What Is Barovia?
Enter Barovia, the mist-shrouded valley where isolated villages, haunted forests, and ancient roads lie beneath the shadow of Castle Ravenloft and its vampire lord.
G.R. Vinces5 min read
Welcome to Ravenloft · Reading 5 of 8
There is a valley surrounded by mountains.
The sun rarely seems to shine there.
Forests crowd lonely roads. Wolves move between the trees. Old villages huddle behind wooden walls, and above them all, perched upon a towering pillar of stone, stands an ancient castle.
Its master has watched over the valley for centuries.
His name is Strahd von Zarovich.
And the valley is called Barovia.
Of all the Domains of Dread, none is more famous.
A Valley Behind the Mists
Barovia is an isolated Domain of Dread surrounded by the supernatural Mists of Ravenloft.1
At first glance, it resembles a small, mountainous country.
The Village of Barovia lies beneath the shadow of Castle Ravenloft. Farther west are the walled town of Vallaki, the village of Krezk, forests, mountains, lakes, abandoned places, and roads connecting scattered settlements.2
But those roads don’t lead out of the domain.
The Mists surround Barovia.
And towering above the valley is Castle Ravenloft.
It isn’t merely Strahd’s home.
It is the symbol of his control over everything below.
Barovia Wasn’t Always a Prison
Long before the Mists surrounded it, Barovia was a land conquered by the armies of the von Zarovich family.3
Strahd von Zarovich was their warrior prince.
He spent much of his life fighting wars and eventually conquered the valley that would become his home. Strahd named the land Barovia after his father, King Barov.3
After years of warfare, Strahd established himself at Castle Ravenloft.
His family came to join him.
Among them was his younger brother, Sergei.
And with Sergei came the person who would change Strahd’s fate forever.
Tatyana.
The Crime That Changed Barovia
Strahd became obsessed with Tatyana.
But Tatyana loved Sergei.
Strahd had spent his youth at war, and he increasingly viewed Sergei as possessing everything he had lost: youth, happiness, and the woman he desired.4
His obsession eventually became something much darker.
Strahd entered into a terrible bargain for power.
On the day Sergei and Tatyana were to be married, Strahd murdered his brother and drank his blood.4
Tatyana fled.
Cornered at Castle Ravenloft, she threw herself from its walls rather than remain with Strahd.
Her body was never found.4
Then the Mists came.
Barovia disappeared from the world it had once belonged to.
And Strahd became a vampire.
A Kingdom That Cannot Move On
Centuries have passed.
Yet Barovia feels trapped.
Not merely geographically.
Historically.
Strahd still rules.
Castle Ravenloft still overlooks the valley.
The people still live beneath his shadow.
And Tatyana keeps returning.
Across generations, women resembling Tatyana have appeared within Barovia, each carrying echoes of the woman Strahd lost.5
Strahd pursues them.
Again and again.
And again and again, his obsession ends in failure.
This is the torment at the center of Barovia.
Strahd possesses extraordinary power.
He rules the land.
He commands supernatural creatures.
He has survived for centuries.
Yet he cannot obtain the thing he believes will finally satisfy him.
The Dark Powers have given him an eternity in which to repeat his mistake.
The Devil Strahd
To the people of Barovia, Strahd isn’t a distant legend.
He is their ruler.
Many simply call him the Devil Strahd.6
His presence hangs over the domain even when he isn’t physically there.
Wolves and other creatures roam the wilderness.
Travel after dark is dangerous.
Castle Ravenloft can be seen from miles away.
And Strahd himself takes an interest in those who enter his realm.
That last part matters.
Because adventurers arriving in Barovia aren’t necessarily anonymous travelers.
They may become entertainment.
Enemies.
Tools.
Potential successors.
Or simply new pieces in a game Strahd has been playing for centuries.7
Why Doesn’t Everyone Leave?
Because Barovia is a Domain of Dread.
The Mists surround it.
Strahd can close its borders.
And ordinary travel cannot simply carry someone back to the wider world.8
Generations of Barovians have lived and died beneath those conditions.
For many of them, the world outside the valley is barely relevant.
Barovia is simply reality.
The mountains.
The villages.
The forests.
The castle.
The Mists.
And Strahd.
The First Domain of Dread
Barovia occupies a special place in Ravenloft.
The original Ravenloft adventure, published in 1983, introduced Strahd von Zarovich and Castle Ravenloft to Dungeons & Dragons.9
Over time, that single gothic horror adventure grew into something much larger.
More domains.
More Darklords.
More nightmares hidden within the Mists.
Eventually, Ravenloft became an entire setting.
But at its heart remains the same image:
A lonely valley.
A castle above the clouds.
A vampire who cannot escape his own obsession.
And somewhere on the road below…
travelers walking toward Castle Ravenloft.
Whether they realize it or not.
Sources & Further Reading
- ↩
Wizards of the Coast, Curse of Strahd (2016), chap. 2, “The Lands of Barovia”; Wizards of the Coast, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (2021), “Barovia.” Both present Barovia as an isolated Domain of Dread surrounded by the Mists.
- ↩
Curse of Strahd, chap. 2 and subsequent location chapters, for the geography and settlements of the valley, including the Village of Barovia, Vallaki, Krezk, and Castle Ravenloft.
- ↩a↩b
Ibid., introductory history, “The Vampire’s History.” Strahd conquered the valley and named Barovia after his father, King Barov.
- ↩a↩b↩c
Ibid. Strahd’s jealousy of Sergei, obsession with Tatyana, murder of Sergei, and Tatyana’s death are central events in his transformation.
- ↩
Curse of Strahd and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, “Barovia,” establish the recurring incarnations connected to Tatyana as part of Strahd’s continuing torment.
- ↩
Curse of Strahd. Barovians commonly refer to their vampire ruler as “the Devil Strahd.”
- ↩
Ibid., introductory material concerning Strahd’s goals and his relationship with adventurers entering Barovia.
- ↩
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, chap. 3, “Domains of Ravenloft,” and “Barovia,” for the supernatural borders of Domains of Dread and Strahd’s ability to close Barovia’s borders.
- ↩
Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman, Ravenloft (I6). TSR, 1983. The adventure introduced Castle Ravenloft and Count Strahd von Zarovich and became the foundation for the later Ravenloft campaign setting.
Bibliography
- Wizards of the Coast. Curse of Strahd. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2016.
- Curse of Strahd — D&D Beyond
- Wizards of the Coast. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2021. Especially “Barovia” in chap. 3.
- Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft — D&D Beyond
- Hickman, Tracy, and Laura Hickman. Ravenloft. I6. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1983.
