Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

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Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by Ender »

In my Curse of Strahd game, I've been working to flesh out Barovia and make it seem like a dying land, struggling to survive under the dark weight of Strahd. But more importantly, the module wants the players to see what Strahd has done to the land and feel compelled to do something about it. Some of the descriptive text comments on how buildings are old and falling apart, rotting away, as though tainted by their very nature. I've been building off of that to work the motifs into the plot. I've introduced a few things that are linked to Barovia's nature:

1. Balinok, the Black Wolf
The mountains are named after this wolf, said to be the predatory spirit of the land. The mountain ranges are her teeth jutting up through the land as she closes her jaws on it. I have a physical, supernatural black dire wolf that can command wolf packs within Barovia and serves Strahd. Lycanthropy is a curse originally spread by Balinok, such that the werewolves in Barovia are now tied to this theme of predation.

2. The Wendigo
Though I have not explicitly named it as such, I visually described it like the dream sequence Wendigo from the Hannibal television series. This creature represents hunger, starvation, and desperation. In traditional Algonquian folklore, the Wendigo is tied to cannibalism. The party first encountered the Wendigo in the Dreadpass. It never outright attacked them, but instead attempted to wittle down their resolve and force them to consume their resources, leading them on a wild goose chase in the middle of the night. Every time they've seen it, the creature has been ravenously eating something.

3. Chernobog
Also not named as such, I described him as the Chernobog depicted in the Night on Bald Mountain segment of Fantasia. He was a gargantuan creature perched atop a mountain, casting a great shadow over the land. Later, he was seen as a smaller, humanoid-sized form. In all cases, only the spellcasters have seen him. I have used him to represent the temptation of forbidden and dark knowledge.

What would you do with these? Would you change anything? Flesh anything out? Are there other themes you think could be explored through motifs not mentioned here?

ADDENDUM: What does Strahd represent and how can this be mirrored in Barovia? Here are some theming ideas from a post below.

1. A vampire drains the life of its target and always hungers for more. The populace should probably be shown to be resource-starved in most cases, as Strahd drains them. Tied to this is the Wendigo above, that is a manifestation of the starved land and populace. Such people are driven to desperation and unthinkable measures to survive. Probably worthwhile to show a direct link between Strahd and the resource drain. I have most towns/villages know that Strahd has increased taxes overtime, but they see no real money put back into Barovia. What becomes of it, they don't know.

2. Strahd, specifically, is seen as something of a predator; he doesn't truly understand his "love" for Tatyana and it comes off more like he is greedy and jealous when he kills Sergei. I use the wolves to represent the predation, making them unusually intelligent, to the point where they seem to target specific individuals. Focusing on the current Tatyana, I make sure that Strahd comes off as dominating an abusive relationship, even as she defends him (see #4 below). I highly recommend watching Marvel's Jessica Jones and taking notes on Killgrave's depiction.

3. Vampires of Strahd's kind also tend to be viewed as handsome or beautiful; their eternally young forms are but a veneer that hides the undead horror beneath. Castle Ravenloft should, in my opinion, be written in the opposite manner as usual. It's currently written, in nearly all incarnations, as a ruined testament to a once-glorious age. Strahd should spend considerable time and effort maintaining the castle or, at least, maintaining the parts of the castle that any guests would see. It needs to look glorious and beautiful, but hide the dungeons below. Alternatively, mask the ruined portions with elaborate illusions.

4. Vampires are charming and can dominate the wills of lesser beings. There could be some level of strange adoration of Strahd (including the current Tatyana to tie this in to #2), enhanced by a certain amount of iron law. Despite strict laws and harsh punishments, some of the people could be clearly shown to completely excuse his actions, defending him regardless of what he's done. Behind it all, though, there would be an undercurrent of fear if the people believe that disobeying Strahd will lead to a terrible fate.
Last edited by Ender on Mon Aug 28, 2017 3:13 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by ewancummins »

I have always been a Jezra Wagner fan.
Given that mountains feature in all the here of your additions to lore, you might find a place for her. It seems to fit. The specter of a woman who met her doom climbing the highlands of Barovia and whose dying call for help was answered by some " strange darkness" in the Land. (Not Strahd).
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by ewancummins »

If you want to add something like G'Henna, you could include an inbred Wendigo cult led by Yagno Petrovna.
Instead of an evil high priest in robes, ruling a starving country from his dark temple, he's a crazy mountain man. A scarecrow figure wrapped in moldering pelts. His clan started out as settlers/refugees fleeing sthe tranny of Strahd. It did not work out well.
He eats men and has taught his children to do the same.
Cannibals who earn his wrath by hiding food or preying on their own kind, he casts out into the cold. These poor wretches degenerate into beastmen.

