Ireena Kolyana
Ireena Koylana
Ireena Kolyana is a Human woman from Sigelruck who was the object of Strahd Von Zarovich's covetous attention during the Curse of Strahd campaign, and who escaped Sigelruck to take part in The Concord of Black Invasion of 550.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Ireena is an adult Human woman, of Pacagen stock. Her face is sharp, well-defined, and exceptionally attractive.
Identifying Characteristics
Ireena is most obviously identified by her striking, long red hair. Her hair is unusual for her ethnicity, and is nearly supernatural in its vibrance.
Physical quirks
Ireena's upbringing in Sigelruck Valley has left her with a mild vision-sensitivity to light, which makes it difficult to discern detail in bright environments. She will sometimes use a pair of black-tinted spectacles to aid her vision, especially when reading.
Specialized Equipment
Ireena carries a magical Longsword she has named "Reina". The longsword's hilt has a slot with a single, observant eye that constantly observes its surroundings. The longsword will attempt to warn Ireena if it believes danger is near.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Ireena was born in the walled city of Vallaki to a mother and father of Pacagen descent. During her childhood, she and her brother - Izek Strazni - were attacked by a werewolf while playing near the lake north of the city. While the wolfman attacked her brother, she was driven into the woods where she became lost. Wondering for days, she eventually found her way to the base of Ravenloft cliff, and was possessed by the soul of Tatyana Ivanova. Ireena has no memory of events prior to her possession.
The burgomaster of nearby Sigelruck Town - Kolyan Indirovich - came across here while hunting, returned her to the town, and adopted her as his own daughter. She was raised in the Sigelruck town burgomansion with her step-brother Ismark Kolyanovich.
Count Strahd von Zarovich, the vampire lord of Sigelruck took interest in Ireena - sensing that she was the latest host for Tatyana - and she became the object of his desire. Strahd harassed the family constantly by sending dire wolves and the undead to attack the burgomansion, which were rebuffed by the family. Twice during the night, Strahd visit Ireena personally. Using magic, he charmed her into submission and bit her neck - injecting his vampiric venom.
In 550, her father's heart finally gave in to the stress of life and he passed away in the night.
Her brother, intent on keeping her from Strahd's grasp, determined to take her to Vallaki. After setting out to gather supplies for the journey, he returned with a troup of mercenaries who had wandered into the valley. They agreed to escort Ireena and her brother, after they completed burying her father's body.
As the group crossed the bridge over the Tser River, Strahd ambused the party with a company of Vestani. Strahd demanded that the mercenaries hand over Ireena to him, which they immediately complied with. She was beaten, restrained, and delivered into Strahd's carriage. Strahd transported her back to Castle Ravenloft, where she was locked within the guest tower until arrangements for their marriage could be secured.
Strahd kept her in a cycle of magical charm and lucidity. While charmed, she was invited to extragovent dinners and lavished with gifts, then returned to her prison-room. Strahd was intent on breaking her will to resist him and securing her agreement to marry him without the effects of magic. For two weeks she resisted, before finally accepting that her brother was dead and no one would be coming to save her. She agreed to marry Strahd, intending to throw herself from the Ravenloft cliffs before he could make her his eternal vampire wife.
The day before her wedding, Ismark reappeared outside of her door. Accompanied by a band of insurrectionists intent on overthrowing Strahd - some of whom were from the original mercenary band which had betrayed her. The group teleported her from Castle Ravenloft using a magic circle, and she was entrusted to the care of a Harlean professor Artyom Ivanov.
Ismark told her that, during her stay in the castle, the mercenaries who betrayed them had found a temple in the mountains containing the souls of lost, evil gods. They had released the gods and started a war in the valley against Strahd. The only way to escape Strahd, and the valley, is to kill the vampire and disrupt his power over the mists which surround and imprison the valley. Unsure how long their escape window would be, or if they would be successful at all, Ismark ordered Ireena to go with Artyom and attempt the escape, while he returned to Castle Ravenloft and attempted to kill Strahd.
