Ihrail Draganov

(a.k.a. Killer of Krezk, Tradatorul)

"There comes a time when men need to turn into monsters.... now is that time."

— Ihrail Draganov

Ihrail Draganov is a dhampir adventurer in the forsaken land of Barovia. Once a peasant human in the town guard of Krezk, his life inevitably changed one tragic night as Ihrail turned and slaughtered nearly two dozen Krezkans. Now a drifter, Ihrail traverses the dark lands of Barovia on a one man crusade against the denizens of the night, seeking vengeance on the one that turned his life into a waking nightmare.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Since turning into a dhampir, Ihrail's constitution increased. According to Odilia, Ihrail seems hardier than most other dhampir she's seen before.

Identifying Characteristics

First and most prominent identifying feature is his hair. After his complete transformation which happened after he drank his mothers blood, his hair color changed from a raven black, to silvery-white blond in color. Ihrail grew his hair out to cover his semi pointed ears. His eye color also changed from steely blue to blood-red, which glows slightly in the dark and intensifies when Ihrail gets angry. Needless to say, as he is half-vampire, Ihrail has pronounced canines which gets more pronounced when he gets riled up.

Special abilities

Aside from his hardier constitution, Ihrail learned how to use magic, probably thanks to his dhampir blood. Even more impressive than his resilience, Odilia says that she has never seen quite the same raw magical talent that Ihrail possesses on other dhampirs.

Apparel & Accessories

He typically wears the breastplate from his time at the Krezk town guard. The rest consists of travelling clothes leather jerkins strapped onto it, along with a black hooded cloak. He wears his and his wife's wedding ring as a necklace which he keeps hidden under his shirt.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Early Life

Ihrail was born to peasant parents, Dragan Stefanescu and Sorina Adelina. Back then, Ihrail wasn't his name. His parents gave him the name Mihail, which meant "who is like god", perhaps in the hope that he would bring some salvation to these dreary lands. As a resident of the town of Krezk, Mihail enjoyed a relatively safe and comfortable childhood (whatever that meant in the lands of Barovia). Mihail only had one friend growing up, Nicolae Petrescu, whom he spent most of his time with. As both their fathers were part of the town guard, they both aspired join the ranks when they were old enough. When Mihail wasn't playing with Nicolae, he would spend time with his mother at home, helping around the house, or being taught basic education.

Mihail would have had a relatively uneventful childhood, if it weren't for his chronic nightmares. Each nightmare varied, but the one similarity was that he would dream of a nightmarish creature slaughtering innocents and drinking their blood until nothing was left of the victims but shriveled husks of what they once were. The intensity of these nightmares were mostly tolerable, with Mihail waking in cold sweat in the middle of the night. However, on particularly dark nights, Mihail would wake up screaming in the night, letting out a blood chilling wail of terror. It was in these moments that his father would come and comfort him, making Mihail feel safe and protected.

"I understand, Mihail. I understand. This land is home to many terrors, terrors that make even the most hardest of wills waver. There is nothing wrong with being afraid, even papa gets scared sometimes. But you must not let that fear control you. You mustn't let it consume you. Master your fears, and you'll be able to face anything, maybe even the devil himself."

— Dragan to Mihail

Adolescence

As the years went on, Mihail's nightmares would gradually occur less. While his nightly trauma subsided, Mihail would experience a new kind of trauma that would haunt him for the rest of his life. When Mihail was about 14 years old, Krezk was raided by a band of vampires. A number of Krezkans were killed, but more would have died if not for the efforts of Dragan. Dragan gave his life protecting the people of Krezk, and became a local hero. His fathers death would strengthen Mihail's resolve to join the town guard and kill vampires. Two years later, Mihail and Nicolae would get their wish when they were recruited into the town guard.


Two years later, Mihail would meet the only woman he ever loved during his time as a human. At a local festival, amidst the merrymaking, Mihail locked eyes with a woman around the same age. Mihail was absolutely smitten by her porcelain skin, raven black hair, and sapphire eyes. After working up the courage most of the night, Mihail had finally asked her to a dance. Her name was Eliana, and Mihail had never heard of a sweeter name. As they danced in each others chaste embrace, to Mihail, it seemed the world had slowed, that the soft torchlight had molded to perfectly compliment Eliana's features, while the moonlight basked her in an alluring glow. It was then and there that Mihail knew that he would wed Eliana, and would do anything to make that a reality.

