Barovians

GENERAL

After his armies occupied the valley and slew its inhabitants, Strahd repopulated the area with human subjects drawn from his other conquered lands. As a result, Barovians have a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.
Barovians are deeply invested in their homes and their traditions. They are wary of strange peoples and customs. The way Barovians deal with strangers can be unsettling to those newcomers. Barovians have a tendency to stare openly, in silence, thereby expressing their disapproval of anything that isn’t familiar to them. Barovians aren’t talkative with strangers, to the extent of being pointedly rude. Most Barovians have violent tempers that boil up through their customary silence when they are provoked. They also have a social cohesiveness (thrust upon them by their weird circumstances) that can make them act together against outsiders if a Barovian is mistreated.
Barovians were a happy people once, but their history and current conditions aren’t pleasant. If one manages to win the trust of a Barovian, one has a friend for life and a stalwart ally.
Barovian children aren’t happy children. They are raised in a culture of fear and told time and again not to wander too far from their homes or enter the woods. They experience little hope or joy, and they are taught to fear the devil Strahd above all.
Barovian adults eke out modest livings. With no new wealth pouring into the valley, they trade in old coins that bear the profile of their dark lord, Strahd, as he looked when he was alive. They hide their precious baubles in their houses and dress plainly outdoors, so as not to attract the attention of Strahd or his spies.
Barovians live within a closed ecosystem. Every Barovian adult is expected to learn a trade or serve a function. Barovians stitch their own clothing, craft their own furniture, grow their own food, and make their own wine. With fewer than three thousand people living in the entire valley, finding the perfect mate isn’t easy, so Barovians have learned to settle for what they can get.

BAROVIAN NAMES

You can use the following lists to create Barovian NPC names on the fly. Male Names: Alek, Andrej, Anton, Balthazar, Bogan, Boris, Dargos, Darzin, Dragomir, Emeric, Falkon, Frederich, Franz, Gargosh, Gorek, Grygori, Hans, Harkus, Ivan, Jirko, Kobal, Korga, Krystofor, Lazlo, Livius, Marek, Miroslav, Nikolaj, Nimir, Oleg, Radovan, Radu, Seraz, Sergei, Stefan, Tural, Valentin, Vasily, Vladislav, Waltar, Yesper, Zsolt
Female Names: Alana, Clavdia, Danya, Dezdrelda, Diavola, Dorina, Drasha, Drilvia, Elisabeta, Fatima, Grilsha, Isabella, Ivana, Jarzinka, Kala, Katerina, Kereza, Korina, Lavinia, Magda, Marta, Mathilda, Minodora, Mirabel, Miruna, Nimira, Nyanka, Olivenka, Ruxandra, Sorina, Tereska, Valentina, Vasha, Victoria, Wensencia, Zondra
Family Names: Alastroi, Antonovich/Antonova, Barthos, Belasco, Cantemir, Dargovich/Dargova, Diavolov, Diminski, Dilisnya, Drazkoi, Garvinski, Grejenko, Groza, Grygorovich/Grygorova, Ivanovich/Ivanova, Janek, Karushkin, Konstantinovich/Konstantinova, Krezkov/Krezkova, Krykski, Lansten, Lazarescu, Lukresh, Lipsiege, Martikov/Martikova, Mironovich/Mironovna, Moldovar, Nikolovich/Nikolova, Nimirovich/Nimirova, Oronovich/Oronova, Petrovich/Petrovna, Polensky, Radovich/Radova, Rilsky, Stefanovich/Stefanova, Strazni, Swilovich/Swilova, Taltos, Targolov/Targolova, Tyminski, Ulbrek, Ulrich, Vadu, Voltanescu, Zalenski, Zalken

