Special Equipment. Volenta wears a faded gold wedding gown, a platinum mask shaped vaguely like a skull (750 gp), and ten platinum rings set with gemstones (worth 250 gp each).
Regeneration. Volenta regains 10 hit points at the start of her turn if she has at least 1 hit point and isn't in sunlight or running water. If Volenta takes radiant damage or damage from holy water, this trait doesn't function at the start of Volenta's next turn.
Spellcasting. Volenta is an 11th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). Volenta has the following wizard spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): dancing lights, mage hand, minor illusion, poison spray
1st level (4 slots): color spray, disguise self, mage armor, magic missile
2nd level (3 slots): mirror image, silence, phantasmal force
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, major image, phantom steed
4th level (3 slots): greater invisibility, phantasmal killer
5th level (1 slot): mislead
Spider Climb. Volenta can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Vampire Weaknesses. Volenta has the following flaws:
Forbiddance. Volenta can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.
Harmed by Running Water. Volenta takes 20 acid damage when she ends her turn in running water.
Stake to the Heart. Valenta is destroyed if a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into her heart while she is incapacitated in her resting place.
Sunlight Hypersensitivity. Volenta takes 20 radiant damage when she starts her turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, she has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
Unusual Nature. Volenta doesn't require air.
Multiattack. Volenta makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite attack.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) slashing damage. Instead of dealing damage, Volenta can grapple the target (escape DC 13).
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one willing creature, or a creature that is grappled by Volenta, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and Volenta regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Charm. Volenta targets one humanoid she can see within 30 feet of her. If the target can see Volenta, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or be charmed by Volenta. The charmed target regards Volenta as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn’t under Volenta’s control, it takes her requests or actions in the most favorable way it can, and it is a willing target for Volenta’s bite attack.
Each time Volenta or her companions do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until Volenta is destroyed, is on a different plane of existence than the target, or takes a bonus action to end the effect.
Description
Volenta Popofsky was born the seventh of nine children to a family in Krezk. Of the bunch, she was never the strongest, nor the prettiest, nor the most charming, but she was without a doubt the most clever. When she came of age, she came to understand that her other shortcomings were nothing that her mind couldn’t help her overcome. This spark would translate to wildly imaginative designs and an appreciation for the finer points of the family craft that would set her apart as the best amongst them.
Word of her talents spread and one day, an elf woman came to call on her family’s services. If visitors were rare to Krezk, elves were unheard of, not because of prejudice on Krezk’s part but rather because the dusk elves of Barovia were a notoriously hardline traditionalist society. The woman’s name was Patrina Velikovna, an elf as beautiful as she was gifted in the magical arts. With a fat purse of gold, Patrina commissioned Volenta to carve her a wooden cover for her new spellbook in the dusk elf style.
She explained that her brother had burned her previous book in a furious fear that she would share the powerful secrets of Elven Magic with Strahd von Zarovich. It was a source of visual frustration though Volenta didn’t hear a denial. As such, the usual artisans had refused to craft her a new one. When she asked how she got into Krezk when the usual response at the gates was to chase away all visitors, Patrina smiled and showed Volenta something that would change her life. Wondrous images flashed before her eyes of sights she could hardly believe, orbs of flame flickered entrancingly in and out of existence, and Volenta suddenly felt as if Patrina were the closest friend she had in the world. Seeing the potential for magic in the dreary world she lived in, Volenta offered to make the spell book only on the condition Patrina teach her everything she knows about magic.
The deal was struck and Volenta proved a universally quick study. While her powers were always second to Patrina, they had grown exponentially in the months that it took to craft the book. Volenta’s spells turned her modest appearance into glamorous beauty and her squeaky, unflattering voice into an angelic verse. By the end, Volenta made a second book for herself and in spite of her family’s pleas to stay, she left home to travel Barovia under the tutelage of her new mistress.
The two were inseparable though Patrina left no question as to who was in charge. Together they traveled all through the realm uncovering all manner of arcane secrets. From Vallaki to Berez they roamed and they learned until they came to Castle Ravenloft. One night, they attended a masquerade at the castle. For once, she was what she dreamed of, a renowned courtier, masked but unmistakable and never far from the center of attention. It was then that she met the King. Volenta could hardly believe the King was once mortal. To her, Strahd was perfection given flesh, brilliant, handsome, commanding, and unmatched in his power over the valley. She wanted him from the moment she saw him, but Patrina had already laid her claim. It was dreadfully unfair; Patrina could spark solemn passion in him, the kind he didn’t show to either of the wives he’d put aside but what was that compared to wit? He must’ve only seen her power, otherwise he would have chosen Volenta in a heartbeat. Of course she was behind Patrina in terms of magic; she wasn’t even a tenth of her age, but that wouldn’t matter once Strahd turned her into his bride and she had an eternity to become the archmage he apparently yearned for. She never said it aloud but the envy was clear for any that cared to look, including Patrina. Patrina dealt harshly with the prospect of a challenge. She told Volenta that she had cultivated her relationship with Strahd over centuries and that if Volenta deigned to threaten that, she would allow her to age and rot like the short-lived creature she is or turn her into her spawn once she had grown old enough for what base beauty she had to slough off her face. Powerless to challenge her mistress, Volenta conceded. It was then that Rahadin approached her with a proposition.
