Father Donavich

Donavich inherited the position of priesthood from his father, and would have passed it to Doru had fate not intervened. It is not a lofty position, as centuries of hopelessness and centuries of prayers going unanswered have thinned the flock and turned the church into little more than another building in the village.
Donavich fills his time with priestly duties such as tending to the graveyard, reciting prayers over the ancient altar, keeping the candles lit, and keeping the walls and holy symbols intact in an effort to stave off whatever forces might decide to attack or be sent by Strahd in a fit of boredom.
Over a year before the party arrived in Barovia, there was a powerful wizard who came through, alone. He claimed that he could lead a mob into the castle and destroy Strahd once and for all, and moved between the various Barovian settlements to gain support. He found it primarily in the younger and less jaded citizens, such as Donavich's son, Doru. In the end, he had almost two dozen people with him when he attacked the castle.
The plan ended in disaster, and none of them ever returned. The last anyone saw of the group was the clash of magic between Strahd and the wizard, their battle raging from the depths of the castle to the highest tower, visible across the land.
Following the wizard's defeat, Strahd took the mob of peasants. Those who had survived the battle were turned into vampire spawn, while those who did not became other undead minions. The vampire spawn were kept locked in the crypts until Strahd believed they were fully broken, though some still retained their will. One of them was Doru. Strahd released Doru to return to the priest's home where his fate would undoubtedly torment the holy man.
Doru’s arrival at the church a year ago broke something inside of Donavich. He locked his monstrous son away in the church’s undercroft and set about praying for a miracle. After many fruitless prayers, Donavich’s mind finally cracked under the pressure. Instead of listening to his son scream, “Father I’m starving!” over and over, Donavich decided that he would do what all good parents do: make sure that their child has enough to eat...