Yuna Carmine/Quests

Yuna CarmineCharacter SheetAbilitiesInventoriesQuests

You are Yuna Carmine. You were born in 1553 into a Vistani troupe which roamed the roads of Ultania, zig-zagging east to west and back again in rickety caravan wagons pulled by dapple gray horses. Your memories of childhood—distant, now—were of your uncle, with you in his lap, telling stories to dazzle town children, or of your father breathing fire for an astonished audience. You remember the love your parents had for you, and for each other. Then, one late afternoon in Hausgrania, you were taken by a shadow in the night, and you awoke astride a diseased horse, held by a pale woman in a black cowl, in a shadow realm which you would not leave again for over fifteen years. You grew up at Castle Ravenloft the ward of the Strahdsworn, sweeping floors, making beds, enduring beatings, and learning to hurt, maim, and kill. Others broke under the torment, but you never did.

Somewhere along the way, you learned what was going to keep you alive: You had to please the master. And in fact, you had to please him more than anyone else. You became the Strahdsworn’s star pupil, its protégée, its greatest success—a black rider, a raider, a driver of men, a killer.

## Campaign Objectives

*You are a Captain in Strahd's Oprichnina, riders atop pale horses, and hell follows in your wake. You range far and wide, inside Barovia and out, raiding food stores, seizing the content of arsenals, and taking whole villages, bound in chains, back to Strahd's domain. You serve at Strahd's pleasure, and the armbraces which you wear like vices around your upper arms bind you to his will. You hear him whisper, sometimes, intruding upon your thoughts—watching you. And you can feel the weight of his domination pressing down on your mind, forcing your hand, making assertions of your own will impossible. The armbraces are made using runic metal mined in Barovia and cannot be taken off once put on. All Strahdsworn wear them, and they render you immune to pity and fear.*

*Strahd rules over a vast mountainous land encased in malevolent mists which traps all in Barovia except for a select few whom Strahd guarantees safe passage. When anyone not of Vistani blood, or directly authorized to leave by him, the mists envelop them and begin to bore holes into cheeks, slowly shearing away skin, dissolving flesh alive until there is naught left but bone, a crumpled skeleton to mark the end of a desperate soul who heeded not the warning, "Go not into the Mists."*

*The mists are ever-present over Barovia, blocking out the sun. This allows Strahd, his brides, and their vampiric thralls to move about Barovia freely. At night, the mists descend upon the forests of Barovia, swirling close to the ground and trapping the unwary and the unprotected and driving them indoors. Hence the other Barovian maxim, "Shutter your doors at night, and go not outside."*

*Strahd loves his subjects, like a father does even wayward children. For four hundred years, he has ruled them with benevolent neglect born of disinterest in the petty affairs and lives of humans. The humans scamper and hide in their hovels, brandish their holy symbols, and build walls around their towns to keep the wolves and undead at bay, but all know that Strahd is ruler and master of Barovia.*

*However, recently Strahd's lenience has led to the development of sizable human strength in the heart of Barovia, around the town of Vallaki, with a population of nearly two thousand. Though Vallaki is ruled by a Strahd-fearing ruler for now, this may not always be so. The men of Vallaki grow bolder with every passing year, and they have begun to venture beyond their walls to cause problems for us as precisely the wrong moment. We will need to subjugate them before moving on to more dire threats.*

*Barovia has enjoyed a glorious isolation from the world for centuries. Located in rural Hausgrania, far from great events, Strahd was content to rule Barovia peaceably. Now, however, armies circle around Barovia. The Dalian and Franzian Empires are locked in combat over the fate of the world within a hundred miles of Barovia, and it is rumored that the Dalian Sultan has discovered the location of the Amber Temple, which is within Strahd's domain, and is coming for it. A Franzian, Rudolf van Richten, has been in Barovia for five years, and the master has taken this to mean that the Franzian Emperor is also seeking the temple. Strahd must prepare for an invasion, and for that he needs to expand the ranks of his Strahdsworn.*

*In his human life, Strahd von Zarovich loved a woman by the name of Tatiana. She must have died four hundred years ago, but Strahd is convinced that she still lives and has been searching for her ever since. His desire to possess her is stronger than any of his other fixations, and he has been known to drop all his other pursuits at the slightest mention that the girl's scent has been rediscovered.*

*Your predecessor was searching for a girl named Miruna, the daughter of the Burgomaster of the Village of Barovia, but she and her sister escaped. Torturing her father and mother yielded no usable information. She is currently thought to be living in hiding somewhere in Barovia, but where exactly is not known.*

## The Realm

### Village of Barovia

*"By order of His Grace, Strahd von Zarovich, Dread Lord of Barovia, you are hereby commanded to march to the Village of Barovia to restore order there and remind the peasantry that Barovia, and their lives, belong to the Master to rule as he sees fit. Quell any uprising you encounter. Restore order. Shackle insubordinates and dispatch them to Castle Ravenloft. Extract a tribute for the master, beginning with 40 able-bodied persons and all of their dead. Establish any governing arrangement you deem necessary, direct or indirect. More instructions to follow."~Rahadin*