"She's like nothing I had ever seen before... She has this numinous fairness about her, that's complimented by a full moons soft white glow. When she walks, it's as if a gentle spirit has returned from the eternity beyond, gracing us with her ethereal presence, yet in a meek and modest manner... Skin like fresh snow on a cool winter morn. Her hair, as black as the night sky, but glistens with the luster of the infinite stars of the heavens above. Her eyes... absorbing, alluring, appealing... enthralling, enchanting, engaging, entrancing... tantalizing, tempting, titillating... bewitching bijoux's of brilliant blue, resonant with the rosiness of her cheeks and her ruby red lips. The mere sight of her leaves an impression of a solemn and silent sanguinity, as if finding a blooming flower amidst the gloom of a graveyard.."

— Mihail describing Elianas beauty

Adulthood

Mihail and Eliana would court each other for the next half decade or so, their love for one another blooming into something only found in fairytales. Meanwhile Mihail and Nicolae would become seasoned veterans of the Krezk towns guard, eventually training several batches of recruits. When Mihail turned 24, he proposed to Eliana and they were wed a few months after. And it wasn't long after getting married that Mihail and Eliana would have their first child--a beautiful baby girl, whom, according to Mihails mother, was the spitting image of her father. So Mihail and Eliana decided to give her the name Mihaela. Mihail and his family stayed at his mothers house for another year before finding their own place within the walls of Krezk. After moving out, Mihail and Elianna had another baby, and 9 months later out came their son, whom they named Bogdan meaning "gods gift".

Man or Monster

Things were going well for Mihail, that was until he was assigned to lead a scouting mission. Allegedly there were reports of a vampire taking up residence near Krezk. They were only supposed to do some reconnaissance, but little did they know that it was an ambush. It was a bloodbath, most of the scouting party was killed, and Mihail was wounded badly. Fortunately enough he and a couple of other town guards were able to get away and safely return to Krezk. With Mihails wound, he was given leave for a few days in order to recuperate.

At first Mihail seemed fine, and only felt minor pain, but the following day his condition worsened. He developed a fever and chills, and was bed ridden. His symptoms persisted for the next few days. The local doctor said that the wound might have been deeper than expected, as there was nothing else they could find wrong with Mihail. All the doctor prescribed was some medicine for the fever and bedrest, stating that the fever should subside in a few days. To make matters worse, Mihail’s boyhood nightmares returned, only they felt more visceral and a little different. The nightmares of his childhood, he was a bystander, a witness to a monster slaughtering innocents. Mihail would hide, trying his best not to scream, and just before the monster got to him his father would come in and wake him up.

This time, he was seeing things from the perspective of the monster, slaughtering innocents. The dream would end as soon as he spotted the Krezk Town guard. And this pattern would reoccur for the next 6 nights, luckily enough Mihail would gradually feel better. And on the third day since his nightmares returned, Mihail felt well enough to report to work, where he had learned that in the past two days 4 people had died and 2 had gone missing. Over the course of the next 4 days more bodies would pile up or had gone missing, with nearly two dozen victims by the 6th day. Krezkans had given the perpetrator the moniker “Killer of Krezk”. On the 6th night, Mihail had his most bone chilling dream yet.

This time, Mihail as a monster, saw himself murder his own wife and kids, Tearing his wife limb from limb, sucking her of her blood until she had gone pale. He had torn his precious little girl in two, feasting on her innards like a ravenous beast. What was left of little Bogdan was an unrecognizable fleshy pile of gore and bone. The walls ran red, the house reeked with the stench of death. Mihail’s home had never felt so cold.

Mihail woke up in a cold sweat, finding himself alone on his marriage bed. He called out his family, his voice echoing through the empty halls of his house. Mihail’s stomach dropped. He rushed downstairs, only to see his nightmares become a reality. At the hearth of his home, there laid the remains of his family which he slaughtered so liberally the night before. Entrails of his dearly beloved, decorated what once was the warmest room in his family home, the flesh of his darling princess carpeted the floor, and his little boy was the centerpiece, adorning the sitting room with his meaty remains.

It was then Mihail realized, while cradling the remains of his dead family and weeping in despair, that the nightmares he had been having the past week wasn't his mind conjuring fictitious images of manslaughter, but was his new dark reality. A reality in which Mihail had become what he had hated so passionately, a vampire.