SOULS AND SHELLS

Barovians are made of flesh and blood. They are born, they live, they age, and they die. But not all of them—only about one in every ten—have souls.
When a being with a soul dies in Barovia, that soul remains trapped in Strahd’s domain until it is reincarnated in a newborn. It can take decades for a bodiless soul to find a host, and Barovians who share the same soul over generations tend to look alike. That is why Ireena Kolyana looks exactly like Strahd’s beloved Tatyana—both women were born with the same soul.
Strahd needs loyal subjects to feed his ego. Barovians without souls are empty shells created by his consciousness to fill out the local population. Although they are physically indistinguishable from Barovians with souls, they tend to be bereft of charm and imagination and to be more compliant and depressed than the others. They dress in drab clothing, whereas Barovians who have souls wear clothes with a splash of color or individuality.
A Barovian woman, soulless or not, can give birth. A child born in Barovia might have a soul even if one or both parents do not. Conversely, the child of two parents with souls isn’t certain to have a soul of its own. Barovians without souls are maudlin folk who experience fear but neither laugh nor cry.
Ireena Kolyana and her brother Ismark both have souls, as do all Vistani. Which Barovians have souls and which don’t is left up to you.
Strahd periodically feeds on the blood of Barovians who have souls, but he can’t draw nourishment from the blood of the soulless. He can tell at a glance whether a Barovian has a soul or is merely a shell.
If Strahd is defeated, the fog that surrounds Barovia fades away, allowing the inhabitants of the valley to leave if they wish. Only those who have souls, however, can truly leave this place. Soulless Barovians cease to exist as soon as they exit the valley.

BAROVIANS AND NONHUMANS

Barovians are human. Although they know that dwarves, elves, halflings and other civilized races exist, few living Barovians have seen such “creatures,” let alone interacted with them.
Aside from the secretive dusk elves of Vallaki (see chapter 5), the only nonhumans most Barovians are familiar with are the adventurers that Strahd has lured to his dark realm. Barovians thus react to nonhuman characters the same way most humans in the real world would react to elf, dwarf, or half-orc adventurers suddenly walking the streets. Most such outsiders are scorned, feared, or shunned.

BAROVIAN LORE

Typical Barovians know certain facts, or have certain beliefs, about their existence and their surroundings. This common lore is summarized here. Characters can learn this information after earning a Barovian’s trust. The Devil Strahd About Strahd and vampires, the Barovians believe the following:

• Strahd von Zarovich is a vampire, and he dwells in Castle Ravenloft. No one is welcome at the castle.
• The devil Strahd is a curse placed on the land because of a forgotten sin of the Barovians’ ancestors. (This is untrue, but Barovians believe it nonetheless.)
• A vampire must rest in its coffin during the day. At night, it can summon wolves and vermin to do its bidding. A vampire can transform into a bat, a wolf, or a cloud of mist. In its humanoid form, it can dominate you with its powerful gaze.
• A vampire can’t enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.
• Running water burns a vampire like acid, and sunlight causes a vampire to burst into flame.

The Land of Barovia Barovians know the following facts about their homeland:

• Anyone who attempts to leave the land of Barovia begins to choke on the fog. Those who don’t turn back perish.
• Many strangers have been drawn to Barovia over the years, but they all die or disappear before long.
• Wolves, dire wolves, and werewolves prowl the Svalich Woods, and hungry bats fill the skies at night.
• The village of Barovia sits at the east end of the valley. Its burgomaster is named Kolyan Indirovich.
• The town of Vallaki lies in the heart of the valley. Its burgomaster is named Baron Vargas Vallakovich.
• The fortified village of Krezk lies at the west end of the valley and is built around an old abbey. The village burgomaster is named Dmitri Krezkov.
• Wine is the lifeblood of Barovia—for some, it is the only reason to keep living. Barovian taverns get their wine from the Wizard of Wines winery near Krezk.
• A mad wizard of great power haunts the foothills of Mount Baratok. He is an outsider and no friend of the vampire’s.

Beliefs and Superstitions Barovians have deep-rooted religious beliefs and superstitions that they pass down from one generation to the next: Two divine forces watch over the Barovian people: the Morninglord and Mother Night. Before the curse of Strahd befell the land, the Morninglord watched over the Barovian people from sunrise until sundown. Now, the sun has not shone unobscured for centuries, and the Morninglord no longer answers their prayers. The presence of Mother Night is felt most strongly between dusk and dawn, although nighttime prayers to her go unanswered. It is widely believed that she has forsaken the Barovian people and sent the devil Strahd to punish them for their ancestors’ offenses. Spirits drift along the Old Svalich Road toward Castle Ravenloft in the dead of night. These phantoms are all that remain of Strahd’s enemies, and this damnable fate awaits anyone who opposes him. The Vistani serve the devil Strahd. They alone are allowed to leave Barovia. Never harm a raven, lest ill fortune befall you!