Inspirations:

Original G'Henna write up from Black Box, greatly altered

Sawney Beane

Donner Party

Wendigo lore

Liver Eatin Johnson

Etc.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by Ender »

ewancummins wrote:If you want to add something like G'Henna, you could include an inbred Wendigo cult led by Yagno Petrovna.
Instead of an evil high priest in robes, ruling a starving country from his dark temple, he's a crazy mountain man. A scarecrow figure wrapped in moldering pelts. His clan started out as settlers/refugees fleeing sthe tranny of Strahd. It did not work out well.
He eats men and has taught his children to do the same.
Cannibals who earn his wrath by hiding food or preying on their own kind, he casts out into the cold. These poor wretches degenerate into beastmen.
Hm... I wonder how easily the druid cults in Curse of Strahd could be reworked into this. Perhaps the druids once opposed Strahd and see the Wendigo as a result of him bleeding Barovia dry and now they want to appease the Wendigo/Strahd and the crazed leader believes that cannibalism or emulating Strahd is the way to go. The module features the Gulthias Tree (whose original description in The Sunless Citadel indicated that it grew from a staked vampire) and the Blood Spear of Kavan, both of which are somewhat vampiric in nature. It wouldn't be a huge stretch to have the druids connect this all to the Wendigo, but it might require some massaging.
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Re: Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by Ender »

Something to chew on: what does Strahd represent and how can this be mirrored in Barovia?

1. A vampire drains the life of its target and always hungers for more. The populace should probably be shown to be resource-starved in most cases, as Strahd drains them. Tied to this is the Wendigo above, that is a manifestation of the starved land and populace. Such people are driven to desperation and unthinkable measures to survive. Probably worthwhile to show a direct link between Strahd and the resource drain. I have most towns/villages know that Strahd has increased taxes overtime, but they see no real money put back into Barovia. What becomes of it, they don't know.

2. Strahd, specifically, is seen as something of a predator; he doesn't truly understand his "love" for Tatyana and it comes off more like he is greedy and jealous when he kills Sergei. I use the wolves to represent the predation, making them unusually intelligent, to the point where they seem to target specific individuals. Focusing on the current Tatyana, I make sure that Strahd comes off as dominating an abusive relationship, even as she defends him (see #4 below). I highly recommend watching Marvel's Jessica Jones and taking notes on Killgrave's depiction.

3. Vampires of Strahd's kind also tend to be viewed as handsome or beautiful; their eternally young forms are but a veneer that hides the undead horror beneath. Castle Ravenloft should, in my opinion, be written in the opposite manner as usual. It's currently written, in nearly all incarnations, as a ruined testament to a once-glorious age. Strahd should spend considerable time and effort maintaining the castle or, at least, maintaining the parts of the castle that any guests would see. It needs to look glorious and beautiful, but hide the dungeons below. Alternatively, mask the ruined portions with elaborate illusions.

4. Vampires are charming and can dominate the wills of lesser beings. There could be some level of strange adoration of Strahd (including the current Tatyana to tie this in to #2), enhanced by a certain amount of iron law. Despite strict laws and harsh punishments, some of the people could be clearly shown to completely excuse his actions, defending him regardless of what he's done. Behind it all, though, there would be an undercurrent of fear if the people believe that disobeying Strahd will lead to a terrible fate.
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Re: Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by The Lesser Evil »

Okay a lotta stuff here, so I'll break 'em down by subject

Chernobog
In Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, the witches of Lysaga Hill and Baba Zelena (who doesn't exist in other Ravenloft continuities) attempt to summon an entity by this name (or Chernovog) in an attempt to overtake Strahd. He is known as "the Green God" and is a demon lord associated with corrupted plantlife, vengeful nature, warlocks, evil fey, and evil druids who rules the Verdant Chasm in the Abyss. If you wish to go with this take on him, he could go with the druids/berserkers of Yester Hill and the Barovian witches of Castle Ravenloft and elsewhere.

According to wikipedia, some sorts associate him with Belobog, a god of goodness and light. This makes for a natural parallel between the Morninglord and Mother Night Ravenloft is going on. Perhaps he is a servant or some alternate guise of Mother Night? (Edit: Chernobog's image seems like one of ancientness, so perhaps his likeness could be engraved on the Megaliths near Old Bonegrinder)

If you want him to represent a tempter with dark knowledge, he seems like a natural match for something associated with the Amber Temple. (The temple mentions one amber sarcophagus has been broken, so he could be one of the escaped vestiges.) Or maybe he could replace Neferon or Exethanter. He could also represent/replace Iniajira or "Death" if you're incorporating more of the official timeline. Other images of him could derive from Old Scratch, certain forms of Nyarlathotep, Hastur, or the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young.

