Editing Strahd Von Zarovich (section)

== Background ==
A man of noble birth, Strahd spent much of his life serving as a general in the Conqueror Army, as his father did before him. Years of such service took their toll upon him however, and by the time he reached middle age, Strahd came to believe he had squandered his life and his youth. With this dark mood upon him, he came to conquer the region known as Dalgenen, and assumed lordship there, taking as his residence the pre-existing castle known as Ravenloft. From this position of power and security, he called for members of his family "long unseated from their ancestral thrones" to join him, including a younger brother named Sergei.

Some time after this reunion, the Count himself fell in love with a young Dalgenian woman, Tatyana, though she rejected his affections in favor of the younger Sergei. Filled with despair and jealousy, and brooding a growing hatred for Sergei, Strahd sought magical means to restore his youth. In a moment of desperate frustration, he "made a pact with death - a pact of blood." On the day of Sergei and Tatyana's wedding, Strahd murdered his brother and pursued the grieving Tatyana until she flung herself from the walls of Ravenloft. Strahd himself was shot down by the arrows of the castle guard. Even so, he did not die, but went on to rule the land of Dalgenen as a vampire.

=== The Order of the Silver Dragon ===
Strahd is credited with the dismantling of the Order of the Silver Dragon and the killing of the ancient silver dragon Argynvost. This gave rise to the order of revenants that inhabited Argynvostholt many hundreds of years later, led by [[Vladimir Horngaard]]. 

When Strahd first invaded Dalgenen as a general of the Conquerer Army in ~1200 AW, the Order of the Silver Dragon attempted to hold back the invasion of Strahd's forces. They fought valiantly, however were eventually pushed back into their headquarters, Argynvostholt. With this retreat, Argynvost attempted to fight alongside his knights to slay Strahd and his army, however Argynvost was slain by the general. Strahd is thought to have wielded the Ethereal Blade [[Clarent]] which granted him exceptional strength during his slaying of Argynvost and his knights.<br />
[[Category:Enemy]]