Werewolf Den
West of Lake Baratok is a cave complex that the werewolves of Barovia use as a den.
Purpose / Function
The werewolves call themselves the Children of Mother Night, because they all worship that deity. Recently, a schism formed within the pack as the result of a challenge to Kiril Stoyanovich's leadership. The rift began when another werewolf, Emil Toranescu, questioned the treatment of children kidnapped by the pack.
History
Kiril Stoyanovich would arm the children with weapons and force them to fight each other to the death until only one child was left standing. The winner would then be turned into a werewolf, ensuring what Kiril Stoyanovich called “the strength and purity of the pack.” Emil Toranescu advocated keeping all the children alive and turning them into werewolves, thus increasing the pack’s size. He believed that a larger pack would ensure the werewolves’ survival, whereas Kiril Stoyanovich saw a larger pack as too difficult to control and feed.
This ideological divide couldn’t be reconciled and led to many disagreements. The other werewolves were split between the two camps, and it seemed likely that either Kiril Stoyanovich or Emil Toranescu would die before the conflict could be resolved.
Then Kiril Stoyanovich disappeared for several days, causing the other werewolves to wonder whether he had fled or had been quietly disposed of by Emil Toranescu and his allies. When he returned, he was accompanied by a pack of several dozen dire wolves loyal to Strahd, and he brought word from Castle Ravenloft that Strahd was not pleased with Emil Toranescu's attempt to fracture the pack. The dire wolves took Emil Toranescu back to Castle Ravenloft to face punishment, and he was never seen again.
Kiril Stoyanovich re-established his dominance, but his ideas and tactics didn’t sit well with the pack’s older members, and they certainly didn’t please Emil Toranescu's mate, Zuleika Toranescu. She knows she can’t slay him on her own, and after what happened to Emil Toranescu, the rest of the pack is unwilling to challenge his authority and face Strahd’s wrath. Kiril Stoyanovich won’t let Zuleika Toranescu hunt, so she’s more or less confined to the den.
Type
Room, Natural, Cavern
Parent Location
Owner
Characters in Location