- Hello and welcome back
to "Lunch Break Heroes" for volume two of our
"Ravenloft Companions" series. Today, we're gonna be
talking about Ireena Kolyana, Arrigal, Davian Martikov and Pidlwick II. (dramatic drum roll) (mysterious music) First up, we have Ireena Kolyana, one of the driving forces behind all of your party's
actions within Barovia. She is who your party's tasked with safekeeping and transporting basically as soon as they arrive in the land. Now, Ireena is a very
difficult character to run for a lot of dungeon masters
and for various reasons. One of those is that she doesn't really have any specific characterization. There's not a lot of
description to Ireena. Basically, she's a McGuffin, okay? The developers never really gave her a personality or any
motivations of her own. She's basically just a thing for you to transport and protect. She might as well be a bushel of potatoes. So, we wanna give her
a bit of personality, a bit more background, a
bit more to work with here. As an NPC ally, what
is Ireena's motivation? Well, it's pretty easy. She really hates being
at the mercy of Strahd. Having him be this impending doom that's hanging over her
entire life really bothers her in just this very dramatic fashion. So being able to take the
fight to the devil himself, well, that's really
something that appeals to her and so if she thinks that your party can help her do that and help her maintain her freedom
and her state of living, well, she's definitely all over that. So that's Ireena's motivation, but what does it take to gain her trust? Well, despite having
this whole Strahd thing hanging over her head, Ireena is still a very devoted daughter to her adoptive father. Now, her father recently
died, of course, as you know and her goal is to see him buried, given a proper burial
and a proper funeral. Anybody that can help her do that gains her trust immediately. Now what are some of the pros and cons to having Ireena as an NPC ally? Well, on the pro side, the first one is, she's basically got plot armor, up to a certain point, mind you. Strahd will not have her die, at least not by any hand
but his own, you know? And all of his minions, they know that. They're not gonna lay a finger on Ireena for fear of drawing Strahd's iron. So in any of the combat scenarios
against Strahd's minions, Ireena is basically safe. That can give your party a real leg-up in a lot of those situations. Now, in addition to
that, Ireena is a noble. That means she doesn't have
a whole lot of hit points and she's not any sort
of battlefield expert, but more on that point in a second. Ireena can really shine
in the social atmosphere. She knows her way through the aristocracy and although she doesn't
revel in etiquette, she knows how to pose herself and talk to other people and persuade them to do what she wants them to do. She was raised in a noble household, one that was responsible for governing the village of Barovia, so she knows the ins and
outs and all of that. She knows how to talk to people and basically get her way and help your party out in that regard. Additionally, while she finds
the idea kind of revolting, Ireena knows that Strahd's
obsession with her is a weapon that can be used against him. In any social interactions with Strahd or even during combat with Strahd, Ireena can pull out her
manipulation techniques against him and try to convince him to do a certain thing
that she wants him to do or that your party wants him to do. On top of that, Ireena
has this massive potential for growth, not only as a
character, but as a stab lock. So if you've read any of our Krezk guides, you know that we've redone the whole something blue special event where Ireena disappears into the
lake, or the pond rather. We don't like that. That's a total cop-out ending for Ireena. Instead, her interactions
with Sergei in Krezk awaken her previous personality. She becomes aware of them
and attunes to one of them. So, at that point, she could become a very powerful combat-oriented
ally if you so choose or if you let the dice decide. So Ireena has this massive potential to become this expanded
character in that regard. Beyond any other character, she has the most potential
to change for good. On the flip side of all of that, there are a few cons to
having Ireena in your party. The first is, well, she doesn't
have that many hit points. She's not very durable. She's got 14 hit points
unless you take her to Krezk and swap out her stab lock. In addition to that, Strahd, he really wants to get
his hands on Ireena. Now he's holding back for the purposes of playing with your party and pragmatically actually letting the adventure continue. So at some point though, he is going to try to get at Ireena. This can precipitate
a conflict with Strahd a lot earlier than with
