Strahd

Father Donavich calls him Master Strahd, the master of this land, and says he is the land. He gave the village fifty years of peace, the priest says, until Doru went poking the bees. He bit Doru in his castle and sent him home to tell the village it would be destroyed. Doru thinks he's toying with the town: one wave of dead at six o'clock, every day, when he could wipe them off the map.

His right hand, Rahadin, says the master wants Ireena, to care for her and in time to marry her. He plays chess with the people of Barovia, and the party has offered to become pieces: they will keep Ireena safe, and he may spare the town to watch them struggle.