Ezmerelda d'Avenir

Ezmerelda d’Avenir, a Vistana, is the protégé of Rudolph van Richten—despite the fact that her first encounter with the vampire hunter was anything but pleasant.
Witness to Tragedy. When Ezmerelda was a little girl, her family kidnapped van Richten’s teenage son, Erasmus, and delivered him into the clutches of a vampire. Even today, years later, she can still hear Erasmus’s pleas for mercy. That event haunted her childhood.
Van Richten tracked down Ezmerelda’s family soon after the kidnapping, but not before the Vistani had sold the boy. Though van Richten could have done them harm, he instead interrogated Ezmerelda’s mother and father on the whereabouts of his missing son. Satisfied with their answers, he spared their lives before departing with the information they had given him. Ezmerelda witnessed van Richten’s act of mercy and was deeply moved by it.
Van Richten’s Tragic Tale. At the age of fifteen, Ezmerelda, still troubled by what her family had done to van Richten, ran away from home. After many harrowing adventures, she tracked down van Richten two years later. Thinking she was a Vistana assassin, he put a sword to her throat and threatened to spill her blood. Ezmerelda convinced him that she genuinely wanted to help him find his missing son, whereupon van Richten told her the saddest of tales. He had found his son, who had been transformed into a vampire spawn. When Erasmus pleaded to his father for salvation, van Richten granted his request by ending his existence.
Farewell. Ezmerelda remained by van Richten’s side for two years, helping him track down and slay many creatures of the night. But because van Richten could never bring himself to fully trust a Vistana, he kept secrets from her. The two vampire hunters got on each other’s nerves, and their arguments became more frequent. At last, Ezmerelda suggested that they part company with some shred of their friendship still intact, and van Richten agreed.
Ezmerelda’s Prosthetic. Since bidding farewell to van Richten, Ezmerelda has amassed a sizable personal fortune, some of which she used to buy a wagon to carry her vampire-slaying paraphernalia. On one of her less successful adventures, a werewolf bit off her right leg below the knee, and although she avoided being afflicted with lycanthropy, Ezmerelda was sidelined for months. She commissioned a master artisan to craft a prosthetic lower leg and foot. After several tries, he delivered a prosthesis that restored her mobility. She has since adapted well to the prosthetic appendage.
The Great Vampire Hunt. While in the company of a Vistani caravan, Ezmerelda heard a rumor that Rudolph van Richten had gone to Barovia to slay the most powerful vampire of them all. She decided that he might need help and traveled for months to reach Strahd’s domain. She rode her wagon to Vallaki and learned about an old tower that seemed the sort of place van Richten would use as a base. When she arrived there, she found some of van Richten’s belongings, but of the vampire hunter there was no sign. Although she is anxious to learn the whereabouts of her mentor, she is also eager to earn his trust and respect. To that end, she has been poring over van Richten’s research and learning about Strahd and Castle Ravenloft, with every intention of dispatching the vampire herself.
Tarokka Deck. Ezmerelda keeps a deck of tarokka cards in her wagon (chapter 11, area V1). Although the cards aren’t magical, Ezmerelda can use them to perform a card reading for the characters (see chapter 1), like the one that can be performed by Madam Eva.
Ezmerelda d’Avenir’s Traits Ideal. “Evil that feeds on the innocent is the worst of all evils and must be destroyed.” Bond. “My mentor and teacher, Dr. Rudolph van Richten, is like a father to me.” Flaw. “I go where angels fear to tread.”
Has a Stat Block in Appendix D.
Argynvosthold Special Event Ezmerelda d’Avenir (see appendix D) arrives at Argynvostholt on the back of a riding horse stolen from the Vistani camp outside Vallaki (chapter 5, area N9). She has heard that the reportedly haunted mansion might harbor enemies of Strahd and contain secrets to the vampire’s destruction. Once she arrives, Ezmerelda releases the horse (which flees back to its camp) and quietly makes her way through the mansion until she reaches the characters.
Hot on Ezmerelda’s trail are the Vistani leader Arrigal (NE male human assassin) and two Vistani bodyguards (CE female bandits). Arrigal rides a black riding horse, while the bandits ride two dire wolves. These dire wolves are servants of Strahd and can’t be charmed or frightened.
Arrigal is determined to capture Ezmerelda and haul her back to the Vistani camp to face punishment for horse theft. He does nothing to antagonize the characters, however, and returns to the Vistani camp if he can’t convince them to give up Ezmerelda. For more information on Arrigal, see chapter 5, area N9c.
S19 Barracks in St. Markovia in Krezk If the characters have not already encountered her elsewhere, the vampire hunter Ezmerelda d’Avenir (see appendix D) is here, plotting her next move.
Ezmerelda crept into Krezk unseen under cover of darkness and made her way to the abbey, in the hope of gaining knowledge about Strahd and his domain from the residents there. Having met the Abbot and Strahd’s “bride” (area S13), Ezmerelda realizes the Abbot is insane. The Abbot told her that he is expecting Strahd to visit his bride-to-be. Ezmerelda has decided to wait for the vampire to come, so that she can destroy him away from Castle Ravenloft, far from his resting place. She is planning to create a magic circle in this room as an added precaution.
As the Abbot’s guest, Ezmerelda is free to come and go as she pleases. If the characters seem committed to fighting Strahd, she abandons her plan and offers to join forces with them.
Van Richten's Tower Special Event Ezmerelda d’Avenir (see appendix D) returns to Van Richten’s Tower after confronting Strahd in Castle Ravenloft and barely escaping with her life. She arrives on the back of a riding horse stolen from the Vistani camp outside Vallaki (chapter 5, area N9). Ezmerelda hopes that the arsenal of weapons in her wagon will be enough to protect her from the vampire’s wrath. If the characters blew up the wagon, she is understandably annoyed and retreats to the tower. (She knows the trick to bypassing the trap on the tower door.) If the tower has also been destroyed, she doesn’t stick around unless the characters are clearly her best hope of survival.
Ezmerelda’s altercation with Strahd has left her with only 30 hit points. She graciously accepts any healing the characters have to offer.
Development From this moment on, Strahd gains a new goal: kill Ezmerelda d’Avenir. Knowing that his Vistani spies might be conflicted at the thought of slaying one of their own, Strahd relies on the druids and the werewolves of the Svalich Woods, as well as human spies and vampire spawn hidden in Barovia’s settlements, to help him find and kill Ezmerelda. If Strahd learns that she and the characters are working together, he invites the characters to Ravenloft, expecting that Ezmerelda will accompany them. The characters receive their invitation in the form of a letter delivered by one of Strahd’s spies. If the characters open and read the letter, show the players the “Strahd’s Invitation” handout in appendix F. If the characters head toward the castle, they have no threatening random encounters on the way.