Strahd von Zarovich

Portrait of Strahd von Zarovich.

The Scourge

Sergei von Zarovich (brother)

Madam Eva (daughter)

Saah Sooke

Monkey D. Garp

Ig-Sidon Yambul

**Strahd von Zarovich** is the vampire overlord of Barovia. Strahd has been ruler of Barovia for nearly three centuries, asserting his power and dominance through fear. Strahd resides in Castle Ravenloft where he preys on weak adventurers he entices into his lands.

## Early Life

Strahd von Zarovich was born 1 year after the Mallus (1 P.M.) to Barov von Zarovich, a count disinherited from his stead after the Mallus, and Ravenovia van Roeyen, a wealthy heiress. Immediately following the Mallus, the systems and institutions that had fought against the gods for thousands of years had collapsed and Strahd's father Barov took it upon himself to carve out his own power before the Congerians got to his land first. Strahd also had a younger brother named Sergei as well as a few distant relatives.

Growing up witnessing his father's conquests, Strahd instilled himself with an attitude of achieving his goals by any means necessary. Strahd studied the surviving works of philosophers, wizards, explorers, battlemasters, and artificers to strengthen his repertoire of knowledge. In warfare, the prince had decapitated children, torched refugee camps, and experimented with necromancy to make his opponents suffer as much as possible. Barov, who declared himself the Malachite King when Strahd was 16, was impressed with his heir's skills in battle and his valuable insights on the war council.

## Conquests

Strahd was a count, a prince, a soldier, and a conqueror. After the death of his father when he was 19, Strahd waged long, bloody wars against his family’s enemies. Most of them were former subjects of the self-proclaimed Malachite Kingdom who seized power in Barov's wake. Strahd and his army fought these rogue counts for ten years straight and cornered the last of his enemies in a remote mountain valley before slaying them. Strahd named the valley Barovia, after his deceased father, and was so struck by its scenic beauty that he decided to settle there to build up his family's power again.

However, Queen Ravenovia lamented the death of Barov and was fearful of Strahd. War had made him cold and arrogant as well as dangerous. She kept her younger son, Sergei, away from the battlefield. Strahd envied the love and attention his mother visited upon his brother, so in Barovia he remained. Peace made Strahd restless, and he began to feel like his best years were behind him. Unwilling to go the way of his father, Strahd studied magic and forged a pact with the Seven Sons of the Shadowfell. Strahd was enticed by his father's prophecy and a burning ambition to conquer all lands south of the Congerian Empire, prompting him to seek immortality. At the Amber Temple, a forgotten shrine from before the Mallus, Strahd accepted the shadow's powers.

After discovering the Amber Temple, Strahd scoured his conquered lands for wizards and artisans and brought them to the valley of Barovia, commanding them to raise a castle to rival the magnificent fortresses of his ancestral homeland. Strahd named the Castle Ravenloft, after his mother. When it was complete, Strahd commanded his mother and brother to come to Barovia and stay with him. Sergei eventually took up residence at Ravenloft, but Ravenovia passed away while traveling to her namesake. In sorrowful disappointment, Strahd sealed his mother’s body in a crypt beneath the castle.