers at The Gallows Oak who first named him to the party. They spoke of him without fear or complaint.
Others speak of him very differently. In Laszlo, The Storyteller’s telling he is “the devil Strahd” and a vampire. Over a year ago a Wizard rallied the peasants of Barovia and marched them on Castle Ravenloft. When Strahd appeared, the peasant army fled in terror, and the few who stood their ground were never seen again. Laszlo watched the two duel from the castle courtyards to a precipice above the falls, where Strahd threw the wizard a thousand feet to his death.
In Barovia village, the Burgomaster’s manor stood besieged by Strahd’s forces. Ireena Kolyana took Virro and Edric Storm for agents of “the dark lord” before she let them inside. Earlier that night at The Blood of the Vine, one of the Vistani women asked Ismark The Lesser how many times his sister had been visited by a mysterious “he”, and Ismark stormed out.
An undelivered letter from the late Burgomaster Kolyan Indirovich tells of a vampyr that has drained the life blood of Barovia’s people for over four hundred years, and that has bitten Ireena these past nights. It does not name him.
The Stranger on the Road
After following the ghostly procession out of the village, Retnuh came upon a black lacquered wagon at the roadside, with no driver, an unfamiliar crest on its door, and a Nightmare in the harness. A voice behind him, smooth and unhurried with an old world cadence, remarked on the horse. Retnuh never turned to face him and caught only glimpses: tall, pale, dark hair swept back, dressed in fine clothes from another century, with eyes that held their own small light.
They talked for a long while. The stranger spoke of the curse laid over the land and of the mists, which unravel a person’s memory the longer they stay in Barovia. He invited Retnuh to dine with him at Castle Ravenloft, where they would “see what of your memory can be recovered.” When Retnuh told him of the search for Arabelle and Krogarov, he promised to have his people watch for them both, and let Retnuh ride the Nightmare, Buccephalus, for as long as she chooses to stay at his side.
Asked whether anyone in this land looked out for him, the stranger named a girl: Ireena Kolyana. He asked Retnuh to bring her to Castle Ravenloft so that she could be “looked after properly.” Retnuh agreed to do so once Arabelle is found. The stranger seemed satisfied. He vanished into the night, and the wagon faded into the mists behind him.
When Retnuh rode back into the village and told the others where the horse had come from, the mood soured the moment he mentioned Strahd’s name. He relayed the offer: Strahd could help them understand the curse and the mists. Ireena refused. She will go to the castle “when I am ready to bring the fight to him myself. Not before.” She has since proposed using Buccephalus to feed Strahd misinformation.