Lord Sturm von Zarovich
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Sturm von Zarovich is a character from the Ravenloft campaign setting, whose existence is a subject of some question. Compared to Strahd and even Sergei, relatively little is known about his life. According to the Von Zarovich family tree in Realm of Terror, Sturm von Zarovich (312 BC-382 BC) was nobly born to Barov von Zarovich and Ravenia van Roeyen in Prime Material Barovia in 312 BC. He was the middle brother of Sergei and Strahd. Sturm married Giselle Fallona, with whom he is thought to have sired the current von Zarovich line, according to the aforementioned family tree.[1]
According to "S" (admittedly in character) history of Barovia in Gazetteer I, Sturm did not attend the wedding of his brother Sergei in 351 BC. (The wedding proved to be a massacre and a bloodbath that left him as the sole living von Zarovich.[2] The living von Zaroviches of today are thus his descendants).[1] In Children of the Night: Vampires, Sturm's survival is verified by an out-of-character source in Children of the Night: Vampires, where Lyssa von Zarovich, is said to be his granddaughter by way of Tod von Zarovich and Anna.[3] Sturm's reason for not attending the wedding is vaguely alluded to in the novel Vampire of the Mists: Sturm's "interests" drew him away from his closest kin.[4]
On the other hand, according to Legacy of the Blood: Great Families of the Core, Sturm's survival is merely a ruse for Strahd to assume his place and lead the nation against Leo Dilisnya and the rest of the Dilisnyas in retribution for their assassination attempt at the Wedding of Sergei von Zarovich.[5] To lead credit to this account, Strahd established a fake line of sons, each named after him, and assumed the guise of each with every supposed passing of power.[6]
On the other hand, if some of Sturm's descendants did survive, Strahd's impersonation of Sturm may have been unfeasible minus some other mitigating circumstance.
In VotM, Sturm is shown to have a tomb beneath Castle Ravenloft, though it is completely empty. Jander Sunstar interpreted the tomb's emptiness as Sturm living out his life away from the rest of the von Zaroviches[7], though more cynical appraisals are also possible.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Realm of Terror p.127
- ↑ Ravenloft Gazetteer I p. 17
- ↑ Children of the Night: Vampires p. 20
- ↑ Vampire of the Mists p. 250
- ↑ Legacy of the Blood p. 38
- ↑ Gazetteer I, p. 17, 28
- ↑ VotM p. 313
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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Realm of Terror - p127 |
- Canon
- Speculation
- Character
- NPC
- Deceased
- Von Zarovich Family
- Noble of Barovia
- Noble of Barovia (Prime Material Plane)
- Lord of Barovia
- Lord of Barovia (Prime Material Plane)
- Human
- Barovian (Prime Material Plane)
- Former Inhabitants of Barovia
- Former Inhabitants of Prime Material Barovia
- Van Roeyen Family
- Births in 312 BC
- Deaths in 382 BC
- Figures in the History of Barovia
