Barovia

The idyllic valley nestledin the Balinok Mountains was a slice of heaven to those who knew of its existence before its demise. The serenity of the place was forever shattered when it fell into darkness during a bloody crusade that ended here with the slaughtering of hundreds. Rolling thunderclouds cast a gray pall over the land of Barovia. A deathly stillness hangs over the dark woods. The evergreen trees of the Svalich Woods climb the sides of the mountains that enclose the valley. The largest of these peaks is Mount Baratok, with its snow-covered cap and rugged slopes. Baratok's slightly smaller twin, Mount Ghakis, is mostly bald with tufts of trees here and there. Between these two mountains stands Lake Zarovich, which is fed by streams of ice-cold water pouring down the face of Mount Baratok. On the south side of the lake rests the town of Vallaki, enclosed by a palisade. West of the two mountains, atop a hill, stands the Abbey of Saint Markovia, around which the Barovians built a walled village named Krezk. Between Vallaki and Krezk lie the ruins of Argynvostholt, the fallen bastion of a knightly order called the Order of the Silver Dragon, wiped out during the crusades. East of the mountains lies the village of Barovia, shrouded in mist and bereft of walls and defenses. The dark silhouette of Castle Raven loft looks down on this village from its perch atop a 1,000-foot-high column of rock known as the Pillarstone of Ravenloft.