G'Henna and Yagno Petrova
There's a few interesting coincidences going on here that might merit mention for you to ponder on. As you know, Yagno is the darklord of G'Henna and the maker of its mongrelmen, transformed humans who blasphemed or otherwise transgressed. Yagno a member of the Petrovna/Petrovich family. In Fair Barovia, it mentions that Father Lucian Petrovna (Father Lucian Petrovich in Curse of Strahd) is the cousin of Yagno, whom he doesn't like to talk about at all. Petrovna/Petrovich lives in Vallaki, whereas near Krezk there is the mongrelman-infested Abbey of Saint Markovia. The Belview Family wanted to be an amalgamation of man and beast much like the Ata-Bestaal (see Forbidden Lore or the Mistipedia) If you wanted to connect any of these links up somehow, feel free.

Strahd's image
As is, Strahd is reviled by his people (as they call him "the Devil Strahd"), so having them have some sort of adoration would require a bit of a change. There is a thing that drinking a little bit of a vampire's blood can make a person a thrall. Valachan has a food preserving operation that may be secretly (See "Something in the Water" dread possibility in Gaz 5 p. 103) a front for Von Kharkov's poisoning the food supply with his diluted blood to make anybody in his domain potentially charmed even though he has a yearly bridal lottery. You could steal that idea for Strahd. Imagine what might happen if he or an affiliated third party attempted to co-opt the Wizard of Wines for the purpose of providing corrupted wine?

In Strahd's relationship with Tatyana/Ireena, I think a lot of what the players will see will depend upon where and when they witness the interaction of when they interact. Abuse isn't always overt. In more subtle encounters with Ireena/Tatyana, Strahd might take the form of protective affection with the underpinning of paternalistic gaslighting. Strahd knows being too forceful is what caused her to jump in the first place, so showing his true nature too fast might be unlikely. Another element you can play up with Strahd as the ultimate stalker, only he has all of the creatures of the night for his dirty work. (You might describe the eerie reflective glare of the bats, rats, and wolves, for example, not to mention his pets leaving her offerings and notes or taking her things.) So targeted, Ireena may come to the opinion that wherever she goes, whatever she does, she can't escape.
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Re: Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by Ender »

The Lesser Evil wrote:Chernobog
In Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, the witches of Lysaga Hill and Baba Zelena (who doesn't exist in other Ravenloft continuities) attempt to summon an entity by this name (or Chernovog) in an attempt to overtake Strahd. He is known as "the Green God" and is a demon lord associated with corrupted plantlife, vengeful nature, warlocks, evil fey, and evil druids who rules the Verdant Chasm in the Abyss. If you wish to go with this take on him, he could go with the druids/berserkers of Yester Hill and the Barovian witches of Castle Ravenloft and elsewhere.

According to wikipedia, some sorts associate him with Belobog, a god of goodness and light. This makes for a natural parallel between the Morninglord and Mother Night Ravenloft is going on. Perhaps he is a servant or some alternate guise of Mother Night? (Edit: Chernobog's image seems like one of ancientness, so perhaps his likeness could be engraved on the Megaliths near Old Bonegrinder)

If you want him to represent a tempter with dark knowledge, he seems like a natural match for something associated with the Amber Temple. (The temple mentions one amber sarcophagus has been broken, so he could be one of the escaped vestiges.) Or maybe he could replace Neferon or Exethanter. He could also represent/replace Iniajira or "Death" if you're incorporating more of the official timeline. Other images of him could derive from Old Scratch, certain forms of Nyarlathotep, Hastur, or the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young.
For now, I'll stick with the tempter of dark knowledge. Part of the reason is simply because I've been building toward that already, so taking a hard left on the motifs at this point might be a bit awkward. In addition, he's really just an extension of a lesser motif: shadows. The shadow, in literature, can represent many things, but is often tied to the Jungian Shadow archetype. This is the part of your personality you don't consciously accept or recognize. It is the "dark side" of your nature that is constantly suppressed. Curse of Strahd (and potentially other Strahd-centric modules) indicates that Strahd can animate someone's shadow while in Castle Ravenloft. I've specifically used this Chernobog to be the dark temptation of spellcasters, as an extension of dark temptation in general, but there's no reason to purely limit it. I related it to "Death"/The Dark Powers tempting Strahd with the initial vampiric transformation ritual. This motif is absolutely perfect for the Amber Temple if you're using it in your campaign. I'm still debating if I want to use it because I don't actually like the Temple as designed. I did, however, show Chernobog near the Keep of Forgetting in the Dreadpass, for which I may use the Amber Temple sections should my players be interested in that stuff.
The Lesser Evil wrote:G'Henna and Yagno Petrova
There's a few interesting coincidences going on here that might merit mention for you to ponder on. As you know, Yagno is the darklord of G'Henna and the maker of its mongrelmen, transformed humans who blasphemed or otherwise transgressed. Yagno a member of the Petrovna/Petrovich family. In Fair Barovia, it mentions that Father Lucian Petrovna (Father Lucian Petrovich in Curse of Strahd) is the cousin of Yagno, whom he doesn't like to talk about at all. Petrovna/Petrovich lives in Vallaki, whereas near Krezk there is the mongrelman-infested Abbey of Saint Markovia. The Belview Family wanted to be an amalgamation of man and beast much like the Ata-Bestaal (see Forbidden Lore or the Mistipedia) If you wanted to connect any of these links up somehow, feel free.
In my campaign, I'm avoiding use of mongrelfolk in general and I don't bother mentioning Yagno in relation to Lucian at any point, but these connections could certainly be useful to others. I don't really see the mongrelfolk fitting the themes of Barovia, in general, which is why I avoid them.
The Lesser Evil wrote:Strahd's image
As is, Strahd is reviled by his people (as they call him "the Devil Strahd"), so having them have some sort of adoration would require a bit of a change. There is a thing that drinking a little bit of a vampire's blood can make a person a thrall. Valachan has a food preserving operation that may be secretly (See "Something in the Water" dread possibility in Gaz 5 p. 103) a front for Von Kharkov's poisoning the food supply with his diluted blood to make anybody in his domain potentially charmed even though he has a yearly bridal lottery. You could steal that idea for Strahd. Imagine what might happen if he or an affiliated third party attempted to co-opt the Wizard of Wines for the purpose of providing corrupted wine?

In Strahd's relationship with Tatyana/Ireena, I think a lot of what the players will see will depend upon where and when they witness the interaction of when they interact. Abuse isn't always overt. In more subtle encounters with Ireena/Tatyana, Strahd might take the form of protective affection with the underpinning of paternalistic gaslighting. Strahd knows being too forceful is what caused her to jump in the first place, so showing his true nature too fast might be unlikely. Another element you can play up with Strahd as the ultimate stalker, only he has all of the creatures of the night for his dirty work. (You might describe the eerie reflective glare of the bats, rats, and wolves, for example, not to mention his pets leaving her offerings and notes or taking her things.) So targeted, Ireena may come to the opinion that wherever she goes, whatever she does, she can't escape.
They do call him the Devil Strahd, which is why I think an illogical adoration from a subset would be appropriately telling, indicating that something is strange. Connecting it to Ireena/Tatyana, if the modern incarnation is charmed or has this strange adoration, it would be mirrored in that subset of the populace. Everyone knows Strahd is terrible... and yet some of them will still defend him or adore him. As for abuse, I'd go so far as to say that most aspects of an abusive relationship are not overt. It's the psychological abuse that most deeply affects someone and that's how I'd play Strahd/Ireena.
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Re: Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by ewancummins »

Mongrelmen > mongrelfolk.

You all know it sounds way better.

And it comes with the singular form, mongrelman.



Mongrelfolk sounds like an obscure subgenre of music.
:lucas:
But I digress.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Imagery, Motifs, and Themes of Barovia

Post by Ender »

An idea for Balinok:

Balinok is actually the soul of Alek Gwilym transformed by the Dark Powers. After Strahd's transformation, Alek was reborn as the black wolf, his conviction to be reunited with and serve his lord was that strong. Balinok does as Strahd commands and, having once been a commander in his own right, can summon and control other wolves within Barovia. Being so tied to Strahd, Balinok can spread a supernatural curse that represents the infectiousness of Strahd's evil. So thoroughly can it taint a good man that they can be utterly consumed by it, becoming a monster in their own right.

A bite from Balinok while under a full moon can transfer part of Alek's soul into the bitten, passing on a special lycanthropy to the target. Anyone that contracts Balinok's lycanthropy becomes a werewolf denoted by their black fur and red eyes. Balinok is more than just the wolf form. If physically killed, he reforms in 24 hours near one of the black werewolves. In order to permanently kill Balinok, you must kill all werewolves tied to him. There are only a handful of such werewolves, given that Balinok can only spread the curse during a full moon. Afflicted black werewolves spread only regular lycanthropy.
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