THE WITCH OF DOBROV

[Toffee 2843]

THE WITCH OF DOBROV: THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF BARONESS

 

 

PUBLISHED BY

 

ERIKA KORTREVICH

 

559 E.S. 

 

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THE LADY PALATINE SET HER WARDS A TASK: research a woman with ties to the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska who was a leader in her own right. I chose the Baroness of Richtenburg, Lady Sorina Lorelei Luceafăru. She is my ancestor, linked to me through her daughter Lady Viorica, the Countess of Jerovitz. To understand the Baroness of Richtenburg, I also had to understand her mother, a woman known in her later life as the Witch of Dobrov, and her grandmother, the Imperial Princess Charlotte Augusta Novellen. 

 

This led me down a path of research so deep, I realised I would need to separate my work into multiple publications. Much of my research revolves around the diaries written by this so-called witch, Lady Anna Elizaveta ‘Moliana’ Tuvyic, the Baroness of Woldzmir. I was able to retrieve these diaries from the Jerovitz archives, preserved by my great-great grandmother Countess Viorica.

 

I: THE EMPRESS WHO NEVER WAS | PRINCESS CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA OF ALDERSBERG [Link]

INTRODUCTION ⟐ EARLY LIFE ⟐ AS COUNTESS OF DOBROV ⟐ RETURN TO IMPERIAL LIFE ⟐ AS DUCHESS OF ADRIA ⟐ AS THE ‘GRANDMOTHER OF OREN’ ⟐ THE ASTER REVOLUTION ⟐ WOLDZMIR IN EXILE ⟐ AS EMPRESS-CLAIMANT ⟐ CONCLUSION

 

II: THE WITCH OF DOBROV | BARONESS MOLIANA OF WOLDZMIR

INTRODUCTION ⟐ EARLY LIFE ⟐ ENTERING THE IMPERIAL COURT ⟐ BRUSHES WITH THE ARCANE ⟐ AS BARONESS OF WOLDZMIR ⟐ WOLDZMIR UPROOTED ⟐ AS A PEER OF HAENSE  ⟐ CONCLUSION

 

III: INTO THE LIGHT  | BARONESS SORINA OF RICHTENBERG [Link]

INTRODUCTION ⟐ EARLY LIFE ⟐ AS BARONESS OF RICHTENBURG ⟐ AS ROYAL INQUISITOR ⟐ DEATH AND LEGACY ⟐ A NEW GENERATION: COUNTESS VIORICA OF VIDAUS ⟐ CONCLUSION

 

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I

 

FEW FIGURES INSPIRE SO MUCH mystery and speculation as Moliana Luceafǎru, the Baroness of Woldzmir. Known in her later days as the Witch of Dobrov, Lady Moliana’s life from an early age was steeped in the occult, making her highly learned in the arcane arts for better or for worse.

 

She went by many names: Anna Elizaveta Carrion-Tuvyic, Molia Hazmezul, Moliana Tuvyic, Moliana Luceafǎru. Whatever her name and station, wherever Moliana went, shadows and intrigue followed, from her time living in her foster family’s home of Castle Izvoroshu to when Castle Woldzmir suddenly and mysteriously uprooted itself from the Grenzi forest and found itself in the Haeseni mountains.

 

This work draws upon the journals of Lady Moliana, known collectively as A Moth’s Ruminations. These writings have never before been seen by the public, having been safely preserved in the archives of Jerovitz by Lady Moliana’s granddaughter Viorica, the Countess of Jerovitz. With a firsthand account of Lady Moliana’s life finally coming to light, we can at last peer past the shadows, myths, and rumours to the woman beneath.

 

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II

 

LADY MOLIANA WAS DESTINED for a life of nobility. Born as Anna Elizaveta Carrion-Tuvyic in 373 E.S., she would have been raised as the firstborn daughter of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Aldersberg and Lord Sigismund Chekhov, the Count of Dobrov, had fate not had other plans for her. When she was only an infant, dark figures stole into Castle Woldzmir in the dead of night and took baby Anna from her cradle. 

