Rheya

Rheya, sometimes known as Rheya of Barovia or Rheya of Shadowfell, is a vampire sorceress and planar travel that primarily inhabits Shadowfell.

## Appearance

Rheya is a tall and pale vampire woman with long dark hair and red eyes. She often dresses in a grand, Gothic fashion.

## Personality

Rheya is a loud, bold, and assertive person who prefers intimidation over charm and favors violence as a solution. Aside from her violent temper, she can be quite perky. Rheya is cunning and observant.

## Biography

Rheya was born as a peasant in Barovia before Shadowfell claimed it. Strahd von Zarovich rose to power when she wasa young adult. In the ensuing chaos, Rheya's entire family was killed by various means. With nothing left in Barovia, Rheya set her sights on escaping Ravenloft.

Rheya always had a spark of magic in her, and Barovia's descent into Shadowfell turned it into a dark power. Rhey began cultivating it. She also subtly gathered information on Strahd von Zarovich and the way that Barovia now worked. She learned of Tatyana and Strahd's curse to always find her and be rejected by her. Rheya pretended to be a reincarnation of Tatyana to get close to Strahd and convince him to turn her into a vampire, believing that she would gain the most amount of power if he was her sire. Once Strahd completed her transformation, Rheya revealed her deception and cast a spell to stun Strahd while he reeled from the revelation. With Strahd temporarily incapacitated, she was able to transport to the demiplane's border and escape before Strahd could close them.

Since then, Rheya has been comfortable remaining in Shadowfell but avoids Ravenloft. She learned the secrets of planar travel and would travel through the other planes of existence to experience what they had to offer. Rheya also secretly watches over any incarnation of Tatyana born outside of Ravenloft as a way to thank the soul after using her identity to escape Barovia.

Rheya is a member of the Shadelock Coven, a coven of spellcasters who live in and study Shadowfell, founded by and named after the shadar-kai sorceress Prissylra Shadelock. Shadelock, Rheya, and Ender in Shadows are the original members of the coven until Shadelock was killed. The coven expanded to include Sabrina Blackwell and Deveximere Blight.

Rheya met a half-elf pact law student named Caesar Byron and the two fell in love. He accepted her offer of vampirism, but when Rheya administered her venom, something else awoken in Caesar, allowing him to access some muted aspects of vampirism, as well as cast necromantic spells. To avoid further chaotic complications, Caesar drafted a warlock pact with Rheya to share in her power. They remained a couple and even married.

## Abilities

### General Abilities

* Spellcasting: Rheya is a powerful caster of necrotic, shadowy, and psionic spells. Her most powerful spells are strong enough to harm Shadowfell Dreadlords. She is powerful enough to bestow her powers unto mortals.
* Vampiric Abilities: Rheya is stronger, faster, and hardier than mortals. She drinks the blood of living beings to sustain herself. Rheya is weak to radiant magic and burns easily in the sun, though keeping to the shadows keeps her safe from the rays.