Church of the Morninglord

Symbol of the Morninglord

Did you know the difference between a cemetery and graveyard is that one is attached to a church?

### Inhabitants

Father DonavichDoru (deceased)

***Atop a slight rise, against the roots of the pillar of stone that supports Castle Ravenloft, stands a gray, sagging edifice of stone and wood. This church has obviously weathered the assaults of evil for centuries on end, and is worn and weary. A bell tower rises toward the back, and flickering light shines through holes in the shingled roof and the large stained-glass window above the door. The rafters strain feebly against their load. The heavy wooden doors of the church are covered with claw marks and scarred by fire.***

## The Church

Located on the northern outskirts of the village, the church is an ancient building, suffering damage that has grown more and more impossible to hide or deny. While the village of Barovia itself has no defences against the dangerous of the land, the church's location and status leave it even more vulnerable.

While the Morninglord's doctrine promotes hope and good will towards others, the centuries of strife and oppression in Barovia have thinned the number of faithful worshippers significantly. Even before the events involving Doru and the wizard, the church was little more than just another building in the village.

## The Incident

Well over a year before the party arrived in Barovia, a wizard had come through. He had claimed to be a powerful archwizard who could lead the people to defeat Strahd, and succeeded in gathering a mob of citizens from the various settlements to storm the castle with him. Among these citizens was Father Donavich's son, Doru. Though the wizard and vampire lord waged a mighty battle before the wizard fell, the mob he had brought with him were not so lucky nor so powerful, and were easily dealt with. Those who were dead beyond repair were turned into zombies and other minions, while Strahd turned the living ones into vampire spawn, and locked them in the crypts for months until their wills were broken.

While this worked on the majority, a small minority of these victims were able to retain their sanity, will, and sense of self after this torture, and among them was Doru. Doru eventually escaped the castle and returned home, where his father locked him in the basement of the church. Though the vampire spawn made no moves to escape, he eventually began to starve, and his groaning and pleading for his father to help him chased away what was left of the devout. When Strahd noted his absence, he sought him out through magic, and in doing so was also made aware of Ismark's existence and location.

While Strahd focused primarily on the burgomaster's mansion, he instructed his minions to not neglect the church, though the attacks were little more than taunts meant for both Doru and Donavich. Unaware of the attacks on the burgomaster's mansion and struggling to keep himself sane, Doru assumed that he and his father were the true targets, and grew afraid these attacks would draw Strahd's attention to Ismark, a fact he assumed to be proven true when one day he overheard Ireena and his father talking about attacks on the manor when she came to ask Donavich if he could possibly help.

These nightly attacks on the church ended at the same time that the attacks on the burgomaster's mansion ended, three days before the party's arrival.