#omg he's a bit scrungly i love him

[crowholtz]

I want to hear more about the other NPCs in your CoS campaign! I stumbled across your Doru bio and I was baffled by how wildly different he is in your campaign vs the one I'm in. It's always so cool to learn about different adaptations of characters!

OMG I am so glad you asked

Okay I'm gonna touch my faves! Obviously spoilers for the campaign~

First up we have Escher. I love what my DM did with Escher! He's a genderfluid shapeshifter (though his main 'true' form is elven) from Waterdeep that Strahd brought to Barovia through the mists. His personality often gives me like... Double Trouble vibes from She-Ra. He's very fruity eheheh. He's an empath - literally, he has the ability to sense people's emotions when he touches them (all the True Vampires in our campaign have a Special Ability). He's a bit of a whore. he's actually a ripper (my dm sorta borrowed this term from the vampire diaries in which some vampires are just more violent and hungry than others) and was pretty bad when he first became a vampire, but he redirected his bloodlust more into sex and drugs. very Dionysian. He's very decadent and selfish, but he also does have a good capacity to care thanks to not being able to turn his empathy off, and he uses his ability to please others and be what they want him to be. He also in his mortal life had a degree in psychology from the University of Waterdeep, and is quite smart and good at reading people and their issues, though he likes to pretend he's a useless bimbo. He's currently traveling with the party because he's worried about Strahd....

Another favorite of mine is Vasili von Holtz. He's actually the reincarnation of Strahd's mortal soul in my campaign instead of just being his alter ego. Strahd thought Vasili was the reincarnation of Sergei for a while, and put Vasili through a lot of tests and trauma when he was a teenager 30 years ago to see if he'd react to situations in the way Sergei would. When he didn't, Strahd was always disappointed with Vasili. The irony being, Vasili made the decisions Strahd would have made since he has his soul, and that's what Strahd hated. Strahd essentially tortured himself and he doesn't even know. Vasili is 45 years old now, a lovable rogue, kinda scrungly. He's charming and cunning, but good. My party put him in charge of Vallaki in the form of running a council with father Lucian, Lady Wachter, and Anastrasya. He's got a bit of a drinking problem, but he wants to do good by the people. Much like Strahd, he has the mentality of "no one can do it but me. It has to be me." My character Helene is romancing him. And Strahd. It's very messy.

I have more, but I don't want this to get too long, so if you are interested in hearing about more pls send another ask ^^ my DM has made all the characters in this campaign so multifaceted and complex and interesting. Strahd is honestly my favorite -- he took his character and crafted him into such a fascinating villain and plays him really well. But god, going into Strahd's psyche and story would take a whole ass post.

I'm also gonna put more info about Doru too under a read more just to give more context to his personality!

My DM didn't honestly plan on Doru being in the campaign -- he figured he would die or remain trapped, as he often is in CoS.

In my DM's canon, Doru was a soft spoken young man romanced by Strahd and Doru agreed to become one of his brides. Doru insisted however, that during the turning process he remain close by the church in the village and his father so he could prove that even after turning into a vampire he was still himself. Doru requested Strahd not be there bc he knew Strahd's presence would spook his father. Strahd acquiesced to his request. Unfortunately in the transition, Doru's father and many of the villagers became distressed, outraged, tried holding him down to try to basically "exorcise" him. Doru's ripper instinct activated (yeah unfortunately Doru got the ripper trait) and he slaughtered and drained some of the villagers present. Donovich managed to get Doru into the basement of the church where he stayed for 10 years, though Donovich announced that Doru was dead. Strahd mourned him.

So when we managed to save Doru with a wand of polymorph (which we can thank @gothoctopus for thinking of using), it changed his creature type and therefore he could leave the consecration of the church! Then I had my character Helene "pray to her god" so she could contact Strahd when he intercepted the prayer, and she let him know that Doru was actually alive and that we rescued him. Strahd was shocked Doru was alive, and Helene had to talk him down from doing something drastic to the people of Barovia village. He was grateful, and sent down a carriage to put bunny Doru in so it could take him back to Castle Ravenloft. Strahd said that he now owed the party one favor (which Helene used in the bones of st. andral incident to make him leave us and Ireena alone for the time being).