 

She spent her childhood believing she had been kidnapped by Azdrazi and rescued by her foster grandfather, Lothar. She was raised in Castle Izvoroshu as Molia Hazmezul—it is possible this name is derived from the hidden kingdom of Hazmstadt, the birthplace of a distant ancestor of her foster family named Illia, which is referenced in A Moth’s Ruminations.¹ Her foster family—who later took the name Cotsofana after settling into the Vasoyevan city of Sava—raised her as their own child alongside another adoptive daughter named Liliac.

 

The river and foothills near Izvoroshu.

 

Lothar Cotsofana was likely the Lord of Izvoroshu, but as at 388 E.S., Molia’s uncle Shobolan served as regent.² According to her diary entries, young Molia spent the majority of her time in Castle Izvoroshu, located in the southwestern reaches of Almaris’ north continent, but also visited her grandmother Juniper in the floating city of Ando Alur. There was also her foster father, Arici, and an aunt named Limetta.

 

Once she grew into her adolescent years, Molia spent much of her time travelling. Even as a commoner, she befriended boys and girls of high station, including the Grand Prince of Kusoraev, Sigismund (later Sigismund III, King of Hanseti-Ruska) and Lady Anastasia Ruthern (later Anastasia I, Holy Orenian Empress). Molia even received a personal invitation to Lady Anastasia’s wedding to Prince Philip Amadeus in 389 E.S.³

 

While on a visit to Karosgrad, the capital city of Haense in Almaris, Molia by chance came upon her birth mother, the Imperial Princess Charlotte Augusta. Princess Charlotte revealed Molia’s true heritage to her and urged her to come to the Imperial court in Providence to live as an Imperial noblewoman. While Molia did indeed return with Princess Charlotte to Providence, it seemed to have been more for curiosity’s sake than a true desire to reclaim her birthright. Molia nevertheless changed her name to Moliana in order to reflect her dual heritage; that of Anna Elizaveta, the stolen daughter, and Molia, the daughter raised by the Cotsofana family of Vasoyevi heritage.

 

1] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations VI, 390–391 E.S.

2] Limetta von Orange, A Vasoyevi Wedding, 388 E.S.

3] HIH Philip Amadeus, The Imperial Wedding of 1836, 389 E.S.

 

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III

ENTERING THE

 

LADY MOLIANA’S LIFE was lived in two halves. Her public life, the one she shared with the denizens of the Augustine Palace and her mother and sister, and her private life, the life she lived in hidden rooms and dark forests. Because she travelled so frequently and came and went from the Augustine Palace with little supervision, many of the following events occurred simultaneously. A lady by day and an adventurous alchemist by night.

 

Growing up distant from the Imperial court did not mean Lady Moliana had no interest in it; she and her sister Liliac had often dreamed about what it would be like to attend parties and balls in the grand Augustine Palace and take tea in the gardens between the neatly manicured hedges and marble busts of figures long dead. In 387 E.S., she wrote in her diary about the preparations for her debut in the Orenian Social Season, making a note to practice her curtsey.⁴ This suggests that Lady Moliana had not received any formal education on etiquette by her foster family but that she cared about the debut and wanted to make a positive impression. She debuted alongside her sister Liliac in 388 E.S., with the Petite Potins noting Lady Moliana had wisps of energy spilling from her sleeves, smoke gathering along the marble floor and stirred by the movement of her gown.⁵ Although Lady Moliana had been surrounded by the arcane since her youth, this author does not believe that the magick originated from Lady Moliana herself, but rather the peculiar little boy she had befriended in the library of Ando Alur while working for her grandmother; a boy she named Booker. More on him later.

