I Strahd - Tumblr Posts

I’ve really loved working on your NPC’s!! This was also technically my first foray into I,Strahd characters!

The amazingly talented @spicyspell has utterly captured my game's Alek Gwilym! I cannot overstate how pleased I am with this piece, how beautiful it is, and how excited I have been all day to unveil it to my players - especially my player whose cleric is Alek and Strahd's son.

In Blood Countess, Alek Gwilym has many titles. He is Commander Gwilym, Master at Arms of Ravenloft. He is the former squire and eldest scion of Lord Argynvost. He is the avatar of the Morning Lord. Most importantly, he is Ayah, or Father, to Godfrey and Alistor Gwilym.

Alek was the son of the dragon lord, Argynvost, and his human wife, Freya. He spent his youth at Argynvostholt, training to be a knight. He even became his father's squire. However, his mother was killed by the wizards of the Amber Temple and Alek abandoned the order. He became a mercenary sell-sword and traveled far and wide. He eventually returned to the Balinok Valley to serve as a bodyguard and guide for the princess-general, Strahd von Zarovich. He was a powerful fighter and asset to the Barovian forces. After saving Strahd's life, he was inducted into her army and he rose through the ranks quickly. They fell in love and carried on an illicit affair until Strahd fell pregnant with twins and defeated the Tergic army. The boys were sent to live at Argynvostholt but Strahd was never informed of their whereabouts. Alek remained a devoted father to Godfrey and Alistor and repaired his relationship with his father while maintaining his position at Ravenloft's court as Strahd's right hand. However, Strahd became mired in her grief and obsession with preserving her power. Alek ultimately lost her but remained dedicated to her even to his own demise in the Amber Temple, where she killed him as a sacrifice to Vampyre. Alek made a deal that day, too, with the Morning Lord and agreed to be his avatar. Unfortunately, he was magically sealed away by the Dark Powers and he awaits the day that he can reunite with his sons.

In the meantime, he's tried to exert his will on the valley with mixed success. Currently, he has one (1) warlock: a nun from Krezk who is more than the sum of her parts and has sent an angel to try to heal Strahd with unfavorable results. He's trying. He really, really is. It's tough to be a god!

Especially when all he wants is to see the people he loves one more time.

I absolutely adore Alek and I am so thrilled to have art of him! I am so happy! I love his dragon scales, which look a little like vitiligo. I love the curls of his hair and the sharpness of his nose. I love his smile and the fact that when I showed my cleric, she said that he is definitely Alistor's father.

(Also, his and Strahd's portraits face in opposite directions. I can make them face each other and he looks besotted while she's looking away or I can make them face away from each other, back to back, in comparison. Hell. Yes.)

Expanding on my drawn D&D miniature collection, here's Alek Gwilym, my favorite I, Strahd character, someone who I will not need as a mini for quite a while.

Notes:

Along with needing D&D miniatures, this project is a way for me to push my character and outfit designs, to make more unique characters and armor sets. In this case, I decided to practice half plate.

Most of the small details on these designs won't show up on the final miniature, hence why the von Zarovich crest is rather simple. Once printed out, the thinner lines will disappear, rather than leave blotches of color on otherwise clean armor. That same reason is why I'm not too worried about some of the weird spots around the face.

Eventually Strahd and Rahadin will get their own miniatures, and each of them will wear similar colors, just in varying values and amounts of each. I didn't want Alek to be wearing solid red armor (that's the plan for Strahd's animated armor), so he gets a very warm grey instead.

1 - Wine

“I never drink… wine,” Alek intoned, as deeply as he could, thoroughly butchering Strahd’s native accent in dramatic caricature. He blinked, setting down his glass of the dark red liquid, and thumped a fist gently against his own chest to produce a stunted belch which left him looking a bit perplexed.

His little display would have been terribly insulting, but for the fact that it was, on all counts, simply inaccurate. Strahd reached across the relatively small table and lifted the glass from Alek’s hand. “Why do you think I stock my cellar with wine, if not to drink it?” he challenged. Strahd swirled the contents lightly, observing the slight syrupy cling about its edges.

Alek’s eyes narrowed, an eyebrow raised conspiratorially as he leaned in—or rather swayed—closer. “You do it for me, I’d bet.”

“Indeed?”

“I’ve had…” Alek fell back again, peering down at himself as though to assess whether he was, in fact, still attached to all his limbs. “...all of it,” he said vaguely.

“All of it?” Strahd echoed, a faint smile pulling at one side of his mouth.

Alek’s elbow thumped against the table top, and he jabbed a finger in Strahd’s direction. “’Cept that. Drink it, or I’m right.”

It was true that Strahd did not often imbibe, and when he did it was very little. He found that his head ached too quickly, and he had seen the ill effects of alcohol on some of their eldest comrades. Altogether, the risks often outweighed the benefits. But Strahd could easily stoop to this particular challenge. He raised the glass to Alek, then drank deeply from it, tipping his head back. He deposited the empty vessel back into Alek’s waiting hand, whose dilated gray eyes were now wrought with suspicion.