any of the other allies, so watch out for that. Last up on our list of cons, Ireena would rather die
than let Strahd have her, but the reality is worse
than that, in fact. The dark powers will never
allow Strahd to have her, no matter what. This is Strahd's curse. He can never, ever have
Tatyana's reincarnations, ever. This is the "Curse of Strahd", not Strahd gets what he wants. Ireena is fated to die. I cannot stress that enough. Whether it's by her own hand or some contrivance of the dark powers, she will die if Strahd ever gets close to making her his bride, so this makes Ireena the one ally that is very likely to
die before her time. Before we move on to another ally, there's one other point that I wanna make about playing Ireena and portraying her because she is such a blank slate. If you know anybody that
has a terminal illness, that is something that you should take inspiration from for Ireena. Ireena knows that death is
staring her in the face. As she looks down the
corridor of her life, she doesn't see doors left and right. There's no possibilities. At the end, there is only death. Ireena is very much akin to those people that they know that they're going to die, they know they're going to die soon. These are the people that go to the funeral parlors and shop
for their own caskets and pick out their own plots. There's a sense of finality
to Ireena's personality and her decisions and her actions. She has this lust for life. She's a very rebellious person in the face of this
death and this despair, although sometimes it does
get the better of her. She's very prone to balance
of melancholy and sadness. Despite all of that, with
your interactions with Ireena, there's this lust for life, this zeal that just shows in her eyes. She has this appreciation for all of the beauty that is around her despite the fact that it is Barovia. She finds beauty in almost everything because she knows it might be the last that she sees of any of it. So take cues from these people, in the real world that know that they are not long for this world. That's Ireena. Before we talk about that next companion, did you know you can get this guide and all of the other
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that's perfectly fine. Go ahead and click subscribe down there along with the bell so you don't miss any of our future videos. That being said, let's talk
about our next companion. (mysterious music) Next up, we have Arrigal, one of the more unlikely companions for your party in this entire adventure. Arrigal's one of the Vistani leaders in the Vistani camp outside of Vallaki. He's not a very nice guy and that's what makes him one of your
more unlikely companions. He is in fact a servant of Strahd and has been for almost his entire life. So for him to become
your party's companion means he has to betray the most powerful guy in the entire land. So what would make him
betray Strahd like that? What would be his motivation behind becoming your NPC companion? Well, simple. He is totally full of
himself and he thinks he would be a much better
leader in Barovia than Strahd. That's it. He wants to overthrow Strahd. Now, what would make him trust your party to help him do that? Well, simple. He trusts Madam Ava. He believes the Tarokka
deck reading wholeheartedly. He puts a lot of stock
in the Vistani customs and their powers. Anything that a Vistani see or says, Arrigal believes completely and he sees the card reading as just a confirmation of his own ambitions. So, if you can bring him proof that Madam Ava's card reading
says what it says, Arrigal's totally on board. However, he doesn't trust your party. He trusts them to help
him achieve his goals, but he doesn't trust them at all. He doesn't trust them as far
as he could throw them, okay? He is going to use your party to his ends. Now, remember, Arrigal's an evil guy. He's not nice at all, but
he will help your party to his own ends like I said. So he will go along with you, but he will not tell you
that he is Strahd's laki. He's going to be that double agent in order to make himself
the leader of Barovia. Now what are the pros and cons of having Arrigal as an NPC ally? Well first up on the pros list is Arrigal is one hell of a combatant. As an assassin, he can deal
out a massive amount of damage if he can get to your enemies
before they take their turns and he can land all their hits. He can end some combat encounters basically before they even begin. In addition to that, he has a plus nine to his stealth score, so he's a very effective spy. On top of that, he speaks, thieves can't, so he's got a lot of, probably
has a lot of connections to the criminal underbelly
throughout Barovia. Now, Vallaki is a big town, so presumably, there's some criminals in
there, and if there are, Arrigal knows who they are and he knows how to communicate with them. Additionally, he is a Vistani leader. He runs the whole camp outside of Vallaki in addition to his brother Luvash. Now that means he