Anyway, Doru took some time to heal at the castle. Mentally he was not doing great, and he's still trying to heal, but he is much better now. He bonded with Rahadin, who took care of him. Doru is still a faithful follower of the morninglord, which has manifested in an ability to still use radiant/healing magic despite being undead. (My DM gave all the True Vampires special abilities. Escher, for example, is an empath and can sense others emotions when he touches them!)

Doru is soft-spoken, sassy, smart, and generally wants to be a good person. His vampiric tendencies get in the way of that though, especially with his underlying bloodlust that he has to keep in check. He's always itching for a fight, but suppresses it. He's also autistic and is very cute when he infodumps :D

[theoutlawfaleena]

Huehuehue personal König feature thoughts because it’s been brewing in my head for too long

Cleft lips made by a jagged slash across his face, the matching scar starting halfway across his chin and ending just to the side of his left eye. It didn’t heal cleanly and he’s all too uncomfortably aware of how the cleft gives a glimpse of his teeth with a closed mouth and how it widens if he dares a slight smile

Resting tired face, downturned lips, eyebrows slightly furrowed, dark circles, and eyes always looking exhausted and melancholy- eyes that look like they want to apologize for something that hasn’t even been contemplated. The kind of expression where a far too kind schoolteacher would think something is wrong and ask if you’re okay when you were actually feeling quite content up until they asked you

Little divots of scars spattered across his cheeks, forehead, chin, and even a few on his neck. He touches and picks at his face when it’s exposed and if he feels even a slight bump under his skin he’ll start mindlessly digging at it, only realizing as a faint wet feeling works its way under his nails and on his fingertips. It needs to feel smooth. Even the tiniest clogged pore feeling all too big on his face, and all too noticeable even if it wouldn’t be seen by anyone else under the balaclava and hood

A strong aquiline nose, with a slight bump on the right side of the top of the bridge from a bone spur when it had been broken and not perfectly set when he was younger. The bulb of his nose turning down ever so slightly with the rare but genuine lopsided smile

Dark brown hair with faint strands of grey already peppered in despite him only being in his late 20s

Well maintained facial hair, painstakingly so. trimmed short tracing along his jaw and being its fullest at his chin. A few small scars cutting in where hair won’t grow.

On duty? A short buzz, simple and fast, nothing fancy. When off duty for long enough he lets the top part of his hair grow out, going curly before the weight forces out long soft waves that get pulled up into a small bun more often than not. He keeps the sides and back of his head short, however, a hyper awareness to the feeling of his own hair grazing along his ears or tickling the back of his neck being uncomfortable.

Obviously muscular, but not a low body fat percentage. When he’s just existing, relaxed in a hoodie curled up somewhere reading or fidgeting with something, you’d barely tell just how toned he is. A bit soft almost. He was already working out prior to enlistment, for his own sake mentally as well as strengthening his back muscles to help his scoliosis

Again, well groomed body hair. Anything too wily to his standards becomes something he becomes hyper aware of but being fully clean shaven makes him feel uncomfortable and gross

He’s just my scrumbly scrimblo I’ve thought about him a healthy amount

- 🥮

this is all so detailed and i'm absolutely obsessed. i love this a completely normal amount. i agree with a lot of this omg,, he's so scrungly :( i would do anything for him he's so pretty .... ugh times like this make me wish i could draw

[spookyboywhump]

Omg obsessed. Cain what a scrungly little man I love him. Something about Zander still walking around scowling all the time makes me laugh I love him giving them all kisses

Cain is so skrunkly I love that fucker so much I’m going to hit him with my 2006 Honda civic

AND ZANDER YEEESSS he has a horrible case of resting bitch face he cannot control it anymore but it’s okay cuz everyone around him who knows him knows. He’s a sweet guy. He’s soft and gentle and he’s so good. He’s just got a bit of a scary face that’s all