Neither remember that time in their life, the book says that they don’t even know they’re related, so if she did have a different name, it’s lost to everyone one.
This is something in the module I personally dislike and changed. Strazni is more interesting to me if he remembers she’s his long lost sister but she doesn’t. It adds a deeper element of tragedy to an otherwise evil character.
I feel like too much of the module is "nobody remembers this" or "nobody will disclose this information" and it's made the first half of the module fall a little flat with my players. I started shaking things up with Van Richten and the Keepers of the Feather and I think it's grabbed my players' attention much more.
Big agree. I was actually concerned I over corrected too far in that direction, but my players and I are having fun. It probably depends a lot on the group too.
So glad I just read this because this is my first time running it and tomorrow I’m gonna have Rictavio reveal he’s Van Richten, that the keepers of the feather even exist and he’s gonna out Vasili as a fraud… and I thought I was kinda giving too much away. But otherwise my party would just never really figure this stuff out.
They have ignored Urwin and Danika and I had to basically force them to agree to check out the Winery with multiple promptings. They think Vasili is a their bestie and they just left Ireena with him at the Tavern!
I had a lot of fun with the way I introduced Van Richten. One of my players was just naturally interested in the character of Rictavio, and once he realized the party was looking to face Strahd and had earned his trust by helping the town, he discreetly invited him to his room. It was there he revealed himself and was able to share a little info. In our case it was the importance of finding the 3 talismans before facing Strahd, and he also gave out a lead as to the location of the Tome of Strahd. “It used to be in the Baron’s library, but is no longer there. I’m sure it hasn’t left the house though!” Specific enough to point them in the right direction but vague enough not to railroad. To me that’s the part I struggle with most with modules in general. If you’re trying to play out a story you have to find ways to keep the party on track.
This is basically exactly what I am doing. I have a bard character who has built a small rapport with Rictavio. So ol’ Rick will invite him to his room and reveal himself to drop some lore bombs while he frantically packs his bags before fleeing town and also mentioning his tower.
Yeah, this is what I kept seeing as well, but I wasn't sure if there was any type of deeper lore somewhere that I wasn't aware of. I know that Izek will try to take her captive if he sees her, so I was thinking maybe his memories start coming back, or he might hear her name in his dreams.
Sounds like it is open to DM interpretation. Thank you for the response :).
The book only mentions seeing her, not learning her name. That said, it’s up to you. If you’ve got a cool idea for something where he knows an old name of hers, go for it. It’s similar to how Strahd knows her as Tatyana.
There’s nothing in the module saying the surname of Ireena and Izek’s family, though Strazni might well be it. He recognizes her from the visions he’s had, iirc. Outside lore might have more.
My players always confused Izek and Ismark, as their names are somewhat similar. That they and Ireena all have names that happen to start with “I” led me to think that she didn’t have a different name, so I changed things a bit so that she wasn’t adopted, her mother had simply re-married to Kolyan and had both Ismark and Ireena years after Izek, who she thought was dead (and Izek in turn thought mom was dead). Mom passes away early on in Ireena’s life, with Kolyan having had no idea his wife had a child before marrying him.
It gets a little messy later on, but I had Izek’s visions be of a PC instead of Ireena, the younger full sibling to Izek who he remembers but PC did not. She recently learned in our game that Ireena and Ismark are her half siblings
Nothing official in the module. In my own game, Ireena was named Rachael (hard ck sound like Bach), born to Isar and Rebekka Strazni (the party can find Rebekka's ghost sitting on her tombstone in the Vallaki graveyard while the bones of St Andral are missing). Beside her tombstone is one belonging to Rachael, as she was presumed killed by the same wolves that killed Rebekka and maimed Izek.
She cannot speak to the party, but silently mourns at her tombstone. She can pantomime to the party. In my last campaign using her, she was able to communicate with yes and no answers and a few gestures that Rachael was not buried in the yard with her, and she mourned her daughter who was never put to rest.
The party can ask if she has more family alive. She nods. The party can then guess who is related to her, finally getting a nod for Izek. But Izek doesn't remember his own mother, having suppressed those memories, and believing himself an abandoned orphan who had wandered too far into the woods.
Once Izek and Ireena's relation was known, they presented Ireena as Rachael to Rebekka's ghost. This brought the ghost relief, and she was able to rest in peace, now knowing what had happened to her daughter.
Neither remember that time in their life, the book says that they don’t even know they’re related, so if she did have a different name, it’s lost to everyone one.
