Village of Barovia

**Barovia** is a small village in the country of Barovia, within the *Forgotten Realms Campaign* of Nat19. It was briefly governed by Burgomaster Ismark Kolyanovich, though after the death of Strahd von Zarovich, he and many of the village's inhabitants left for Faerûn.

## Role in Plot

The Village of Barovia was the first place the party visited upon entering Barovia. The mists of Barovia followed them from the road outside of town and surrounded them, forcing them into the Death House.

After escaping the Death House, the party found the mists of Barovia lifted from their immediate vicinity. They heard a woman's cries coming from a nearby house, so they went to investigate. Hadrick, Jolyne, and Graiar went inside while Ashley, Xhantharykk, and their new acquaintance Devin, remained outside.

Upon entering the local tavern, Hadrick was contacted by a man asking to meet with them. Hadrick agreed to this and asked Graiar to accompany him stealthily. The two met with the man, who introduced himself as Ismark. He had a task he wished to hire the party to complete, though he wanted the entire group to be present before discussing the details.

Hadrick and Graiar rejoined their allies and informed them of the recent development, and they all agreed to meet Ismark at his mansion. Upon arriving, they were met by Ismark and his sister Ireena, as well as the corpse of their father. After introductions were complete, Ismark asked if the party would escort Ireena to safety, as she had somehow come to garner the interest of the vampire Strahd von Zarovich. Ireena, however, was not willing to go through with her brother's plan until their father was properly buried in the local cemetery. The party agreed to help with this, and the group began moving the siblings' father to the church.

As they moved the body to the church, they witnessed an old woman accepting a large sack from a couple in a nearby house. The bag was child-sized and moving, so the party put moving the body on hold to investigate. The old woman explained that she was selling pastries, and that the family she had just spoken with had to pay her with something. After a failed attempt from Graiar to steal the sack from her, Ashley gave the woman some gold in exchange for the child in the sack, which she accepted.

The group conversed with the child, named Tamison, and told him what had just happened to him. Despite the nature of what had just occurred, he didn't seem bothered by it. Ismark explained that some people in Barovia are born without souls and feel only fear and anger, and that Tamison was likely one of them.

After convincing the child not to run back to the parents who had sold him, the party resumed the task of burying Ireena and Ismark's father. They made it to the Church of Barovia, and met its priest, Father Grigori Donavich. Upon entering the church, the party immediately heard the screams for help coming from below them. They inquired about the source of these screams, and Grigori explained that it was his son, who had been afflicted with a curse. As the party buried the body, Graiar had snuck off at the behest of Hadrick to investigate the screaming. He eventually returned, having gathered little information.

The party stayed the night in the village, with Hadrick and Jolyne staying in Ismark's mansion while Graiar, Devin, Xhantharykk, and Ashley staying in the Blood of the Vine Tavern. Ashley had previously been asked by some women in the tavern to regale them with her stories so she decided to stay there, and the others didn't want to her to go alone. They were unable to find the women upon entering, so they went to their room. Before going to bed, they all witnessed the March of the Dead, which is a march of spirits from the Church of Barovia's graveyard toward Castle Ravenloft.

During the night, Graiar heard someone attempting to open their door in the tavern, and quickly leaving. He informed the others and they began to follow where the sound of footsteps led. However, when they reached the main room, no one was there. When they returned to their room they found an ornate dagger stabbed into the wood of the nightstand by the bed.

The next day, the party left Tamison in the care of Ismark and left town with Ireena, determined to find a safe place for her to stay.

The party briefly returned to the Village of Barovia to purchase some wares from Bildrath's Mercantile despite his overly-priced goods. While there, the visited Ismark and Tamison, and left with them a goat they had recently picked up from the Ruins of Berez.

Once Strahd von Zarovich had been killed, Ashley, Devin, Graiar, Hadrick, Jolyne, and Monty returned to the village to reunite Ireena with Ismark and depart Barovia. Before leaving, they stopped once more at Bildrath's Mercantile, where they recommended Bildrath turn over a new leaf and begin running a proper store, all the while tormenting him with Ashley's Vistani curse, Graiar's newly-acquired Ring of Invisibility, etc.

After the defeat of Strahd, the towns of Barovia and Vallaki appeared from out of the mist in the land of Faerûn, near the city of Waterdeep. After nearly a year, Waterdeep had made plans to assault the seemingly invading towns. In addition, many of the towns' people had abandoned them, and some even sold the deeds to their abodes to certain residents of Faerûn.

## Notable Locations

* **Death House**: A demolished, haunted house that sometimes appears to be standing, with various threats dwelling within. It was once inhabited by the ghosts of two children, as well as the spirits of several cultists.
* **Mad Mary's House**: This house is where Mad Mary lives. She is often heard wailing over the loss of her daughter from within it.
* **Ismark's Mansion**: The residence of Ismark, Ireena, and now Tamison.
* **Church of Barovia**: A church of Lathander. It is haunted by the priest's vampire son, whose cries of pain and hunger can be heard in the night.
* **Graveyard**: This graveyard is haunted by harmless spirits.
* **Bildrath's Mercantile**: This is the only shop for gear in the village of Barovia. The items here are famously overpriced.