 

Immediately following her debut, Lady Moliana met her blood sister Josephine for the first time. Josephine wrote in her diary, “She goes by Moliana and dresses in a strange fashion that is quite foreign to the Imperial court. I never expected that I would meet her, but when I saw her enter the room during the debut, I knew instantly that it was her. It was like looking into a mirror, though she is taller, prettier, and much more confident. She is what I could have been, were I not so ill.”⁶ Although they had been estranged for their entire childhood, Moliana and Josephine quickly formed a bond, with Moliana taking a particular concern with Josephine’s illness. Lady Moliana attempted to find a cure, settling on a temporary remedy in the form of the blood lotus flower found in the southern desert of Almaris. Lady Moliana even made a specific note in one of her journals to “get to know Josephine.”⁷ It is unclear if Lady Moliana ever did find a cure for Josephine’s illness; it can be assumed that she did not, for Josephine was still reported to be ill at the time of her execution in 412 E.S.

 

Josephine Aleksandra holding the Li Ren talisman gifted to her by her sister, Moliana.

 

Although Lady Moliana had been raised in a castle, Izvoroshu was nothing like the bright, busy Augustine Palace where gossip was a commodity and nobody was safe from scrutiny. “Little privacy is to be had in this palace,” she wrote in 388 E.S., shortly after arriving at court. “Despite its vastness, there is always some colorfully garbed courtier around the corner or another one of those pensive servants.”⁸ Furthermore, Lady Moliana appears to have been little more than a servant in Izvoroshu, with frequent references to sweeping or dusting the shelves. 

 

4] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations I, 387 E.S.

5] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: The Opening of the Season 1835, 388 E.S.

6] Bl. Josephine Aleksandra Tuvyic, Josephine’s Diary, 388 E.S.

7] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations IV, 388–389 E.S.

8] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations III, 388 E.S.

 

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IV

BRUSHES WITH THE

 

WITH A SECOND LIFE SWATHED in shadows and secrecy, it is little wonder Lady Moliana found the Orenian court oppressive with no place to hide. What would she have done if an Augustine courtier caught her conversing with her undead father? Sparring with the Third? Experimenting with illicit alchemy? She had to strike a delicate balance between keeping these parts of herself hidden while not attracting too many questions from her doting mother, Princess Charlotte.

 

ANDO ALUR

 

It started with Ando Alur. The Principality of Ando Alur was a city in the east of Almaris, suspended far above the clouds by Voidal magicks. Juniper Wick kept the library there with Moliana as her apprentice. In what became known as the cataclysm of Ando Alur in latter days, the city plummeted from the sky and shattered on the earth below, killing all natural life. 

 

An artist’s depiction of Ando Alur before its fall.

 

The Brotherhood of Saint Karl accompanied an expedition of the National Geographical Society, and the report of the excursion read, “... the ground had turned blue and tainted with pure Voidal energy, it was completely unnatural and something I had never seen before. In the sky there were vortex-like shapes spinning across the horizon. A deep sense of foreboding wafted over us all…”⁹

 

Moliana herself described the fallout of the cataclysm as “... akin to a tingling sensation, yet something grips my heart and I feel as if the world holds its breath sometimes; lingering upon a precipice… Such destructive waves of energy from the city’s fall have sent ripples of their power around the realm.”¹⁰ Moliana had left the city only one year prior to its fall in order to return to Providence with her mother. Later, once the fallen city’s Voidal taint began spreading across the continent, she used her influence as the Baroness of Woldzmir to prompt a response from the Imperial government.

 

9] The Brotherhood of Saint Karl, A Report: An Excursion into Ando Alur, 399 E.S.

10] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations II, 388 E.S.