Alek looked into the glass, then back at Strahd. “I’m still right,” he decided.

Strahd did not bother to argue. Alek was drunk. And what did it matter who drank most of the wine in his cellar, so long as Strahd had given it freely? Exquisite drinks were a feature of etiquette, a tool in diplomatic relations, denoting a status of wealth and refinement, which often served to inspire awe or intimidation, depending on the visitor. That anyone appreciated Strahd’s selection beyond that was of little consequence.

Alek’s finger absently traced the rim of the glass, stationed once again on the table. Strahd was pulled out of his musings by the eerie feeling that he was being appraised at this moment.

“Are you satisfied?” Strahd asked dryly.

An easy grin lit upon Alek’s face. “Of course.” He added, cryptically, “Some get better with age.”

Then Alek rose from his chair, managing to remain mostly steady in doing so. “I had better leave you to…” He waved vaguely about the room. “...before I do something foolish.”

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” said Strahd.

Alek balked at this news, and then he laughed, sheepishly. “Forgive me, then.” He leaned on the table, scooping up Strahd’s hand from its surface to press his lips against Strahd’s knuckles. Strahd’s heart skipped. His mind seemed to be at once racing and absent of thought. The gesture was unusual between them.

“Good evening, my lord” Alek said with a flourish, further baffling the incomprehensible moment.

Alek had made it halfway to the door when a soft correction of “...Strahd” reached his ears.

He paused, glancing back at Strahd over his shoulder, expression lopsided but fond.

“I know.”

Then Strahd was left alone, with a vague feeling of driftlessness and a budding headache. Resting his elbows on the table before him, Strahd pressed his knuckles to his lips.

* * *

[Ao3 collection]

[prompts list]

To CoS DMs,

What sort of stuff do you make a point of including when changing Strahd's diary?

I've never been fond of 5e's handout, it feels far more like a lore drop than a personal diary, and while using I, Strahd would be nice, I've made too many changes to the lore to use it as is. (not to mention that my players and I are all busy, and won't have the time to read a full novel)

I've outlined the key elements that need to be included, I just need to pad it out a bit.

Thank you for any help (:

My current outline is under the cut (:

cw for canon typical depression and violence

Taking Castle Ravenloft:

Summary of the arrival at the castle, naming it after his mother, in her honor

With the death of their parents, Sergei will be coming to the keep

Introduction to Alek and Rahadin, the two working and training together

Meeting Tatyana:

Introducing our sexy lamp

Passing mention of Sergei giving up his place in the clergy for her

Focus on Tatyana's physical traits, her hair in particular. As much as the lamp thing is a joke, she isn't important to Strahd as a person, only a prize. As Strahd is really the only source of information on Tatyana for the party, she doesn't really get much in terms of development.

Alek has raised concerns once again about the assassin

Tatyana & Sergei, Wedding Prep:

Strahd moping while Sergei and Tatyana have a good time.

Mention of Alek going to the Amber Temple for research purposes, to find something that might help the situation.

Night Before the Wedding:

Strahd is starting to hear whispers

Alek and Rahadin have been patroling the castle, questioning the guards, etc.

Wedding Night Aftermath:

Quiet castle, only him and Rahadin alive.

Some sacrifices had to be made, but Alek is still alive, gifted to Rahadin, so that the two can remain brothers.

Alek died as he does in I, Strahd, but is the first Strahd brings back from the dead. He botches it though, and Alek returns as a Nosferatu, rather than a spawn. Strahd is denying the problem, shrugging off the issue as best as he can. He's good at it.

Meeting Marina:

The only section I've fully written out so far, but still up for revisions.

I returned to Castle Ravenloft late yesterday evening with no issue. Rahadin was right, the girl looks exactly like my dearest Tatyana did, with the same red hair and bright eyes. I do not think I know the entirety of what happened to her in the years since her death in the Mists, but she did not remember who she, or perhaps more importantly, Sergei or I, was.

Now, she goes by Marina, and is the adopted daughter of the burgomaster in Berez, Lazlo Berezovich, who plans to marry her in just a few years. Of course, i cannot have such things happen to Tatyana, no matter what name or face she wears now, and I have already begun to teach her of her old life. She seemed invested, though that might simply be due to the prospect of minor nobility taking romantic interest in her. Still, even with having only spent a night with her, the results seem promising. My brother will not have any influence this time, and at long last, Tatyana will finally be mine.

Rahadin also brought news of the Abbot, the “angel” having taken up residence in the old monastery in Krezk, where I had found Leo Dilisnya. While Tatyana is of the highest priority, I will have to visit Krezk soon, to finally welcome our newest guest. Even if his healing magic has been greatly exaggerated, his presence should provide at least some degree of entertainment for myself, and perhaps some assistance for Barovia’s people.