Giving him no time to grieve or process what he had become, Nicolae had arrived at his house with a squad of town guards as he suspected that Mihail might have been somehow connected to the killings. Walking into Mihails home, confirmed his suspicions, much to Nicolae's disdain. Nicolae asked Mihail to come quietly, unsurprisingly, Mihail refused and a fight ensued. However, Mihail didn't want to kill anymore people than he already had, which eventually resulted in him sustaining fatal wounds. Miraculously, Mihail was able to get away.

Skeletons in the Closet

With no where else to go, Mihail snuck into his mothers home. Surprised to see him, Sorina asked Mihail what was going on. After explaining, Sorina felt faint, as her fears had been realized. When Sorina learned that Mihail was wounded in a vampire ambush, she was worried that it might change him into one. Mihail was confused as to why, especially since we was not bitten, but merely scratched. Sorina revealed to Mihail a dark secret that she kept to herself.

While Sorina was uncertain, she had harbored a dark inkling that while she was pregnant with Mihail, a vampire sucked her blood, as there was a time in her pregnancy that she was perpetually light headed, and her neck felt sore.. Sorina surmised that her memory was wiped through hypnosis or some other dark magic. Without any solid proof, Sorina decided to keep it to herself, as it might have brought her more trouble than it was worth. When Mihail was born, Sorina always feared that he might someday turn. She didn't know how or when, if at all. But when Mihail came back wounded from a vampire scratch, Sorina feared that Mihail turning would confirm that she was bitten, cursing Mihail with a dormant vampiric gene.

Mother and son sat in silence, pondering the dark truths they had just uncovered. However, Mihail was still fatally wounded, and he would have died if it weren't for Sorina. Sorina could not bare the thought of her son dying before her, even if he was no longer human, and told him to drink her blood so that Mihail could heal. Mihail refused, despite Sorinas pleading. But Mihails mother wouldn't relent, saying that whether or not Mihail would drink her blood, Sorina would kill herself as she could not bare the grief of her son ruining his own life and then dying without any justice. Mihail was prompted to make a decisions as the town guards had raised the alarm, and were closing in on him with every passing second. And so Mihail chose life.

As Mihail wept over his mothers body, tears and blood dripping onto her dying face, Sorina placed her hand on her sons tortured face and asked him to do one last thing for her. Sorina told Mihail to, after he was done grieving, to make a new life, no matter what it took. Mihail swore to his dying mother, as he cradled her nearly lifeless body.

"Good child.... I love you... my son.." Sorina said, as her voice cracked.

As her hand slumped to the blood soaked floor of Mihails boyhood home, Nicolae entered alone. Mihails only living loved one told him to go, to leave. Mihail was confused. Nicolae explained to him that this was his last courtesy to Mihail, that Nicolae would turn away and let Mihail escape, but if they ever met again, Nicolae would have no other choice. Mihail expressed his gratitude in silence, as Nicolae turned away from him. Before Mihail disappeared into the shadows, Nicolae told him that he would give proper rites to Mihails family, but from that day forth Mihail would forever be branded as Tradatorul, The Betrayer.

Mihail was able to escape the walls of Krezk. As he got to an overlook, he offered one last longing glance at his previous life, before moving onto the next.

"Live my child... grieve all you want... cry out in anguish, lament the dark powers that rule this land, curse the heavens for all I care.. but promise me something.. promise me that once you're done grieving... once you're done mourning your mother and family.. once our final rites have been said, our caskets closed, and coffins buried... live. Live! make a new life, find those responsible for all this mess and bring them judgment... or not... whatever you want my dear Mimi. Just promise me you won't stop living... promise me that you won't let this gods forsakened land defeat you too.. it's happened to too many people... and gods help me I will not let it happen to my darling boy... do not let this lands evils corrupt the light inside you... Even if it means finding a vampire lady... just make sure she's a nice girl... haha... promise me Mihail, live.. live...."

— Sorina's last request

Gods Wrath

Mihail ran and ran, until he found an abandoned shack to take shelter in. As Mihail's adrenaline died down, he began to feel the full weight of what had just happened. The life he once had was long gone, as he and the heavens turned grim. Mihail cried out in anger and agony, as thunder roared and boomed. Enraged, Mihail tore up any remnants of abandoned furniture in the shack, somewhat surprised by his new strength. But as the anger washed away, Mihail fell to his knees as tears rolled down his face, the sky weeping with him.