 

VAMPIRES

 

While preparing for her debut, Lady Moliana was also contending with something much more sinister; dark rituals performed by her adoptive grandmother, Juniper Wick. In 387 E.S. she wrote, “Just the memory of that ritual still gives me chills… Perhaps that’s just the way of things; with this world—with equivalent exchange. Alchemists risk blowing up their laboratories and singeing their eyebrows off with their more powerful concoctions, all while working with pure and raw material birthed from this world. This feels just the same, yet far more extreme… The scent was so strong in the air, sometimes I feel like I can smell the pungent stench of iron or hear those calls in the night just before sleep finds me. I am then left with a question that scratches at the back of my mind, for which I hesitate to seek out its answer; what lurked in that crimson pond?”¹¹

 

This may have been a mystery to Lady Moliana at the time, but history has swept away the enigma like so many cobwebs. The crimson pond and the ritual she referenced was likely that of blood magic, a concept described as Cosmic Alchemy by some of its practitioners. In the Tsutenkaku report of 423 E.S., Moliana revealed to the Lectors of Owyn that “she knew individuals who sought to use the material alphabet for magical purposes, using blood as a conductor. These rituals are used to harness powers from beyond and possess the ability to do unnatural things.”¹² Her grandmother Juniper had been using the Material Alphabet to send coded messages through rituals, with bloodied runes amplifying the power of equivalent exchange.¹³ To explain why she had not come forth as soon as she discovered this information, Lady Moliana told the Lectors of Owyn that she had been marked with the blood magic rune of the Spider by her grandmother, a mark which prevented her from speaking to others about what she had witnessed as well as forcing her to comply with Juniper’s requests.¹⁴ This is further corroborated by an entry from Moliana’s diary, where she wrote, “A pawn. To think I’ve been this all of my life. If I’m not careful, I will remain as one.”¹⁵

 

What makes this all the darker is Lady Moliana discovering that, while she had been kidnapped as an infant, it was not by Azdrazi. Her foster grandparents had been the ones to steal her from her cradle. Lothar and Juniper, who she later learned were vampires. There was a rift between Juniper and the rest of Moliana’s foster family, however. “I still recall the day when uncle did his spells to check me over for curses, when the family heard I was her assistant in Ando Alur; how grandfather furiously flipped the table and ordered me to go to my room.”¹⁶ This suggests that the other members of the Cotsofana family knew of, but disagreed with Juniper’s methods of blood magic and alchemy. 

 

One matter that they did seem to agree upon was that, one day, Moliana would join them in undeath. She pondered over this in her journal, writing, “Am I to abandon my foster family entirely? For what purpose am I wanted for, if I was only taken to distract my father from his grief? Surely, they would not wish for me to become one of them… But what sort of asset am I?... If I was meant to die by their hands, they would have done away with me as an infant or child. Why am I still here?”¹⁷ It is unlikely Lady Moliana was ever turned into a vampire, but rather murdered by her foster family alongside her husband for refusing their demands.

 

11] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations I, 387 E.S.

12] The Flaming Covenant Cohort, The Tsutenkaku Report, 423 E.S.

13] The Flaming Covenant Cohort, The Tsutenkaku Report, 423 E.S.

14] The Flaming Covenant Cohort, The Tsutenkaku Report, 423 E.S.

15] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations II, 388 E.S.

16] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations III, 388 E.S.

17] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations VI, 390–391 E.S.

 

OSTROMIR

 

Her foster family was not the only source of Lady Moliana’s brushes with the arcane. Darkness in another form plagued her birth family. “My mother told me [my father] had died, and spoke of his disinterest in searching for me when I had been abducted. I hardly knew how to react when he told me both things were true. Taken apart and pieced back together by another; by my real grandfather.”¹⁸ Lord Sigismund, Count of Dobrov, had died in 381 E.S., but he had not stayed dead. His father, Ostromir Carrion-Tuvyic, brought Lord Sigismund back to life through necromantic means, alongside his bastard-born brother Vladislav. 

 

Lord Sigismund appears to have spent his undead life revenging himself upon his father for what was done to him. “He is a walking husk, the echo of a man that could have never been. The only thing which drives him onward is his desire for vengeance upon my grandfather Ostromir. Perhaps he was given no choice but to pursue this manner of living, the brief tales he has shared of my grandfather have been nothing but nightmarish and grim; I still hope that I shall never encounter him, nor any who follow him.”¹⁹ 

 

Despite her hopes, Lady Moliana did indeed encounter Ostromir. “A threat lurks and leers over my family, a shadow which looms over us all; a shadow in the shape of my undead grandfather.”²⁰ He appeared to her at various points after she became the Baroness of Woldzmir and took up residence in the castle in Dobrov, culminating in an attempt to place her under his thrall.

 

18] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations IV, 388–389 E.S.

19] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations V, 389–390 E.S.

20] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations V, 389–390 E.S.

 

THE GREAT SAGE

 

Finally, there is the matter of Booker. Lady Moliana met him while working in her grandmother’s library in Ando Alur; he had been hiding in the bookshelves, which is no doubt where the name ‘Booker’ originated. HRH Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar wrote of him, “There is no limit to his abilities or to his strength. Not only is he capable of healing afflictions, he has no weaknesses. His body can stretch and contort in the most amazing of ways.”²¹ Despite these abilities, Lady Moliana wrote of him as if he were a child; a companion with her on many of her adventures. “... so that I could have my closest friend with me again. He has been with me through everything. To have faced the possibility of forever losing him in that moment terrified me more than anything else. I would be alone.”²² 

 

Further reading of A Moth’s Ruminations reveals that the child, Booker, may not have been the only entity inhabiting the same body. Lady Moliana makes reference to ‘the Four’, frequently writing of individuals known only as ‘the Second’, ‘the Third’, and ‘the Fourth’. It is possible ‘the First’ was Booker himself, the being she had first encountered. Lady Moliana wrote that “[Her lost drive] made [Booker] vulnerable, and even put the Second unconscious! As for the other two, I am unsure how they fared.”²³ This suggests an affliction affecting one of them affected all of them. She also mentioned needing to back away from Booker before the Third arrived, suggesting that they shared a body.²⁴

 

Furthermore, Booker seemed to have a compartmentalised memory, with Lady Moliana writing, “A child’s mind could not comprehend nor safely contain a life spent amongst so many years, especially if some sights are traumatic; an adventurous life isn’t an easy one lived anyways. To have that selective memory is to protect him.”²⁵ This selective memory could perhaps mean different memories and life experiences were remembered by the Second, Third, and Fourth, sparing the child Booker from them. Even the Second, the Third, and the Fourth seemed to have no memory of the others. “... the Third grew fiercely defensive when he realised he knew nothing on who the Fourth really is.”²⁶ Lady Moliana described the Third as having a “frightful coldness”,²⁷ and wrote about a deal she had made for him to teach her how to defend herself. She frequently sparred with him, returning to the Augustine Palace covered in bruises she had to hide from her mother.²⁸ 

 

Booker was likely the source of much of the visible magic surrounding Lady Moliana, from the performance at her debut to many of the stranger, unexplainable occurrences in her later life that earned her the moniker the ‘Witch of Dobrov’.

 

21] HRH Elizaveta Ulyana Barbanov-Bihar, Creature Compendium Vol I: Creatures of the Realm, 427 E.S.

22] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations VI, 390–391 E.S.

23] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations V, 389–390 E.S.

24] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations VI, 390–391 E.S.

25] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations VI, 390–391 E.S.

26] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations VI, 390–391 E.S.

27] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations III, 388 E.S.

28] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations IV, 388–389 E.S.

