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Lore of Barovia

Cultures

Hakaan

The hakaan of Barovia are much like any other people, and can't leave the valley. The Doomsight comes to Barovian hakaan even less frequently than to hakaan in Orden, perhaps once a generation, and almost invariably results in a death at Strahd's hands or at the hands of one of his consorts.

Because the major towns of Barovia were established by Strahd's human nobles, hakaan generally find their human-sized architecture and hierarchical social structure uncomfortable. Most hakaan in Barovia live either in the tiny village at Tser Pool or in the fishing village on the shore of Lake Zarovich, northwest of Vallaki, though both include plenty of people of other ancestries. There was once an even smaller mountain village near the mouth of the Ivlis River, home to a few hakaan—and the descendants of the human warrior-saint Lugdana—but it was destroyed twenty years ago by Strahd's consort Volenta and her horde of ghouls.

Hakaan culture is closely knit and communal, with all members of the community working together to make important decisions. Hakaan Barovians are, generally, more friendly and outgoing than human Barovians. Hakaan elders old enough to remember the Dark Era of Barovia, after Strahd became a vampire but before he went into hibernation, are rare, and much respected in their communities.

Barovian hakaan place great importance on their oral history, preserved in large part through their skalds' poetry and sagas. Whenever a hakaan in Barovia experiences the Doomsight, the details of their doom are meticulously passed on and added to the great saga of their community, both to keep the community's faith in the possibility of rebellion against Strahd alive and to ensure that the doomed hakaan's memory is preserved forever, though the last moments of their life might go unwitnessed.

Strahd and the Hakaan

Most hakaan in Barovia are descended from two siblings, Sarames (they/them) and Adrina (she/they), who were in Barovia on the night that Strahd became a vampire. Some years prior, the Doomsight came to Sarames, who saw themself killed by a blood-soaked Strahd in defense of a group of frightened people wearing a noble's livery. Adrina, Sarames's twin, refused to let them leave home alone, and the two traveled the world together, eventually arriving in Barovia and recognizing Strahd as the person who would kill Sarames. The two settled at Tser Pool, establishing the village there, and lived safely for a year.

During that year, the siblings were quite busy. Adrina befriended the servants of Castle Ravenloft, developed a romance with a maid named Varushka, and learned that Strahd grew ever more obsessive about his own mortality. Sarames then carefully spread the word that they had seen the moment of their own death, hoping to gain Strahd's attention and an invitation to the castle; they also created a child. Sarames's rumor campaign was successful, and Strahd invited the twins to Sergei's wedding as his personal guests, hoping to somehow exploit Sarames's Doomsight for his own ends. When Strahd rampaged through the castle after his transformation, Sarames stood in his way, buying enough time for the castle's staff and most of the innocent wedding guests to flee. Sarames fell in battle, but the common people the twins had befriended since their arrival in Barovia all escaped with their lives.

Adrina ran from Castle Ravenloft, swearing to preserve the saga of her sibling's Doom. She fled to Mt Ghakis, where she saw the Mists enclosing Barovia, and knew that many more would die at Strahd's hand, just like her sibling. In her grief and rage, Adrina called out to any spirits of the land who might be listening, and the Seeker, the living spirit of Mt. Ghakis, the only one of the Three left alive, responded. Fravartiš made a bargain: her own death for the power to someday free Barovia from Strahd's rule. The Seeker agreed, and the Doomsight finally came upon Adrina. Instead of her own body's death, she saw Barovia's doom: centuries later, Strahd would conduct a grand ritual to free Barovia from the Mists and conquer the rest of the world, consuming every soul in Barovia to fuel his escape, unless he could be stopped by heroes of unimaginable courage. Unlike Sarames's Doom, Adrina knew that this doom could be averted, and she vowed to do whatever it took to weave a better fate for the people her sibling had died to protect.

Adrina took a new name, Fravartiš, to reflect the new purpose to her life. She settled at Tser Pool, where she had lived with Sarames, and eventually realized that she could not die until Strahd was defeated or Barovia destroyed. They have spent the centuries since carefully manipulating the threads of fate, hoping for the arrival of the heroes that her Doomsight showed her. Fravartiš also created a child of her own and raised them with Sarames's child, passing on the saga of Sarames's Doom to them both, though carefully leaving out her own name. In time, generations passed, and the hakaan of Barovia forgot that Fravartiš had been alive when Strahd transformed, treating her like any other elder.

There are now about two dozen hakaan in Barovia, split evenly between Tser Pool and the fishing village on Lake Zarovich; there are about four living generations of hakaan at both. Most are descended from Fravartiš and Sarames. (Hakaan don't reproduce the same way humans do, so this doesn't cause the problems you'd expect in a similar situation with humans.) A few, however, are descended from Doomed hakaan heroes taken by the Mists like other adventurers.

Like most other Barovians, most hakaan Barovians see Strahd as a tyrant. Many young hakaan secretly hope that the Doomsight will come to them, and that when it does, they'll see themselves dying heroically to free Barovia from Strahd's rule. Unlike other Barovians, hakaan Barovians know the story of their ancestors' resistance against Strahd well; there are no hakaan spies for Strahd.

In the other direction, however, Strahd has a unique relationship with the hakaan. As he was in life, Strahd is simultaneously fascinated and repulsed by the idea of knowing the exact moment of one's death; he dreams of studying the hakaan, capturing whatever magic gives them the Doomsight, and using it to finally know, for sure, that he will never die. (This is of course impossible.)

Barovian Hakaan Lore

Hakaan in Barovia, and the people of other ancestries who live with them, know or believe certain facts about their people and their surroundings. This common lore is summarized here. Characters can learn this information after proving themselves trustworthy.

Strahd von Zarovich

About Strahd, most hakaan Barovians believe the following:

The Land of Barovia

Hakaan Barovians know the following facts about Barovia and Barovians:

No one, hakaan or otherwise, knows that a coven of night hags has recently taken up residence in the old windmill, which they know only as the Old Durst Mill.

Beliefs and Superstitions

Hakaan Barovians have deep-rooted beliefs and superstitions that they pass down from one generation to the next, in addition to the hakaan beliefs described in Draw Steel: Heroes:

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