Welcome to Barovia

A lush, green land

With border-to-border impenetrable forests, plains of wild grain, deep blue rivers and bottomless pools, Barovia is a land of vast natural splendor.

Of deep, black shadows

Vast tracts of wilderness upon which human eyes have never fallen and ruins into which they should never again gaze outnumber civilized spaces ten to one.

An excerpt from the Barovian Gazetteer...

Barovia straddles the heart of the Balinok Mountains. Historically, the realm's borders encompassed only the Balinoks and their surrounding foothills; modem Barovia includes the Gundarak foothills, stretching west beyond the mountains. Barovia produces goods of only modest value to the outside world, but its location is strategically vital. Svalich Pass is the only way through the Balinoks south of the Shadow Rift, and consequentially Barovia's stability is key to the fortunes of many southern realms. This significance is easy to appreciate when one lays eyes on the Balinoks. Notable peaks include Mount Baratak, the highest point in the Balinoks (7,440 feet Terestrau Dinte (better known as Mount Sawtooth) (7,170 feet and Mount Ghakis (4,620 feet). Within Barovia, the Balinoks are especially rugged and tortuous, the high passes choked with ice for nine months of the year. As I journeyed through the region in mid-spring, penetrating the mountains by any means but the Old Svalich Pass proved nigh impossible.
Frigid winds whip sheer cliffs, and the crevasses and gorges create black maws where no light reaches. Traversing the upper elevations requires proper equipment and an experienced mountaineer who knows the terrain, predators, and avalanche possibilities. As if these hazards were not enough, the Barovians spin endless tales of snow demons, frost spirits, and the ghosts of frozen travelers. most of whom are associated with the dizzying peak of Mount Baratak. Many Barovians take a cynical sort of pride in the sheer lethality of the Balinoks. Of the mountains, I often heard, "Nothing can kill a man as quickly, or as slowly, as the Balinoks."
Rugged foothills and rolling dales surround the Balinoks on all sides. The wide expanse of the Dreadmount, which extends from the Tainted Wood of Barca to the foot of the western Balinoks. dominates Northwestern Barovia. The heavy traffic along the Old Svalich Road attracts brigands and vampires to the Dreadmount. In the south, the Bloodfang Hills stretch to the haunted forests of Forlorn. Haunting the Bloodfangs are barbaric goblyns (often mistakenly called "snaggle-toothed hags" by the Barovians), who will emerge from the forests in search of their favorite delicacy, human brains. In the mid-sixth century, such incursions were reportedly much more common , and the von Zaroviches ordered the construction of watchtowers along the frontier with Forlorn. Although still manned by a token garrison from Immol, the towers have fallen into disrepair; assignment to these "Bogie-Towers" is one of the loneliest military details in all of Barovia. At the western edge of the Bloodfangs, the Gundar River cuts deep into the Balinoks as it nows through the spectacular Gorge of Passing Sorrow. Barren of all but wilted grasses, the shadowy gorge's steep bluffs take on a crimson hue as one travels upriver toward Forlorn. East of the Balinoks, the descent from the hill Country to the Borderwood in Nova Vaasa is much quicker. From even the lower elevations of these Hills of Bleak Vistas, a traveler can see beyond the Borderwood to the endless horizon of Nova Vaasa's grassy steppes. The distinctions between all of these upland regions surrounding the Balinoks are vague, and I could rarely get two Barovians to agree upon where, for example, the Dreadmount ends and the Bloodfangs begin.
Barovia's landscape is dotted with dark wood· lands, but the only notable pristine forests are the Svalich Woods and the Tepurich Forest. The Svalich is a small pocket of dense. old-growth beech-fir forest in the Old Svalich Pass, surrounding the Village of Barovia. Though many Barovians assume that the woods are reserved for Count von Zarovich's private game, a Barovian soldier informed me that this was not true. Nonetheless, I heard many rumors that wolves larger than an adult horse stalk the woods. The vast Tepurich Forest blankets Southwestern Baravia. Tepurich means "scarred" in Balok, an appellation derived from the strange preponderance of galls, blight, and twisted scars that mar the trunks of the trees. Once a part of Gundarak, the whole region has an evil reputation. The folk of nearby Zeidenburg and Teufeldorf depend on the forest's timber and game, but confessed to me repeatedly that they cannot shake the sensation that eyes are watching them from the shadows.
Three river basins define the major waterways of Barovia: the Gundar, Ivlis, and Luna. Though none of the rivers are navigable for heavy traffic, locals do travel downstream on light river vessels and rafts when it is more convenient than a torturous overland route. The Gundar River drains the southern Balinoks, flowing west into lnvidia, and is joined by the Nharov River, which flows northwest from Kartakass. Both run through some of the wildest and least-traveled parts of the whole realm, and river travelers count themselves blessed if they emerge intact from the sinister T epurich Forest and into the comparative serenity of Invidia. The Ivlis River flows east from the Old Svalich Pass into Nova Vaasa, paralleling the Saniset River, which also flows east from further south in the Balinoks. The Ivlis and Saniset are dotted with rapids that conceal a maze of jagged outcroppings, gravel bars, and other hazards. Even Barovians on the smallest and lightest rafts dare not brave such waters. The Luna River drains the southem Balinoks as well, meandering west through the Dreadmount toward Borca. lts course is gentler, although not by much, and Barovian militiamen confided that its banks are a favored haunt for the brigands that plague the west.