commands a lot of respect throughout the Vistani tribes, even if that respect is born out of fear. Lastly, Arrigal is an agent of Strahd, so if your party ever discovers that he is working for Strahd, good
luck doing that by the way, they can use him as a double
agent, but first, like I said, they have to discover that and that is not information that Arrigal
is going to volunteer. On the flip side, Arrigal's
just not a very nice guy and that can really bite
your party in the butt. You see, Arrigal has been
terrible his entire life and presumably, he's killed some people. Now, Barovia is full of the
folks that he has wronged or their blessed bereaved, so when your party is seen
associating with Arrigal, the best that they can
expect from a lot of Barovia is just instant damnation. On top of that, Arrigal is a very selfish and self-centered person and he's used to taking what he wants when he wants it, so that can really taint
your party by association when they're traveling with Arrigal. Lastly, Arrigal is in this for himself. His ultimate goal is to put himself on the throne of Barovia. Now, one single assassin
against your entire party, that's not a very big threat. However, when that threat
comes after they've had this knock down drag-out fight all throughout Castle Ravenloft and they're weakened and maybe just there's not all of the party left, well, one single assassin
can do a lot of damage. Arrigal will strike your party in the back when it suits him. Once Strahd is dead, he's
going to try to get rid of anybody that will stand
in his way to take power and if that includes your
party, we'll betide them. (mysterious music) Next up, we have Davian Martikov, the patriarch of the Martikov family and the owner of the "Wizard of Wines". Davian Martikov is also the leader of the "Keepers of the Feather", a covert spy group made
up entirely of wereravens that have been opposing Strahd for years. So what is Davian's motivation here? Well, he has been fighting against Strahd in subtle ways his entire life, but he has never thought that it would be possible to finally take
Strahd down until just now. So when he sees this opportunity, when he sees that your party is different, he's gonna latch onto that opportunity and just ride it and try to finally bring down the darkness. So how do you gain his trust? Well, the easiest way to do that is by helping out the winery and proving that your party has what it
takes to defeat the devil. Now when you get back the
winery gem from Baba Lysaga or you kill Wintersplinter, you are proving yourself to Davian. Once he sees that you can do those things, he has no doubt in his mind that your party is the real deal and he's going to follow you on your mission to take down Strahd. Now you might think that Davian would be a little bit hesitant to do that because if you fail, the
"Keepers of the Feather", they're kind of out in
the open at that point and Strahd's going to wipe them all out. Well, that is a risk and it's a risk that he's willing to take. This is something that the
"Keepers of the Feather" are made for. This is their mission and so
Davian, he's making a gamble, but he thinks it's a pretty sure bet. As for what the rest of the
Martikov's think about that, well, that could be some
interesting roleplay there. So what are the pros and cons of having Davian as an NPC ally? Well the first pro is the fact that he owns the only winery in Barovia. That could open up a lot of doors. When Davian says he wants to do something or he wants to talk to somebody, people are gonna listen and people are gonna do what he wants
because, well, he's got the wine. In addition to that, Davian
has a flying speed of 50 feet. That's quite a bit. Additionally, as a Raven, he is indistinguishable from other Ravens. That makes him a fantastic spy. Also, the fact that he's a wereraven makes him a pretty hearty
fighter despite his age. He's got this fairly
unique regeneration ability that makes him pretty much invulnerable and unkillable unless he's being attacked by magic or silvered weapons. Lastly, Davian's the leader of
the "Keepers of the Feather", which of course is a spy network. They have access to all sorts
of lines of communication and all sorts of information that could be a real asset to your party. On the flip side of things, Davian is a very cautious individual. He and the "Keepers of the Feather" haven't survived this long by
being open with what they are. Up until the final confrontation, Davian is gonna be very hesitant about revealing his nature as a wereraven. That could endanger not only
himself, but his entire family. So, he isn't going to just pop into the middle of Vallaki's town
square and turn into a raven. It's just not gonna happen. Additionally, Davian is
