Grand Survey of Barovia
BAROVIA
• Leader - Burgomeister Kolyan Indrirovich - Rules the mortal population of the village of Barovia, answering to the vampire boyars and ultimately Count Strahd. Very receptive of Ivanovich rule after witnessing their power when defying Strahd and his nobles at the Battle of the Temple in Barovia.
• 400 houses spread over 2 miles. The main bulk of the houses center around the Temple of Ixion.
• Generally wealthy, as the capital of the region. Mostly farming, livestock, and timber. Levees could be raised from local populace. Mostly Strahd's monster squad did the protecting for any serious incursions from other Dread Realms. Castle Ravenloft lies directly above the village. Wood stake fence surrounds the village proper, mostly to keep wolves away.
VALLAKI
• Leader - Burgomeister Nicolai Ionelus - Has Ghoul mercenaries hired from Prince Bartok to protect the village from other, fouler creatures. They are paid in coin and flesh and mostly patrol the outskirts of the lands. He did not send his army to Barovia when Strahd called and it remains mostly intact.
• 60 homes close to the shore on both sides of the road.
• Fishing, boatcraft, and rope making. Village straddles either side of the Svalich Pass. Earth works have been built to either side and gates on either side of the community.
KREZK
• Abandoned watch tower. No leadership.
• Mostly intact watch tower. A road could be built to connect it to the Crimson Road to Darokin, thus making the trip between Darokin and Karameikos even quicker.
ZEIDENBERG
• Leader - Burgomeister Jacenty Girghiu - Wary of outsiders from further down the road. Zeidenburg and Teufeldorf have been plagued by werebeasts in the past. He is reluctant to accept the Ivanovich claim that Barovia is now theirs, but is cordial and has offered what little aid his village can provide. Maybe as a placating measure?
• small hamlet of roughly 30 homes.
• Pottery, goat farming, and blacksmithing for a small iron mine. No real protections, but the smith can make weapons. Trades iron with other parts of Barovia.
TEUFELDORF
• Leader - Burgomeister Petre Teodorus - Very welcoming man. Wants to help you in anyway his small hamlet can. Possibly deceased?
• small hamlet of roughly 10 homes
• Honey, ale, mead, and bowyers. Teufeldorf has very good wood for bow making.
IMMOL
• Leader - Burgomaster Shaithis Vosrovna lives in the watch tower. Wary of all outsiders. Second most defensible position in all Barovia. Reported to have a vast library.
• small village of 50 homes
• Fishing, boatcraft, rope making. Trades mostly with small unnamed estates and hamlets near Mt. Sawtooth and the Bleak Vistas. Intact watch tower and town built mostly of stone. Very defensible.
COUNTRYSIDE
• country homes of other vampire boyars with no village nearby - roughly 80 spread throughout Barovia.
• The valley between the Balinok Mountains and the Bloodfang Hills has decent land and could support a healthy population of goats or even small hardy breeds of cattle. There are several solitary estates in this valley.
• The Dreadpass is a tricky switchback trail between Vallaki and Zeidenburg that winds it's way around The Dreadmount. Very dangerous, but highly defensible.
Note: About .75 people for every house hold could be raised as levees.
Kerendian Knights sworn to the Baron Ravenloft
Sir Asklepiades Prokopios is a somewhat naive, spirited young man. He takes his responsibilities seriously, and can be counted on to be aggressive on the battlefield. He has blue-grey eyes that are unusual for Kerendians, and is the fifth son of a baron. Sir Askepliades has an unusual gift for learning languages, and already speaks several at a useful level.
Sir Spiridon Rocha is a brave but materialistic Kerendian knight, concerned with personal advancement and the expansion of his holdings and reputation. He is plain-spoken to a fault, with little patience for diplomacy or soft words. Sir Spiridon brings with him a wife and two children. He dotes on his family, but is intensely private about them. Sir Spiridon was actually a commoner cavalryman, knighted for bravery in a battle against Alphatian raiders.
Sir Gaius Stavros is shorter and stockier than most men of his position, but is a formidable knight nonetheless. He styles himself a proper Thyatian, but uses the Kerendian composite bow more often than a lance. Sir Gaius is an astute follower of politics, as well as a successful "Ladies Man". Women are both his passion and his weakness. Sir Gaius was in fact "exiled" for a dalliance with the wife of an Imperial Senator.
Footnote on the Clan Von Zarovich
excerpt from manuscript: Halav The King by Boris Svoboda
In the current lands of Traladara, the Clan Von Zarovich is all but forgotten, lost to history. During the time of King Halav though, it was a proud name. The Von Zarovichs were a prominent family from Lavv, the city-state ruled by Halav before the Beastman invasion. When the Beastmen came down from the mountains, Halav called in his bannermen and formed an army, eventually linking up with the armies of other city-states in an attempt to repel the invaders. Strahd von Zarovich, the eldest heir of the Clan, formed a core part of Halav's counsel. During the final thrusts of the war that would eventually culminate with Halav facing down the King of the Beastmen, Strahd and his younger brother Sergei were sent into the Ravenloft Gap, one of four passes in the Altan Tepes Mountains between Traladara and Darokin. There the brothers would reclaim a derelict Nithian fortress and cut off any reinforcements the Beastmen might muster. A convoy of workers and tradesmen erected a village called Barovia while also repairing the castle. The Von Zarovich Clan soldiers set up two forts at strategic points along the gap to act as an early warning system. Sadly, nothing is really known of the fate of the Von Zarovich heirs, as the gap has been made impassable by snow and storms. Every expedition sent to determine their fate has either ended up in Darokin without encountering the castle or else disappeared without a trace, leading some to believe that the brothers were killed in battle, slaughtered by the Beastmen. Without male heirs, the Von Zarovich line was forced into a marriage arrangement with the Korizegy's in order to protect their interests. With the fall of Korizegy Keep at the end of the Vampire War, it is believed that the last of the Von Zarovich's have died out or are of too diluted blood to lay claim to the hereditary titles and honors bestowed upon Count Strahd by King Halav.