Ezmerelda d'Avenir

Ezmerelda d'Avenir, born under the surname Radanavich and preferring to be known by the nickname Ez, was a hunter of vampires who traveled across the Domains of Dread.

"Evil that feeds on the innocent is the worst of all evils and must be destroyed."

- Ezmerelda d'Avenir

Description
Her right leg, just below the knee, was entirely prosthetic.

Abilities
Ezmerelda was capable of placing a curse on others and of casting a wide variety of wizard spells. These spells included the following:
 * clairvoyance, darkvision, fire bolt, greater invisibility, knock, light, lightning bolt, mage hand, magic circle, magic missile, mirror image, prestidigitation, protection from evil and good, and shield.

Hunting Gear
When it came to her vampire-hunting gear, Ezmerelda owned a variety of magical equipment. These included +1 studded leather armor, +1 handaxe, +1 rapier, two potions of greater healing, a scroll of major image, and a scroll of remove curse.

Her non-magical equipment included a silvered shortsword, three stakes, six vials of holy water, a battleaxe, a flail, a morningstar, and a light crossbow with ten silvered bolts.

Mundane Gear
In terms of clothing Ezmerelda owned three sets of fine dress, two sets of traveler's clothes, a harlequin mask, many pairs of shoes, and three wigs. In terms of kits she owned a climber's kit, a disguise kit, a healer's kit, and a poisoner's kit.

Other belongings of hers that were unrelated to hunting included a lyre with golden strings, a chicken with a sculpted wooden cage, a small wooden box containing a deck of tarokka cards wrapped in silk, a set of copper pots and pans, vials of perfume and antitoxin, a steel mirror, a tinderbox, a spyglass, a shovel, and three sets of manacles.

Wagon
Finally, Ezmerelda owned a purple painted, barrel-topped wagon, within which she stored most of her aforementioned possessions. It sported fancy gold trim on its wheels, a brass lantern hanging from each of its corners, red drapes covering its window, and a hidden trapdoor on its underside. When away she kept a steel padlock on the door and a wooden sign reading, "Keep out!"

This wagon radiated an aura of conjuration magic. By speaking the command word "Drovash" while sitting in its driver seat, Ezmerelda could conjure two quasi-real draft horses that were magically tethered to the wagon and heeded her simple commands. She could then dispel them by using the command word "Arvesh."

History
Born to a woman by the name of Irena Radanavich, Ezmerelda's early life was spent growing up in a family that posed as Vistani so that they may prey upon unsuspecting travelers. When she was quite young, in 706 Barovian Calendar, her family kidnapped Erasmus van Richten, the teenage son of famed monster hunter Rudolph van Richten, and it was the beginning of a moment in time that would come to haunt Ezmerelda for the rest of her life. In the brief time that she got to know him, Ezmerelda befriended Erasmus and was amazed by his stories of a less dysfunctional family. It wasn't long before her family sold Erasmus to a vampire, one known as Baron Metus.

Soon after, Rudolph tracked down her family and interrogated her parents on the whereabouts of Erasmus. According to some accounts, he mercifully chose to spare the lives of her family after he was satisfied with their answers, an act that deeply moved the young Ezmerelda. Other accounts claimed that he murdered her mother and Ezmerelda did nothing to stop him.

At the age of fifteen Ezmerelda ran away from home and joined a traveling band of Vistani. She journeyed far during this time, but never felt a true sense of belonging like Erasmus had spoken to her of. She eventually resolved to track down Erasmus's father, hoping he could enlighten her.

After two years of many harrowing adventures she managed to track Rudolph down. He immediately assumed her to be a Vistani assassin and put a sword to her throat, but Ezmerelda managed to convince him that she genuinely wanted to aid him in recovering Erasmus. According to some accounts, Rudolph proceeded to tell her that he had already found Erasmus, transformed into a vampire spawn, and killed him as he pleaded for death. Other accounts would say that she met the ghost of Erasmus, whose father was unaware of his presence, and they rekindled their friendship.

Ezmerelda would go on to spend another two years traveling alongside Rudolph, helping him to track down and slay many monsters that prowled the night, him teaching her many monster-hunting techniques along the way. Over time their personalities clashed, they increasingly got on each others' nerves and their arguments grew more frequent. Until finally, in the domain of Mordentshire, Ezmerelda suggested they part ways as friends.

Leaving Rudolph behind, Ezmerelda would go on to continue hunting evil creatures and renew her search of finding a family on her own terms. She came to amass a sizeable fortune, some of which she used to buy a wagon in which she carried her vampire hunting equipment. On one adventure that followed, Ezmerelda had her right leg bitten off below the knee by a werewolf. She became sidelined for months, but luckily did not contract lycanthropy. Ezmerelda would then go on to commission a master artisan to craft her a prosthetic for her missing lower-right leg. After several tries the artisan managed to deliver her a suitable prosthesis and before long she adapted to it nicely.

On another journey, this time in the city of Il Aluk in the domain of Darkon, Ezmerelda would find that her mother was still alive and weaving a web of manipulations to bring her back into the fold of the Radanavich family.

One day while in the company of a Vistani caravan, she heard gossip of Rudolph having gone to the domain of Barovia to slay the greatest vampire of them all, Strahd von Zarovich. Concluding that he may need her help, Ezmerelda spent months traveling to Barovia. When she reached a town there known as Vallaki she heard tell of an old tower, the sort of place she surmised that Rudolph would hole up in. Within the tower she found only some of his belongings, including a rolled up map of Barovia and some burned pages from his diary, which she proceeded to hide in her wagon.

Anxious to find Rudolph, yet eager to finally earn his trust and respect, Ezmerelda took up temporary residence in the tower as she poured over all his research, learning everything she could about Strahd and Castle Ravenloft.

At some point during her time in Barovia, she encountered a traveler from 15 century Toril, Volothamp Geddarm. She narrowly saved the famed traveler's life from a vampire spawn named Andramar, plunging a wooden spear through its back. Ezmerelda then barked at Volo to grab the creature's ankles and help her drag it outside. They took it to a stream, where she proceeded to drown the beast, and then told Volo to run off for his own safety, suggesting he head to an inn by the name of Blood of the Vine. She later encountered Ireena Kolyana, the latest in a long line of ill-fainted incarnations of Strahd's lover Tatyana, and together they would explore the haunted House of Lament.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Curse of Strahd
 * Video Games
 * Dungeons & Dragons Online (Mists of Ravenloft) • • Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms