Ever since a vampire slew his son, Dr. Rudolph Van Richten has waged a personal war against these creatures of the night. Knowledge is his greatest weapon, and now he has discovered the font of knowledge, and the most powerful vampire of them all. Stradh.

The very heart of evil in Barovia, Strahd Von Zarovich has ruled his land with an iron fist for nearly four centuries. At first, he was a strict but fair human lord, demanding honesty, repaying treachery with death. He had risen to power by war, and his life comprised armies and assassins, taxes and laws. Beneath the grim gray weight of these thousand duties, Strahd was growing old.

Then came Tatyana.

The nearly dead soul of Strahd was revived; his dusty heart began to beat again. Tatyana awoke in him hope, the hope of youth and happiness he had so willingly squandered. And she woke in him desire--raised his spirit to empyrean heights so that when he fell, he fell like a meteor.

The Devil Strahd, his people call him now, an unnatural necromancer by all accounts. But few of the living know he is a vampire lord. Van Richten is one of those few.