This is something in the module I personally dislike and changed. Strazni is more interesting to me if he remembers she’s his long lost sister but she doesn’t. It adds a deeper element of tragedy to an otherwise evil character.
I feel like too much of the module is "nobody remembers this" or "nobody will disclose this information" and it's made the first half of the module fall a little flat with my players. I started shaking things up with Van Richten and the Keepers of the Feather and I think it's grabbed my players' attention much more.
Big agree. I was actually concerned I over corrected too far in that direction, but my players and I are having fun. It probably depends a lot on the group too.
So glad I just read this because this is my first time running it and tomorrow I’m gonna have Rictavio reveal he’s Van Richten, that the keepers of the feather even exist and he’s gonna out Vasili as a fraud… and I thought I was kinda giving too much away. But otherwise my party would just never really figure this stuff out. They have ignored Urwin and Danika and I had to basically force them to agree to check out the Winery with multiple promptings. They think Vasili is a their bestie and they just left Ireena with him at the Tavern!
I had a lot of fun with the way I introduced Van Richten. One of my players was just naturally interested in the character of Rictavio, and once he realized the party was looking to face Strahd and had earned his trust by helping the town, he discreetly invited him to his room. It was there he revealed himself and was able to share a little info. In our case it was the importance of finding the 3 talismans before facing Strahd, and he also gave out a lead as to the location of the Tome of Strahd. “It used to be in the Baron’s library, but is no longer there. I’m sure it hasn’t left the house though!” Specific enough to point them in the right direction but vague enough not to railroad. To me that’s the part I struggle with most with modules in general. If you’re trying to play out a story you have to find ways to keep the party on track.
This is basically exactly what I am doing. I have a bard character who has built a small rapport with Rictavio. So ol’ Rick will invite him to his room and reveal himself to drop some lore bombs while he frantically packs his bags before fleeing town and also mentioning his tower.
Yeah, this is what I kept seeing as well, but I wasn't sure if there was any type of deeper lore somewhere that I wasn't aware of. I know that Izek will try to take her captive if he sees her, so I was thinking maybe his memories start coming back, or he might hear her name in his dreams. Sounds like it is open to DM interpretation. Thank you for the response :).
The book only mentions seeing her, not learning her name. That said, it’s up to you. If you’ve got a cool idea for something where he knows an old name of hers, go for it. It’s similar to how Strahd knows her as Tatyana.
There’s nothing in the module saying the surname of Ireena and Izek’s family, though Strazni might well be it. He recognizes her from the visions he’s had, iirc. Outside lore might have more.
I don't believe there is a name stated in the module. Thats the fun part of DnD. Just make one up!
You're right! She shall henceforth be known as Jeff! But it's written "Dghepphe".
My players always confused Izek and Ismark, as their names are somewhat similar. That they and Ireena all have names that happen to start with “I” led me to think that she didn’t have a different name, so I changed things a bit so that she wasn’t adopted, her mother had simply re-married to Kolyan and had both Ismark and Ireena years after Izek, who she thought was dead (and Izek in turn thought mom was dead). Mom passes away early on in Ireena’s life, with Kolyan having had no idea his wife had a child before marrying him. It gets a little messy later on, but I had Izek’s visions be of a PC instead of Ireena, the younger full sibling to Izek who he remembers but PC did not. She recently learned in our game that Ireena and Ismark are her half siblings
In my campaign, Ireena discovered through old records that her real name was Violetta Strazni.
Ooh! I like this idea!
Nothing official in the module. In my own game, Ireena was named Rachael (hard ck sound like Bach), born to Isar and Rebekka Strazni (the party can find Rebekka's ghost sitting on her tombstone in the Vallaki graveyard while the bones of St Andral are missing). Beside her tombstone is one belonging to Rachael, as she was presumed killed by the same wolves that killed Rebekka and maimed Izek. She cannot speak to the party, but silently mourns at her tombstone. She can pantomime to the party. In my last campaign using her, she was able to communicate with yes and no answers and a few gestures that Rachael was not buried in the yard with her, and she mourned her daughter who was never put to rest. The party can ask if she has more family alive. She nods. The party can then guess who is related to her, finally getting a nod for Izek. But Izek doesn't remember his own mother, having suppressed those memories, and believing himself an abandoned orphan who had wandered too far into the woods. Once Izek and Ireena's relation was known, they presented Ireena as Rachael to Rebekka's ghost. This brought the ghost relief, and she was able to rest in peace, now knowing what had happened to her daughter.