Nestled in the heart of the Balinoks just north of Svalich Pass, Lake Zarovich is Barovia's largest freshwater body. The lake has no outlet, and most locals hold that its depths drain into the very abyss. Catches of fish are plentiful on Lake Zarovich, and fishermen brave the bitter winds that blow across the lake's surface year-round, ice fishing in winter. Not so in Lake Krezk, which lies in northwestern Barovia. Most Barovians refer to it as the Lake of Veins, alluding to the faint wisps of maroon that seep into its waters along the northwestern shore. Whatever toxin is leaching from the soil of the Tainted Wood, it slays much of the lake's fish stock each autumn, choking the banks with rotting carcasses. Although numerous roads and trails crisscross Barovia, it is also blessed with a handful of true highways. The most significant is the Old Svalich Road, an ancient highway that breaches the otherwise impenetrable Balinoks. The highway connects Borca in the west to Nova Vaasa in the east. Nearly every realm in the south utilizes the Old Svalich Road for the movement of goods. The highway is still smooth and broad, but has begun to show its age, with crumbling stone and weeds peeking through the cracks in places. Svalich Pass has a haunted reputation, and few folk make the journey between Vallaki and the Village of Barovia at night if they can help it. Perhaps the Road's most notable features are the ancient gateways that stand at each end of the Pass, stone archways with swinging gates of iron. An imposing pair of iron statues flanks each gate, twenty feet tall and covered in centuries of corrosion and bird droppings.
The figures are hulking Barovian soldiers bearing huge warhammers. Their visages are hidden beneath helms. but the von Zarovich arms on their shields declare their allegiance. Though no longer used to control traffic through the Pass, the gates have been known to open and shut of their own accord, seemingly without reason. I observed this phenomenon myself in my journey from Krezk to Vallaki, when the western gate, which I had found open to allow me passage, thundered shut behind me. The Crimson Road runs south-southeast from Borca, along the edge of the Tepurich Forest, and into Kartakass. This highway, once called the Gundar Road during the duke's reign, is now named for the horrific bloodsports his soldiers were known to engage in along its roadsides. Gundarakites claim that screaming spectres nearly cleaved in twain by brutal axe blows wander the highway on moonless nights. In southeastern Barovia, the Warlock's Road leads south from Immol into Hazlan. Named for the wizards that practice their so-called "black arts" openly in that land, the highway is a boon for Immol, which conducts brisk trade with Ramulai and the other Hazlani settlements lying beyond Barovia's borders. Also notable is the Dreadpass, a short road that connects Vallaki with Zeidenburg. Once barely a trail, Count Strahd has ordered the rood expanded since annexing his new lands.
The majority of buildings in Barovia are constructed in the typical, uninspired brick -and-timber style commonly observed throughout the Core. The brick is usually plastered over without and within. and then painted in neutral, earthen tones. The homes and shops on many streets alternate between deep russet and pale dun exteriors, resulting in a tidy - if bland - color scheme for the whole village. Barovians are fond of decorating the facades of their buildings with colorful stones, especially those that glitter with bright mineral flecks or a strange luster. These pebbles are pressed into the plaster in neat rows or decorative patterns of curls and florals. Roofs are thatched and constructed quite steeply, and the gables are often graced by tiny, leaden rose windows. For all the realm's cruel dreariness, I was struck by the lively decorations that adorned even the humblest Barovian homes. Doorways tinkle with silver wind chimes, while the mountain air wafts past bunches of dried herbs. During my springtime trek, window boxes overflowed with bright and delicate mountain flowers, while harvest time sees pumpkin lanterns and cornhusk moppets. Although quaintly charming, I found that all this domestic primping simply highlighted just how trivial the joys of a Barovian commoner are.
Numerous crumbling ruins predating the Terg occupation dot Barovia's countryside, and even a cursory examination reveals three distinct types of structures. First, abandoned monasteries are found throughout the high elevations of the Balinoks. The Monastery of Silver Threads on Mount Baratak is one such sanctuary, thought to conceal fabulous treasures and religious secrets, not to mention undead shades. Second among the ruined structures are the anonymous, demolished keeps and towers in the foothills. The Keep of Forgetting along the Dreadpass, for example, is renowned as an abode of evil; its noble masters were slain by the von Zaroviches in ages past, their bones brought forth to haunt the ruins forever.
Finally, there are the mysterious stone circles, evidently prehistoric in origin, found in remote valleys and groves. These circles lack the size and purposeful arrangement that characterize such monuments in realms such as Tepest, seeming to be little more than haphazard rings of menhirs. Some Barovians attest to a strong - if suspiciously vague and unverified - sensation of tranquility within these circles.