Café de Nuit

If Strahd is a count, wouldn't Barovia technically be a county?

Strahd would be, technically, a King, since he is the heir of King Barov; probably out of guilt and sense of inferiority, he never claimed the title; Barovia however is a sovereign kingdom, not a county; he was a count in the time before his father's passing, sort of heir-apparent title; The title stuck; In my home-canon, I call him a Count-King, Count for short.

he can be a emperor if he wants, strahd answers to no one in Barovia. Also the 1st gaz mentions kingly titles and their dominance over other nobles two later settling in Dominia and Borca.

In my head canon the Kingdom of Barovia included Borca, Dorfinia and Markovia as well as Barovia Proper, so Strahd will not name himself king until he has reclaimed those lands (or those he can Markovia just up and vanished) which is part of his motivation in my War in the Core thread

Kingdom? Barovia? Nah. It's a small county if we go by canon population and assumed size.

I suggest that Count of Barovia is a title like the Prince of Wales or the Dauphin of France. The heir to the monarch of the old Kingdom of Barovia assumed the title, along with governance of family estates around the village of Barovia and Castle Ravenloft.
Strahd never ascended the throne to become king. Being the son and heir of King Barov qualified him to become monarch, but at the time of his downfall he hadn't yet been confirmed in that office by election of the boyars nor taken the coronation oath administered by the High Cleric of Andral and then been blessed with the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind.

ewancummins wrote:I suggest that Count of Barovia is a title like the Prince of Wales or the Dauphin of France. The heir to the monarch of the old Kingdom of Barovia assumed the title, along with governance of family estates around the village of Barovia and Castle Ravenloft.
Strahd never ascended the throne to become king. Being the son and heir of King Barov qualified him to become monarch, but at the time of his downfall he hadn't yet been confirmed in that office by election of the boyars nor taken the coronation oath administered by the High Cleric of Andral and then been blessed with the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind.

Works for me. IRL, the eldest son of a king (or a duke, marquis, or an earl) bears the highest of his father's lesser titles as a courtesy title. That's why the eldest son of the King/Queen of England is the Prince of Wales.

alhoon wrote:Kingdom? Barovia? Nah. It's a small county if we go by canon population and assumed size.

If we go by canon population and assumed size, the entire population of Barovia should be dead, Port-a-Lucine is crazy to have an opera house, and there was no way Il Aluk had suburbs.

I had assumed that Barovia was part of a larger kingdom that had been conquered by the Tergs, and then later the subject of reconquista (like Spain).

The part of the kingdom drawn into Ravenloft is the County of Barovia. With the rest of the country gone Strahd did not become king.