Death of Marina:

Most recent event in journal, so that it works out when Strahd leaves the diary buried under the monument to Marina. A good segment of unmarked pages are left at the end of the journal.

Cursing the men who killed Marina, description of their bodies after their deaths.

Here's a preview for my addition to @curseofsergei's Curse of Strahd zine, Memento Mori!

I've had a wonderful time participating, and can't wait for the zine to be out! (:

Along with my main piece, I've also been working on some of the formatting art, and will post that soon too! (:

I noticed a new detail in I, Strahd that has me screaming.

So I'm doing a critical writing essay on the way that P. N. Elrod uses the first-person perspective in I, Strahd to enhance the narrative, with Strahd himself as, you know, the unreliable narrator of his own life (which just... mmm! It's so good).

And I'm just going back through the book to look for the page number where he says, "That's what I told myself, anyway."

But, I then found this instead:

You would spill my blood, armsman?

HOLD. THE F**K. ON.

armsman???

So I rifle back through the pages, because that is not what he said. That's not the quote. It's Commander. It's "You would spill my blood, Commander?"

And I find it. And I'm right.

OOGH.

Oh, does it hurt.

Strahd is removing himself from Alek in this moment. He's taking him down already in his mind. Trying to make Alek less important, so that it's less of a blow to himself when he kills him, just a moment later.

Commander is a title, and one of respect. It shows that Alek occupies an important position. And even that, I realize now, was a point of distance, because the two of them often do call each other by their given names. When Strahd was in danger of assassination, Alek yelled "Strahd!" multiple times, which is very personal. When they were out on tour, dealing with the local burgomasters, Alek got perhaps a little too excited and Strahd chided him by just quietly saying his name, "Alek."

When he called Alek "Commander", Strahd was hanging over the edge of a cliff to grab his hand, almost ready to die himself if Alek fell. Alek was in danger of death. In that moment, Strahd chose to focus on the fact that he might lose a leader in his ranks, rather than a close personal friend. It was a little bit of distance, so that he could focus on the task in front of him. To keep his head in that unexpected crisis.

When Strahd calls him "armsman", though... Alek is now faceless. He has been stripped of name. He has been stripped of rank. He has been stripped of all personal attachment. Because that is what Strahd needed to do in order to complete the task ahead of him.

Alek has also just stabbed him in the chest, when Strahd inaccurately recalls that moment, and they are both in shock. Given a choice, Alek would never have done this. "Only a drop or two," he had answered, dangling from the cliff, "if it spares the rest, my lord." (Alek follows his lead in this act of distancing. "Didn't have to, my lord," he murmurs this time.) It can't be Alek, so this is just another soldier. This is just another fight. It's just another war.

So, Strahd thinks of him as "armsman" here, to avoid a truly devastating layer of grief.

Neither of us had a choice. That's what I told myself anyway.

The quote I was looking for is on page 137. One page before all that.

'Cause these hands Build and break, just as you ask they do And these bones Precious scars there, left defending you

Mi Capitán, Kiltro

Check out the full zine here: @mementomoristrahdzine!!

The Holy Vestments of Mornmaster Sergei von Zarovich

The nights in this valley are deep and treacherous, the darkness suffocating and choking out the very air that we breathe. My brothers-in-arms have fallen to those things from the woods. Every time their cries were smothered and their lights quickly extinguished, I thought I would surely perish the same. But that gold and white gleam splendidly in conjured daylight, the blue as vibrant as the noon sky. I never thought I would see red and not think of blood, but of fire. Warm and soothing. Mornmaster Sergei continues to keep us safe, and for as long as he holds the sun over this dark valley, I will hold my loyalty to him. -- Knight Tudorus of the Holy Office of Barovia, Ordo Solis

"Raven's Inquisition" is a Curse of Strahd prequel campaign I am currently playing in where we get to explore setting elements and character relations that otherwise could not have been explored in the canon module. The DM @emp-roar is constructing the campaign as an adaptation of the "I, Strahd" novel, where Barovia has yet been established, Strahd is still human, and the players are all inquisitors overtaking the Tsolenka Valley under the von Zarovich crest and the banner of the Morninglord.

I am personally interested in Sergei von Zarovich as a character due to his interactions with our party and my player character, Omen, specifically. I then decided to create a concise concept sheet displaying the various layers of his holy vestments.

Credit due to Aciduous' Paladin player that has created the rank insignias for the Morninglord Church!

Finally got around to drawing my version of Alek alive! (: Based off William Etty's "Male Nude, with Arms Up-Stretched" (:

One Lady Alek Horngaard for @hot0sauce :3 I love her dearly, I woke up this morning and the first thing I thought of was her (:

*Stares at him like a widow waiting for her husband to return from the sea*