Mihail wasn't sure how long he spent holed up in that shack, as all the days blurred while he wallowed in the deepest pits of despair. In his isolation, Mihail spiraled into the abyss, discovering every dark nook, cranny, and crevice in the human psyche, places in his own mind that he didn't know existed. Life had no meaning to Mihail. In the throes of his depression, Mihail heard a voice echoing deep in his psyche, saying that it would help him get vengeance so long as he made a pact with the voice. In exchange for giving him power, Mihail was to spill blood using his sword daily. Mihail wasn't quite sure if he was hallucinating the voice, but he didn't care. Because after what seemed like a month, Mihail would find the resolve he needed to honor his mothers last request, to live. He was done mourning. Now, all he wanted was vengeance.

Thus Mihail's one man crusade against the evils of Barovia began on that day. He swore to the heavens that he would bring judgment to all vampire scourge, and avenge his family by finding and killing those who were responsible for corrupting him. Mihail discarded his name, a relic and reminder of his past life. From that day onward he called himself Ihrail, meaning gods wrath.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Odilia Vladiana

Another dhampir that Ihrail met not too long after he turned. Hedonistic in nature, Odilia pursues her whims insatiably, be it gold, drink, hungers of the flesh, and occasionally blood. She is a known rogue and criminal in the various settlements in Barovia, most notably Vallaki, but little know of her dhampir nature, thanks to her dhampir features being more muted. Too most, she would look elven in nature.

Odilia and Ihrail met when the latter visited Vallaki when he heard rumors of a vampire plaguing the towns streets. When Ihrail found out about Odilia's dhampir nature, he was convinced that she was the vampire responsible for the recent murders, despite Odilia insisting that she wasn't. The two played cat and mouse for a week, with Odilia constantly giving Ihrail the slip as the more experienced dhampir. But when Ihrail finally caught her after an alleway chase through Vallaki's streets, he realized it couldn't have been her as there had been a murder committed on the other side of town. Together they were able to catch the vampire mage, who was committing the murders in the name of the devil Strahd.

Before Ihrail left Vallaki, Odilia was able to rope him into a night of merrymaking and carousing. While Ihrail would never admit it, it was the first time he had known happiness since turning. The night ended with the two knocking boots, and the following morning Odilia asked Ihrail to stay in town, believing that they could be partners in crime. Ihrail refused, telling her that there was something he had some unfinished business to do, which Odilia bluntly dismissed. Maybe after he had taken his vengeance, he could take her up on her offer, Ihrail thought to himself.

Since then, the two have bumped into each other a couple of times, with Odilia often poking fun at Ihrail for being so uptight. From time to time she would bring up the fact that they slept together, as she knows it makes Ihrail squirm. Perhaps she vexes him because she still harbors some spite towards Ihrail for rejecting her offer without any real explanation.

Nicolae Petrescu

Ihrail's childhood friend and partner in the Krezk town guard. The two were friends from a very young age. As children, the two would play make believe, imagining themselves as monster hunters, hunting down all sorts of nightmarish creatures. It was likely because both their fathers were members of the Krezk town guard, and it was a dream of theirs to be recruited, which they both achieved.

Nicolae and Ihrail both looked up to each other for very different reasons. Whenever the two would have a run in with the town bullies, Ihrail would stand up for the both of them, mustering enough courage for himself and Nicolae. And even if they were outnumbered, Ihrail wouldn't back down from the fight.

On the other hand, Nicolae was the brighter of the two. While by no means was Nicolae a genius, he was sharp, observant, and an out of the box thinker, a rare commodity in Krezk, and even Barovia. Nicolae often solved petty crimes before the Krezk town guard could. This trait would help him in his time in the town guard, solving crimes speedily. For better or for worse, it was Nicolae's sharpness that helped him come to the horrible conclusion that his childhood friend was the Killer of Krezk.

That day was just as painful for Nicolae as it was for Mihail. It broke Nicolae, Mihail was like a brother to him, and he couldn't bring himself to kill him. And its likely that if they would ever cross paths once again, Nicolae still wouldn't be able to raise his sword against a brother. The last that Ihrail heard of Nicolae is that he had become cold and stoic, an empty shell of a man, immersing himself in his job in order to distract himself from the pain he feels.

Maximillian Vaduva

Perhaps the only true friend Ihrail has now is the werewolf Max. Funnily enough, they started out as heated enemies. Belonging to the Blood Hunter order, it is Max's duty to hunt down and slay the denizens of the night. When Max and his pack heard of Ihrail's exploits, they tasked Max with hunting him down.

Year of Birth

1468

Birthplace

Krezk

Current Residence

None

Gender

Male

Eyes

Blood Red

Hair

silvery white

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Alabaster, bordering pale, white.

Height

6'2."

Weight

190lbs