Editing Strahd Von Zarovich (section)

== Appearances ==

=== Introduction ===
Count Strahd Von Zarovich was first encountered by the Lightbringers in the church of the Morninglord in Dalgenen Village during an argument over the fate of the local priest Fr. [[Donavich Moldovar]]. After requesting entry to the church, Strahd introduced himself to the group and mocked them for being able to provoke in-fighting in the group so easily.

=== Woodland Intrusions ===
As the adventurers travelled from Dalgenen Village to Vallaki, Strahd distracted and tormented [[Vulmar Ventris]] with illusions of his sister. Using the commotion as cover, Strahd isolated and invaded the mind of [[Gokher Wraitharm]] to gain information on the group.

During a later travel from Vallaki to the mountain town of Krezk, Strahd once again attempted to infiltrate the minds of the group by targeting Vulmar Ventris, however Vulmar stopped Strahd before he delved deeper than his surface thoughts.

=== The Krezk Massacre ===
Strahd's might was revealed when the Lightbringers brought [[Ireena Kolyana]] to the Pool of St. Markovia in Krezk. After Ireena was pulled into the water by a mirage of Sergei Von Zarovich, Strahd's fury was heard across Dalgenen. His voice boomed across the land, bats and wolves converged on Krezk, and thunder clouds roared above the Pool eventually culminating in a powerful lightning blast which broke through the wall of Krezk and destroyed the Pool. As the fog poured through the broken Krezk wall, Strahd emerged enraged, swearing to make the group pay. After the conflict, [[Samael Morningstar]], [[Ismark Indirovich]] and Fr. Donavich Moldovar lay dead in the grass as Strahd composed himself and left without sustaining an injury.

=== Resurrection and Repast ===
After the resurrection of Gokher Wraitharm in return for the sacrifice of [[Baldur Garrick]] in the Abbey of St. Markovia, Strahd invited the Lightbringers to dinner in Castle Ravenloft as an apology for his earlier lie and his emotional outburst in Krezk. Strahd provided travel in the form of his driverless carriage, bringing the group first to their treehouse abode to collect Donavich and then to Castle Ravenloft.

During the dinner, Strahd invited the group to formally introduce themselves and made conversation over delicious food. The conversation eventually turned to their conflict, where Strahd formally swore to take all that the group loved from them as compensation for Ireena's disappearance in Krezk. Strahd allowed the group to explore the upper floors of his castle, but forbade entry to the lower levels. During the exploration, a conflict between Strahd and the group erupted, which Strahd used to extract information from Gokher Wraitharm on the Martikov family.

As the group were leaving the castle Strahd informed them of his knowledge of the location of [[Errich Leagallow]], allowing the group to choose between saving the Martikovs and Vallaki from his army's assault, or saving Errich from a fate worse than death.

=== The Battle of Ravenloft ===
Strahd's final appearance was during the battle of Ravenloft. After discovering the source of Strahd's power in the Amber Temple, the Lightbringers assaulted Castle Ravenloft, hoping to find the remaining relics to aid them as predicted by [[Madam Eva]]. After battling through Strahd's initial castle defenses of animated dragon wyrmlings, gargoyles, zombies, and ghosts, the adventurers battled the Count in his tomb where he retreated soon after. The Lightbringers soon found the sunsword and the holy symbol of Ravenkind, and moved to battle Strahd in the location predicted by Madam Eva: The chapel of Ravenloft.

The battle moved from the chapel to the upper floors as Strahd lured the group upwards. After throwing Gokher Wraitharm through a window of a tower, Strahd sought to make his final stand on the roof of Ravenloft. He called forth all the bats, wolves, vampire spawn, and werewolves in Dalgenen to join him in the battle while thunderstorms raged above. As the battle progressed, Strahd called the Roc of Mount Ghakis to aid him in combat which landed on the roof beside him. As the fight turned in Strahd's favour, Urwin and [[Davian Martikov]] crashed onto the roof to aid the adventurers in battle. After a grueling battle, Strahd was eventually defeated by Vulmar Ventris' lightning magic, although Gokher Wraitharm, [[Urwin Martikov]], Donavich Moldovar, Davian Martikov, and [[Kasimir Velikov]] lay dead alongside the Count. [[Daevalur Sunmeadow]] was also severely wounded, but was stabilised by [[Reed Tealeaf]].

=== Return from Death ===
Three months later, the Lightbringers returned to Dalgenen to fulfil a deal made between the group and Vivian Holt. As payment for putting them in touch with [[Draegen Vossen]], the group would escort Vivian to the Amber Temple where she could gain the power needed to defend the coastal town of [[Doveport]]. After bringing her to the temple and putting her in touch with the entity that gave Strahd his powers, she made a deal to accept the dark gift of vampirism. As the deal was sealed, the final components of a dark resurrection performed by Lady Wachter joined with Vivian's body while she underwent her transformation. The amber sarcophagi containing the dark power split, and Vivian was possessed not just by Strahd, but by the darkness that created him. From this amalgam of souls within one body, Strahd's voice was heard clearly from the mouth of Lady Holt.