Artyom, Ireena, and Victor Vallakovich - the wizard son of the Vallakian burgomaster - made for the valley's southern edge. They succeeded at navigating the mists and emerged into a small valley between Sigelruck and Wattry. As they slept in an abandoned mine for shelter, Victor disappeared in the night. Artyom and Ireena pushed on to Wattry, where they were able to secure transport into Raviernruck and eventually to the Raviernruck Citadel. There, Artyom gave audience to the Court of Raviernruck about what he had witnessed in Sigelruck and of the danger posed by the released dark gods. Ireena was asked to give witness to this and to the nature of Strahd Von Zarovich.
Ireena then accompanied Artyom to his home at the Harlades Academy in Fontia, and learned under his tutelage the history and currency of the world outside of the valley. Though she hoped that Ismark would also emerge from the mists of Sigelruck, he never did. Instead, The Concord of Black began an invasion from Sigelruck that winter, which eventually overtook Raviernruck and Fontia. Artyom and Ireena were forced to flee to the north and eventually into Varkin, Noba.
Education
Ireena was taught to read and write, basic arithmatic, and courtesy by her adoptive father prior to his death. As an adult she was taught introductory religious and secular histories by Artyom Ivanov, prior to and during The Concord of Black Invasion of 550.
Mental Trauma
Ireena has been deeply traumatized by basically everything in her life. Her childhood in Sigelruck has left her emotionally guarded and depressed. She is in constant fear of betrayal by those she is not close to, and abandonment by those she is.
She is well-aware that her soul is the recycled possession of Tatyana Ivanova and is plagued by nightmares of Tatyanas past-lives and hundreds of years of abuse and pursuit by Strahd. She is painfully aware that she most-probably did not have a soul prior to her possession (as most people in Sigelruck do not).
Ireena blames herself for her father's death and Ismark's probable death, having accurately identified that the only reason they were the subject of Strahd's ire being her possessed soul.
Her abuse has made her deeply fearful of intimacy and men, with the sole exception of Ismark.
Intellectual Characteristics
Despite her lack of formal education, Ireena is a quick-witted and observant person. Her upbrining predisposes her to seek practical and direct solutions to problems.
Personality Characteristics
Personality Quirks
Ireena can sometimes be observed quietly whispering to the souls of the dead Sigeleans who congregate around her soul.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Ireena has a good working relationship with Artyom Ivanov, who assisted in her rescue from Castle Ravenloft and guided her as she transitioned to living outside of Sigelruck Valley.
She is also acquiainted with Victor Vallakovich, whom she met briefly via Koylan Indirovich's formal affiliation with the burgomaster of Vallaki - Baron Vargas Vallakovich. Vargas attempted to explore an arranged marriage between Victor and Ireena, but abandoned the idea when it became clear that Count Strahd was intent on taking Ireena for himself. Ireena and Victor met briefly again while escaping from Sigelruck following Strahd's final death.
In 551, Ireena was approached by Capt. Nesen Redsun and SFC Roric Elmbeam of the Noblis Military, and recruited to join an expedition into the Harlades to make contact with the Dwarven mountainhomes. During this expedition, she met Toklas Blunthammer and Bic Boyd.
Family Ties
Ireena is the only sibling and step-sister to Ismark Kolyanovich. Though she doesn't know it, she is also the biological sister to Izek Strazni.
Ireena's biological mother and father are both deceased, as is her adoptive father Koylan Indirovich.
Religious Views
Growing up in Sigelruck, gave Ireena the impression that gods - especially the old gods worshipped in the valley (the Dawnfather and Mother Night) - did not care for mortals and cannot be relied upon.
Instead, Ireena worships the force which disobeyed Strahd's will and kept lit the barest light of hope in the valley - Tatyana Ivanova's soul itself. Ireena can be said to be a follower of Saint Tatyana Ivanova. Though Tatyana's original soul was reborn in Ireena's body, the combination of souls which compose the Saint Tatyana, and from which Ireena draws power, are Sigelean souls which ordered toward Tatyana, and her defiance of Strahd's will.
Speech
Ireena speaks with a noticable Sigelean accent - which sounds archaic to modern Harleans, but which is probably not noticeable to other listeners.
Alignment
Neutral Good
Ethnicity
Date of Birth
526-06-21 E4
Year of Birth
20526
25 Years old
Birthplace
Vallaki, Sigelruck
Children
Sex
Female
Gender
Female
Eyes
Brown
Hair
Red; long and straight
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Dark
Height
5'5"
Weight
125 lbs
Aligned Organization
Related Plots
Comments