Strahd Von Zarovich

"I am The Ancient, I am The Land. My beginnings are lost in the darkness of the past." - Strahd Von Zarovich in the "Tome of Strahd"
Strahd Von Zarovich was a Higher Vampire and Lord of Barovia. He dwelled within the Valley of Barovia, inside his grand castle of Ravenloft. The entire area was a prison for Strahd, as Barovia itself was located in a plane of dread or demi-plane within the confines of The Void. A tyrannical ruler, Strahd ensured loyalty and fear from his subjects, often torturing them into submission through the use of dark magic and creatures.

History

Early Life

Precious little is known about Strahd's childhood, though his origins can be traced back to early Atmora. In AoF 302, Strahd was born into a wealthy family in Aramoor, a son for his parents; Barov and Ravenovia Von Zarovich. Strahd was raised a noble and trained extensively in the art of warfare and combat. Sergei, his younger brother, joined Strahd in these pursuits, though the older Von Zarovich always showed more promise.
By AoF 340, Strahd and his family amassed a large mercenary army, and set out from Aramoor, intent on claiming a large area of land for themselves. This is when Barovia was uncovered by the Von Zarovich family, a region that would be forever changed by their arrival.

Invasion of Barovia Valley

Strahd himself led the Von Zarovich forces, storming the valley of Barovia, quickly taking the land for themselves. Behind Strahd's leadership, the mercenaries proved more than a match for the paltry forces of cities like Vallaki or Berez. Within a year, Barovia had mostly fell to Strahd's forces, though small bastions of rebellion existed, such as Argynvost and his Order of the Silver Dragon, though these would eventually fall to the Von Zarovich family as well.
With Barovia comfortably under his control, Strahd invited the rest of his family to the region he'd won for them. His parents became the King and Queen of Barovia, and ruled over the valley from within Ravenloft, a castle Strahd had built and named after his mother Ravenovia. For several years, all went well for Strahd and his family, though eventually greed and jealousy would creep into Strahd's soul. He would soon feel great envy for his brother Sergei, as his lover Tatyana, would become the subject of Strahd's obsession.

Transformation

Jealousy burned brightly inside Strahd, for he was deeply in love with Tatyana, Sergei's betrothed. In his eyes he deserved Tatyana, after all, it was he that led armies, won victories, and had brought Barovia under his family's rule. Yet even still, Tatyana loved Sergei, their love was a noting that Strahd could not understand. In a bid to become more impressive and powerful, Strahd visited an area found high on Mount Ghakis; the The Amber Temple. Inside he found guidance from one named Exethanter, who promised him great power should he accept it from one of the many dark powers held within the tombs of the temple. Strahd was greatly tempted, knowing that as he was now, Tatyana would never choose him. So it was that Strahd agreed, and accepted the dark gift of a demon named Vampyr. Vampyr promised Strahd immortality, taking a portion of his soul for payment. To complete the pact, Strahd would need to do one final task; murder his brother Sergei and drink from his blood.
Strahd returned to Ravenloft and immediately searched for his brother, eager to get the deed over with. Upon locating him, Strahd drew close and whispered a stern apology into his brother's ear, before plunging his dagger into Sergei's chest and killing his sibling in cold blood. Strahd quickly drank from Sergei's body, a task that even Strahd could hardly bring himself to complete. To Strahd, the pact was now complete, Tatyana would be his, and they would live together forevermore. Unfortunately for Strahd, a nearby guardsmen witnessed the event, and hurried off to alert his superiors of what had happened. Strahd left the scene, locating Tatyana on the overlook of Ravenloft. He confessed his undying love for her, yet she still spurned him. In anger, Strahd confided in Tatyana what he had done to be with her. This horrified Tatyana, and upon hearing the confession, threw herself from the overlook, plummeting into the depths below the castle.
At the same moment, a group of Sergei's guardsmen appeared, and attempted to arrest Strahd for the murder of Sergei. Strahd resisted and was shot multiple times with the arrows of Sergei's men. Strahd fell to the ground, dying from multiple direct shots to his chest. In his final moments he felt great shame and regret. He had lost everything dear to him, and death now felt like a proper escape. However, unbeknownst to Strahd, Vampyr had lied about the nature of immortality he had granted. Now buried beneath the ground at Ravenloft, Strahd underwent the final stage of his transformation. After three nights in his grave, Strahd would rise once again as a Vampire, the very first undead of his kind.