 

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V

AS THE

 

Princess Charlotte used her position as the Duchess of Adria to secure a meeting with Archchancellor Drasus de Nurem to discuss the fate of Dobrov. Lady Alexandra, the Countess, had been missing for some months and was presumed dead, leaving the upkeep of Castle Woldzmir and the surrounding town in the hands of her husband, Lord Konstantin Ruthern. Princess Charlotte discussed the notion of Lord Konstantin marrying one of her daughters so that he might retain the title of Count-Consort of Dobrov. These machinations would shortly prove unnecessary with the condemnation of Lord Franz Nikolai Carrion-Tuvyic, Lady Alexandra’s father, and the stripping of all Imperial titles from his branch of the family.²⁹

 

ONCE LADY ALEXANDRA HAD HAD HER TITLES REMOVED, Lady Josephine and Lady Moliana discussed who should take on the County of Dobrov. Moliana, as the eldest, was the heiress by rights, but she could abdicate her titles in favour of her younger sister if she truly wanted to leave Imperial life behind and continue with her “life of adventure, wonder, and wisdom.”³⁰ However, Lady Moliana decided to take on the responsibility of the peerage, protecting the frail, sickly Josephine from the stressors that it came with. She became the Baroness of Woldzmir, the Imperial Crown having placed the more senior title of Countess of Dobrov into abeyance. Soon after becoming baroness, her foster sister Liliac came to the Augustine Palace to deliver the news in person—Lady Moliana had been disinherited from the Cotsofana family.³¹

 

Although Moliana became the Baroness of Woldzmir and took up residence in the castle, Lord Konstantin Ruthern, who had been the Count-Consort through his marriage to Lady Alexandra, remained the Lord Mayor of Dobrov. There were frequent struggles between Lady Moliana and Lord Konstantin over where one’s power and dominion ended and the other’s began, considering Castle Woldzmir was technically a part of the town of Dobrov. Lady Moliana recognised that “The townspeople are not under me, nor is it my business to meddle in their affairs; such a duty falls to the Lord Mayor.”³² Yet Lord Konstantin would frequently arrive in Castle Woldzmir unannounced with various complaints. This tension grew even more pronounced following the Aster Revolution, considering Lord Konstantin was Empress Anastasia’s brother.

 

At her first session of Imperial court as the Baroness of Woldzmir, Philip II tasked Lady Moliana with building an almshouse to take in orphans and wayward women. Two years later, in 397 E.S., construction finished and the Almshouse of Saint Judith was opened to the public.³³  She also did an interview for the Providence Post about her ascension.³⁴ Shortly after becoming the Baroness of Woldzmir, Lady Moliana took on Princess Julia of Furnestock and Lord Joseph of Sunholdt at her wards.

 

Lady Moliana warned the Imperial throne about the dangers of the Voidal tear caused by the destructive fall of Ando Alur,³⁵ and was called before the court to discuss this in more detail.³⁶ This prompted a response from the Imperial government, though was not considered a source of widespread concern throughout the Empire despite its seriousness.^{37 38}

 

29] HL Erika Kortrevich, Ward of the Lady Palatine, The Empress Who Never Was: The Legacy of Princess Charlotte of Aldersberg, 558 E.S.

30] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations V, 389–390 E.S.

31] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations V, 389–390 E.S.

32] Imperial Ministry of Civil Affairs, The Providence Post, 1843, 396 E.S.

33] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, Almshouse of Saint Judith, 397 E.S.

34] Imperial Ministry of Civil Affairs, The Providence Post, 1843, 396 E.S.

35] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, The Eastern Winds Call, 398 E.S.

36] Imperial Office of the Registry, Transcript of Imperial Court: 11th of Tobias' Bounty 1847, 400 E.S.

37] HE Minuvas Melphestaus, Vice Chancellor of the Holy Orenian Empire, Addressing the Voidal Tear: Crestfall Ministry, 400 E.S.

38] HE Minuvas Melphestaus, Vice Chancellor of the Holy Orenian Empire, Addressing the Voidal Tear: Crestfall Ministry, 401 E.S.