Strahd's chamberlain had given her the means to rid herself of Patrina and elevate herself to the King’s paramour, if not his bride. It was treacherous, but the only way Volenta knew how to overcome the immovable elf woman that held control of her life and future. On the rare occasions that the duo went to Patrina’s home amongst the dusk elves, they would run into her brother Kasimir Velikov, leader of the tribe. Kasimir was a staunch traditionalist and to his credit. Volenta had confided that Patrina meant to wed the King and share all that she knew, by now more than anyone in the history of the tribe had ever known of the magical world.
It was with rage and betrayal that Kasimir had the tribe stoned Patrina to death and rage and betrayal that she died with. Oddly, she had been unable to defend herself despite her power, rendered silent by Volenta from the shadows until she was bound and gagged before the mob. As stone after stone reduced her closest companion to pulp, she felt pangs of regret stronger than anything she had ever experienced. She remembered the moment when Patrina lost consciousness and she could let down her silence spell. She hadn’t, partly out of fear that Patrina was yet too strong and partly out of being unable to bear the cries of pain her mistress and friend would have screamed had she her voice. It seemed unbearable, but that was only because she had yet to find out what would come next. Seeing Kasimir dismembered as Rahadin tore the ears from his head was one thing-he was a lover and a patsy but little more-but she couldn’t have dreamed what more the chamberlain had in store. Now Kasimir wears a cowl to conceal his mutilation because of that.
Rahadin had spoken at length to Strahd's about the future of the dusk elves, particularly if they were to continue in their ill-advised, feeble defiance. All it took was Tatyana to be reborn as an elf for the girl to be tortured and murdered out of spite. They could kill her and deprive the King of his one and only love for another few centuries, and though he took some convincing, Strahd resigned himself to the wisdom of his servant. Rahadin would assemble the combined forces of The Midnight Vanguard to corral every female dusk elf from elder to newborn and end them as a society. Having not yet been turned, Volenta was spared from active participation but she could sense the weight of the atrocity as hundreds of elves were mercilessly slaughtered due to her actions.
She would confront Rahadin about it, wondering if he even cared about Tatyana’s reincarnation in his haste to kill his own people. She was weighing her chances of killing him then and there when he reminded her of Strahd's need for someone to comfort him in his hour of mourning. If she played her cards right, he could be hers; she wondered if he had been there to bloody his own hands on the innocent before wondering how many were innocent in truth. Their society had killed Patrina as much as she had, if not more. Definitely more, she told herself. Strahd von Zarovich was her King and he needed her more than ever. He required a wizard to continue his studies of the arcane and Volenta was suddenly the most powerful, knowledgeable mage in the realm. She found him in his pain and brought him the solace he sought, brightening his court if such a thing were even possible. Her sharpness of wit never ceased to bring him new life as his fangs drained her old one. Driven insane by what she had done, Volenta hit her grief behind a feral personality. Volenta began to act loyal to her master and started crushing his enemies as a way to hide her own insecurities.
Now, Volenta is an illusionist wizard vampire spawn. She’s the smallest, youngest, and weakest of the three. While love had motivated her in the past, she’s now driven purely by survival and retaining her dignity through the mask. Volenta is often accompanied by two charmed posh vampire familiars named Madalena and Amalthia (Neutral Humans), who were Lady Fiona Watcher’s maids until Volenta procured them from Wachterhaus. Madalena and Amalthia serve the brides faithfully but Volenta is their secret favorite. Volenta only charmed Madalena and Amalthia into her service because they asked her to, as they found that being charmed helped soothe the pain of failing their former mistress. Volenta views her servants as he her only friends but would never tell them or the other brides that.
Volenta is known to often visit the Amber Temple and pray to Vampyr to ease her torment. Years ago, Volenta found a Deck of Many Things on one of her trips to the Amber Temple. She used her illusion magic to figure out which card she will end up drawing, and it was the Balance card. Afraid of turning good (but also curious about the option), Volenta didn't draw from the deck and instead left it in her room, where it has stayed for years.
Volenta takes great pride in hunting down her foes, but she is only willing to kill adventurers or enemies of Strahd von Zarovich. Volenta doesn't like to kill villagers, she prefers to use her Charm action to humiliate them. The most notable example of this behavior is when Volenta was in Vallaki and three teenage girls mocked her, causing Volenta to Charm them. She had them put on a fashion show for her in an old cellar wearing ridiculous and funny outfits for her own amusement for an entire day. When the day ended, Volenta made them take off their fashion wear and safely conga home with no memory of the experience.
She’s usually at court, but on the occasion she is left to her own devices, she will observe her family in Krezk from a distance, regretfully wondering what might have been if she just asked Patrina for gold. She is aware that Kasimir Velikov still lives, but she hasn’t visited him since Patrina’s death. If Strahd's forces learn of his plan to revive Patrina, Volenta will fight desperately to stop this. She’s too loyal and afraid to turn on Strahd, though in her heart, she would welcome his death as a means to escape further humiliation and get as far away from Barovia as possible.
Personality Traits: I have a petty love of charming local villagers who anger or insult me, turning them into brainwashed, adoring playthings forced into bizarre humiliations for my cheap amusement.
Ideals: The strong dominate the weak, and those who cannot defend themselves deserve to be crushed under my heel.
Bonds: My absolute devotion belongs to Lord Strahd. I will commit any atrocity, slaughter any village, and manipulate anyone just to receive a single shred of his praise or attention.
Flaws: I hide my dark secret about stopping Patrina Velikovna from using magic during her stoning out of my own deep-seated insecurities and a paralyzing fear of rejection, and I will actively break down into sobbing tears when confronted about it.