Imprisonment in Barovia

Strahd's actions had hardly gone unnoticed during his time alive, and attracted even more attention now that he was undead. Among these spectators was the Eres known as Kelemvor, the God of Death. Strahd's transformation into an undead and subsequent immortality caused Kelemvor great offence. As the Shepard of Souls, Kelemvor had awaited Strahd's soul's eventual arrival in The Void. The souls of impressive figures were especially important to Kelemvor, and now he had been denied Strahd's. Additionally, Strahd had begun to wield this immortality in an irresponsible manner, using it as a weapon over those beneath him.
For these reasons, Kelemvor would transport the entirety of Barovia into The Void, shaping it into a separate demi-plane. This would forever imprison Strahd, who would no longer be able to leave Barovia, trapping his physical and spiritual form. Even in the event of his demise, Strahd's spirit would endure within, eventually reincarnating in Barovia. Truly, Strahd was now imprisoned for eternity. Realizing his fate, Strahd doubled down on his tyranny to the forsaken population of Barovia, becoming the Dark Lord of Ravenloft, The Ancient and The Land. With the rest of his family now dead, laid to rest within Ravenloft, Strahd was left to rule over Barovia, a position he would inhabit for generations to come.

Contention with the Saviours

One of Strahd's favorite activities to partake in while ruler of Barovia, was to lure creatures from the The Mortal Plane into Barovia, usually torturing them for sport. He accomplished this by allying himself with a strange group of humans and elves named The Vistani. The Vistani knew secret ways to access Naneth from Barovia, and used this ability to aid Strahd. In AoR 597, the Vistani would lure a group of adventurers into Barovia, a group that would later become known as the Saviours of Barovia. 
During this time, Strahd had come to notice the reincarnated spirit of Tatyana, housed inside of a woman named Ireena Kolyana. He focused his efforts towards turning Ireena into a vampire, so that he and Tatyana may finally be together. The Saviours became aware of this, and interfered with Strahd's efforts. This greatly angered Strahd, though he knew the group would be no match for his power, choosing to toy with them instead of outright murdering them. This mistake would be the beginnings of Strahd's own downfall. Over the next three weeks Strahd would contend with this group, as they slowly undermined his power in the region. Strahd was not so concerned with this however, as he had finally captured Ireena and prepared a wedding for them in Ravenloft. Tatyana would finally be his after all these long years.
In a bid to humiliate the Saviours of Barovia, who had failed to protect Ireena, Strahd invited the group to his wedding, though he fully intended to kill the group for sport during the reception. But the Saviours had other plans, striking out at Strahd during the ceremony. During the chaos, the group slew many of Strahd's allies and sent the Master of Ravenloft himself fleeing into the depths of the castle. For the group was in possession of a powerful weapon named The Sunsword, the sentient former weapon of Strahd's brother Sergei. The sword hungered for revenge against Strahd and dealt him great damage. However, true to form, Strahd was overconfident in his abilities and underestimated the group. He would face them in a final battle, sure of his own victory.

Second Death

Strahd faced the Saviours of Barovia on he overlook of Ravenloft. He was aided by an undead Argynvost, a silver dragon that Strahd had long ago turned to his side. The battle was fierce, but in the end Strahd could not contend with the combined might of the group and the Sunsword, and fell to a blow from Colborn Sergeant, the leader of the Saviours. Strahd was then doubly killed while regenerating in his coffin, an action that would permanently destroy this version of Strahd's physical form.
Strahd was defeated, his physical form beaten and destroyed. Though he was not able to directly affect happenings within Barovia anymore, his spirit would endure, still imprisoned and damned to Barovia for eternity. During this time, the valley of Barovia would enter a time of peace and prosperity, though it promised to be temporary. Strahd Von Zarovich will one day physically return to Barovia, likely angry and in search of vengeance.

Basic Information

Race: Human Male (Formerly), Higher Vampire
Ethnicity: Atmoran, Barovian
Other Names/Titles: The Ancient, The Master of the Land, The Devil Strahd, The First Vampire
Home: Ravenloft, Barovia
Status: Undead (Currently Destroyed)

Family

Parents: King Barov Von Zarovich, Queen Ravenovia Von Zarovich
Siblings: Sergei Von Zarovich, Strum Von Zarovich

Dates

Born: AoF 302
Death: AoF 347 (1st Death), AoR 597 (2nd Death)
Resurrected: AoF 347 (1st Resurrection)

Ruled Locations

• Ravenloft