thelostbarovianroyals

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Strahdtober Day One: Sergei

I didn't get a chance to write this on time - I might be a day behind or more all month - but I wanted to share some fic writing about Sergei in Blood Countess. Tagging my party: @thelostbarovianroyals, @morpheoussilvercreature, @knightinkosherarmour

On days like this, Sergei longed for the orchards of Huldefolk. Spring spread across the valley and the fragrant blossoms of Ravenloft’s garden could only be coaxed open at sunrise. 

“So, they’re morning glories,” Sergei had quipped when Strahd showed him. Her face of iron did not flinch to a smile. She instead reached for one of the crimson roses and cupped its bloom in her hand. Blood-red petals dropped to the grass under her touch. 

“Is this what passes for wit at the Church of St. Andral?” she asked.

Sergei could never understand her nor the austerity of Ravenloft. He lived deeply in the world, if not always easily. He sang the songs of worship and of secular pleasure in Common, Elvish, and even Sylvan. He danced alongside the peasantry at festivals and only adorned himself richly when wearing his vestments. He laughed and smiled readily. There was so much to mourn in the world; joy should be seized. Strahd had not learned that lesson. 

She must have still mourned Mother. It would account for her black dress and aloof nature. Grief painted her as a matron, which she surely was not. Sergei wondered if she would be mired in such deep grief if she knew what had killed Mother in the end. Strahd had killed Osybus for the same crime not yet twenty years ago.

There hadn’t been a body to bury. 

He spent more time with Rahadin at Ravenloft. Many he had grown up alongside regarded Sergei’s older brother as some kind of bogeyman. Sergei couldn’t see that, not really. Maybe he didn’t want to. 

There was better company in the village of Barovia. Sergei went often and again thought of going today. It was a quick, invigorating ride through the woods - a chance to revel in Barovia’s natural splendors before indulging in the company of smiling faces who knew the Morning Lord’s light and love as he did. Perhaps he would go now. Yes. He rose and donned his travel cloak. With luck and the Morning Lord’s smiling favor, he would see his new friend again: Tatyana. In a castle clouded by grief, she brought sunlight. Maybe she could make the flowers bloom, even in the night. 

A silly thought, a romantic thought. Sergei had always loved stories and he shared the ones he had learned in Huldefolk with Tatyana. His favorite were the old, Elven stories about how the day fell in love with the night. He loved the drama of it and the way it wove neatly into religious teachings he had learned in the Church of St. Andral. He also loved battle stories, usually the ones about Strahd, which had set a precedent for him as a child. He was never sure how to reach the heights of glory his sister had already achieved in vanquishing demigods and reclaiming the Balinok lands for the von Zarovich crown. He trained to be like her and though he was no more like her than the sun was like the elusive moon, he shone in his own right. Taty reminded him of that in a gentle way. Mother used to say it, too, but there was something dangerous about not being like Strahd, though Sergei could never tell where the danger lay. Growing up, he hadn’t told anyone how scared he had been that he would never be enough like Strahd to please anyone or that it had been safer to go into the Church (even with some reluctance) than become a soldier. He had still trained with the blade, just in case. 

He readied his horse, that beautiful white mare. 

White horses did not exist, not really. They were all shades of gray. No one wanted to know this, of course. Not artists nor historians. Not even his family as they made painful, quiet small talk. He felt like Tatyana would laugh at him and ask, grinning coyly, if he had any other interesting facts to share. She was the only one who saw it that way, who didn’t expect him to be perfectly charming and didn’t expect him to be a von Zarovich or a priest or a prince. The thought of seeing her and of being seen by her cheered him. 

So he rode on to Barovia Village.

Maybe he would invite her to Ravenloft. Maybe together they could bring some light to the gloom. 

[thelostbarovianroyals]

STRAHD VON ZAROVICH, FOLKS. 

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Look - I know it is probably on a million playlists but - 

Strahd & Sergei. 

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Sonam Kapoor in JJ Valaya at the NMACC Gala

[thelostbarovianroyals]

The Crelmers enjoy the weekend.  [picrew]

[thelostbarovianroyals]

sometimes i think about how my darling rogue has more or less had a Disney Princess arc. only with more murder.

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Sonam Kapoor - by Sheldon Santos

[thelostbarovianroyals]

My players managed to survive the interactive Tome of Strahd but my god - are their characters TRAUMATIZED. Deeply so... Then they all had to pretend like they did not just see the fall of Ravenloft and watch a sad, baby hand man try to light a wicker sun. 

Oh. They also found the reincarnation of Sergei and it was chaos.

[thelostbarovianroyals]

I have been binging Rupaul’s Drag Race so I’ve been haunted by the idea of Rictavio’s Drag Extravaganza with like.... Escher being an Alyssa Edwards type. 

[thelostbarovianroyals]

I got Keres - which is about 0% surprising to me. If Keres doesn’t end up starting some kind of Governess Teacher-ish Union when she gets back to Daggerford, I will be 100% surprised. 

Each character has a little synopsis written about them. I'll probably do my OG Saturday game, too.

[thelostbarovianroyals]

I got Scout which honestly - is probably the least surprising thing. Did I mean to make her the nearly burnt out older sister who is determined to get shit done? No. Is she? Yeeeahh. 

And the campaign I run!

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Lee Pace in Foundation 1x06 “Death and the Maiden”

[thelostbarovianroyals]

[thelostbarovianroyals]

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Lydia Petrovna from our Curse of Strahd campaign ⛅️

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Henry Cavill as Albert Mondego in The Count of Montecristo

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Anya Taylor-Joy in The Northman