Transcript
Ivana Boritsi, the Dark Lord of Borca in Ravenloft, was born into the fantastically wealthy Boritsi family in the land of Borca. Ivana was the first born heir to a vast empire of perfumes and medicinal herbs. Unlike her idle kin, Ivana was driven and brilliant. She devoted her youth to mastering every facet of the family business, determined to prove herself worthy of leading the Boritsi empire. Yet in her father Klaus’s eyes, Ivana was utterly unfit to lead.
His contempt for her was relentless, his judgment blinding him to his daughter’s exceptional capabilities and unwavering dedication. Ivana’s mother Camille nurtured her daughter’s ambitions and quietly worked to secure Ivana’s rightful place as the future leader of the Boritsi legacy. Ivana’s resolve wavered when she met Pieter, a gifted chemist in the family’s employ. Through him, she discovered alchemy and the perfumer’s art and the two grew close.
Camille saw the low-born Pieter as a threat to Ivana’s future. She seduced Pieter herself, arranging for Ivana to witness the betrayal, believing heartbreak would make her daughter forsake love forever. Ivana did not crumble. The betrayal revealed something more profound, the true rot at the heart of her family. In that moment of ruin, a darker and more dangerous Ivana was born. To force Klaus to name her his heir, Ivana crafted a series of aromatic toxins.
Hiding the toxins within the family’s own perfumes, she methodically poisoned her siblings and treacherous mother. The toxins began their silent work. Ivana watched as her siblings and mother sicken and die. None suspected her involvement as she became the only heir. However, on Ivana’s 18th birthday, the dying Klaus announced his decision to name Ivana’s cousin, Ivan Dilisnya, as his heir. After everything she had sacrificed, her father’s final act was one of rejection. Ivana only laughed.
Having anticipated her father’s pettiness, she turned all the estates perfume to poison, unleashing a toxic mist that killed Klaus and every soul within the suffocating violet fog. By the time the poison cleared and the atrocity committed, the Mists of Ravenloft descended on the land of Borca, dragging it into Shadowfell to become a Domain of Dread, with Ivana Boritsi, it’s Dark Lord. Her blood was forever tainted with poison, angry red and black veins visible through her pale skin like a permanent mark of her crimes. Ivana conquered her rivals in Borca, yet still suffers. Ivana rules brilliantly, yet remains endlessly doubted and invalidated due to her eternal youth. She guards against her cousin, Ivan’s ambitions, knowing her father’s missing will, could unravel everything she has earned and killed for.
