Madame Eva

Madame Eva is a preeminent Vistani NPC in the Ravenloft product line present since the the release of the I-6 module that inspired the campaign setting. She appears in I-6 and every revision or reboot (House of Strahd, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, and House of Strahd). Eva is mentioned in every version of the campaign setting (Realm of Terror "black boxed set", Ravenloft Campaign Setting "red boxed set", Domains of Dread, Ravenloft Third Edition, and the Ravenloft Player's Handbook). She also appears in two novels (I Strahd: the War Against Azalin and Vampire of the Mists as well as one other game module (the Evil Eye). Ravenloft Gazetteer I presents a detailed biography of her.

In the game world, Madame Eva is the legendary raunie of the Zarovan Tribe. She was the first raunie in the Land of Mists, for she brought her people for the first time at the stroke of midnight leading into the New Year of 470 BC. There in Barovia, she formed an alliance with Count Strahd, linking the Vistani to the land and to Strahd ever since. Since that time, Eva has seldom taken direct action to alter the flow of history. Instead she serves the role of advisor, seer, and (to Strahd) informant. The major exception has been events associated with the Dukkar, the prophetic end to the Vistani people. The Evil Eye module provides such an example, where she is critical to the binding of Malocchio Aderre, the second dukkar, to Invidia.

Beyond Strahd, Madame Eva has encountered several figures of importance to the campaign setting, including Jander Sunstar and Rudolph van Richten.

Background

Madame Eva is an enigma; as one of the Zarovan, she exists in non-linear time. She has always appeared as an old crone, or at least, since her entrance into the Demiplane of Dread. Her exact age remains a mystery, even to her own blood relatives. Her seperation from time as we know it allows her to be met anywhere in Raveloft's timeline despite her death in 496 BC

What is known is that she brought her people to the Land of Mists and forged that perhaps all-important alliance with Strahd. She gave her people's service to Strahd as spies and informants in return for protected travel through Barovia and the knowledge of making potions that serve as antidotes to Strahd's Choking Fog.

In 496 BC, a vain, young thief] named Jacqueline Montarri came to Madame Eva's camp. Montarri demanded the secret to stay forever young and beautiful. Eva only surrendered an answer at knife-point; that answer was to find it in Castle Ravenloft. Satisfied, Montarri cut Eva's throat and left her to bleed out. Eva had her revenge when Montarri was caught and beheaded. The Vistani took her corpse and cursed it. They left Montarri resurrected with a cursed immortality and the wrinkled head of Madame Eva bound to her neck instead of her own. Minus her own head, Montarri has forever since needed to continually swap out new heads to keep her vibrant beauty.

In the years leading up to the Grand Conjunction of 740 BC, Madame Eva called upon the Tribe of Hyskosa to slay the first dukkar, Hyskosa himself, in order to prevent that catastrophe. For their failure or unwillingness, Eva cursed the entire family and exiled them from the grace associated with the rest of the Vistani people and their bond to the Land of Mists.

A second Dukkar, a half-fiend named Malocchio Aderre, emerged in the autumn of 747 BC. His unique parentage allowed him to violate the borders of any domain, even that of Ravenloft istelf, with his teleportation. Madame Eva called her people together to create an artifact called the Sphere of Binding. Succefully applied, it produced a curse upon Malocchio that bound him within Invidia.

Statistics

Cleric 10, Chaotic Neutral

Chronology

• 470 BC - The Vistani appear in Barovia for the first time. Madame Eva and Strahd form an alliance.
• 475 BC - Madame Eva's grandson Petya brings Jander Sunstar to the Tser Camp. After Eva detects his vampire nature, she forbids him from ever coming back and marks him as a foe of her people should they meet again. She also informs Petya and Maruschka of Jander's unnatural nature.
• 496 BC] - Jacqueline Montarri murders Madame Eva and is horrifically cursed. Madame Maruschka becomes the new raunie of the Zarovan tribe. (Note that Madame Eva is still seen after this; this can be accounted for by her tribe’s existence in non-linear time.) [VotM pg. 285: “died four years ago.” RLMC I&II pp. 89-90: tells us how it happened.]
• 740 BC the Grand Conjunction occurs. Sometime thereafter, Madame Eva brings together the Tribe of Hykosa and punishes them with ritual exile and curse.
• 747 BC - Malocchio is recognized as the new dukkar. Madame Eva and the Zarovan Tribe bind him to Invidia with the Sphere of Binding.

In Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

In this reboot of I6: Ravenloft, Madame Eva substantially different, though still a leader of the Vistani. See Madame Eva (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft) for details.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		The Evil Eye House of Strahd Ravenloft I6 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I
		House of Strahd - p23 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - p137
		Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - pp136-137
		Secrets of the Dread Realms - p10 Ravenloft Third Edition - pp13,17 Domains of Dread - p16 The Evil Eye - pp34-39 House of Strahd - pp7,22-23 Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - p43,99 Vampire of the Mists - pp51-66 Realm of Terror - p64 Ravenloft I6 - pp6,11,32 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - pp136-137 I, Strahd, The War Against Azalin - pp47-65
		Lolita