kind of a curmudgeon. He's not this warm, grandpa type that you would cozy up with. He's a patriarch, he's a very powerful man and he's very set in his
ways and his opinions. When Davian makes up his mind,
it is very hard to change it. He sets his own course and he doesn't really wanna listen to anybody else. Now, in line with that, Davian
is very used to being obeyed. He's the leader of the
"Keepers of the Feather". He's been doing this for freaking decades and along comes your party and they expect him to follow them? Oh, no. That's not how he operates. Davian's a very take charge kind of guy and that can ruffle some feathers. (mysterious music) Last up, we have Pidlwick II, the creepy and murderous little doll that your party finds
inside of Castle Ravenloft. Pidlwick II is a clock worked effigy that was commission by
Duchess Dorfniya Dilisnya as a gift for Tatyana and Sergei. He was made after the image of another court jester, Pidlwick, who was actually pretty
funny and very talented. However, Pidlwick II is not funny at all. He's just really creepy. So, being a jealous of sort, Pidlwick II pushed his
namesake down the stairs in order to try and replace him. Of course, that didn't
make him any funnier. It just made him more creepy. So he eventually gets
stuck in a closet somewhere in Castle Ravenloft and he's kind of been pissed off about it ever since. So what is Pidlwick II's motivation behind being an NPC ally with your party? Well, despite being a clockwork effigy, he's got a bit of a personality. He has ambitions, he has goals,
he just wants to entertain and the fact that Strahd has never had any appreciation for his talents and he's just kind of left him languishing in the corners of Castle Ravenloft, well, Pidlwick II isn't very happy with Strahd in that regard,
so he kind of hates him and he kind of wants
to see him go bye-bye. So how do you gain Pidlwick II's trust? Well it's pretty easy. If he can find an appreciative
audience within your party, he'll do anything for
them, literally anything, even push the Lord of
Barovia down the stairs. Now, let's talk about the pros and cons of having Pidlwick II in your party. First up, Pidlwick knows his
way around Castle Ravenloft. He knows the castle like the
back of his clockwork hand. All of the dark corners, all of the traps, all of the treasure, he
knows where it's all at. All your party has to do is ask. In fact, while he's leading
the party around the castle, he might even point out a few things that they might have missed. On top of that, even though
his performance skills are rudimentary at best, again, he's just creepy more than anything, he might actually delight somebody. Who knows. There might be some
macabre person out there that likes this sort of thing that your party just might need to impress. I have to imagine that Lady Walter might actually kind of get
a kick out of Pidlwick. Last up on the pros list, Pidlwick is a construct,
not a living creature. This makes him immune to poison and paralyzation and petrification, so he can go to a lot of places that would otherwise be deadly
for your living adventurers. He's got a lot more in
common with the undead than he does the living
at a lot of points. So go ahead and use that to your advantage and keep that in mind when you're running him as an NPC ally. On the flip side,
communication with Pidlwick is exceedingly difficult. He can't speak, he can't read
and he can't write, so yeah. It's a lot of miming,
at least to begin with. Now when you're running Pidlwick, I would recommend making him a character that can learn and that can grow. He can at least learn some rudimentary writing and reading skills if your party takes the time to teach him. When Pidlwick is misunderstood, which is a lot of the time, he does some silly things,
silly and murderous things. You see, he's very unstable, you know? He tends to kill people who
just don't appreciate him, which might actually
include your party members, so be careful out there when you're trying to communicate with him. Make sure that you're
very clearly understood. Additionally, more often that not, Pidlwick will just creep people out rather than entertain them, so if your party is using
him as entertainment and the audience isn't appreciate, Pidlwick might freak out
and start killing people. Lastly, Pidlwick is kind of fragile and he doesn't deal a lot of damage. Despite that, he will
throw himself into battle with reckless abandon
and at the drop of a hat, so if your party does not
protect its new party member, they might not get to
enjoy him for very long. All right, that wraps up volume
two of our companion series. Stay tuned for volume three, which is gonna be coming out soon. And in the meantime, check
out our Patreon and subscribe down below. We'll see you next time.