 

MARRIAGE

 

In 397 E.S., at the closing ball of Lady Josephine’s Social Season, Philip II tried to proposition Moliana to be his wife. Not wanting to offend the Emperor, but also unwilling to marry a man thrice her age—who was now her step-grandfather after Princess Charlotte’s marriage to Prince Philip Aurelian—Moliana rebuffed him by saying that Elimar Mondblume had asked for her hand. According to a letter Lady Moliana wrote to her mother in 396 E.S., this was actually the truth.³⁹ 

 

The pair had enjoyed a long period of courtship, though not in the conventional sense. Although Elimar was a son of the baronial house of Mondblume in the Kingdom of Haense, he and Lady Moliana were alike in that they had little care for rules and etiquette. Lady Moliana wrote in 389 E.S., “As for Elimar, I think he remains to be one of the first people who has shared a similar life to myself—to an extent. I almost feel as if he is one of the few people I could ever put my trust into.”⁴⁰ They went on a number of adventures together, and Elimar tended to Moliana’s wounds when she was attacked by a harpy.⁴¹

 

Philip II gave his Imperial blessing for the union; something that was required for all peers seeking to marry. The ceremony finally took place in 401 E.S. in the small township of Veritas. They had three children: Viorel Codrin and Sorina Lorelei, both born 402 E.S., and Emilian Sigmar, born many years later in 420 E.S.

 

Romance with King Sigismund III

 

During her courtship with Elimar, Lady Moliana reflected on her romance with Sigismund III of Haense and how it had left her brokenhearted. “... a part of me is afraid to open myself up again; to trust my heart with another. I am still reeling from the wounds inflicted upon me for how Sigismund had turned away and denied the existence of our love; I cannot turn to another so quickly… I care for Elimar, I do. I just hope he can understand the time I need to recover.”⁴² 

 

Lady Moliana and Sigismund III appear to have had a tryst in their younger years, when Sigismund III was still the Grand Prince of Kusoraev and had yet to marry Queen Emma of Jerovitz. When Lady Moliana went to visit the then-Grand Prince Sigismund in Haense following an argument they had, she wrote, “I don’t think I had ever seen Sig in such a state. He was quiet and almost mournful, grieving over a life he could not live. I wish I could free him of his bonds and burdens, so that he and I may live this free life together. I know that to not be possible, and he does too. When he embraced me, I never wanted to let go of him. If only time could have stopped for us there.”⁴³ 

 

Hearing about the Grand Prince’s impending wedding reportedly caused her great distress. “I can no longer bear to hear the chatter of the Haeseni wedding… Those two kisses stolen behind the shelves filled me with such warmth, yet now as I look back over the memory I feel the bitter sting of tears in my eyes and a horrible pain in my chest. Had he always played me for a fool, or was his love true? I shall never know, for it’s all been reduced to naught but ash in my mouth.”⁴⁴ Sigismund III and Queen Emma of Jerovitz were wed in 390 E.S.⁴⁵

 

In 400 E.S., a year before her own wedding, Lady Moliana was invited to a dinner in Haense with the Royal family. This was by way of a formal letter from Lady Margot Baruch, the Ambassador to the Holy Orenian Empire at the time. Lady Moliana attended with her mother and sister; her mother writing a letter to the King and Queen afterwards to thank them for the fare and company.⁴⁶ According to a letter by Lady Josephine to Lord Konstantin—who had by this point become a close friend of hers despite the animosity between him and her sister— Sigismund III gave Lady Moliana the place of honour at the head of the table opposite him. Any bitterness between them had been consigned to the past and a close friendship rekindled. This would prove very important when Lady Moliana relocated to Haense with her family.

 

39] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth's Call, 396 E.S.

40] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations V, 389–390 E.S.

41] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations VI, 390–391 E.S.

42] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations VI, 390–391 E.S.

43] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations IV, 388–389 E.S.

44] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Moth’s Ruminations V, 389–390 E.S.

45] Heinrik II, King of Hanseti and Ruska, A Royal Betrothal, 389 E.S.

46] HRH Charlotte Augusta, Duchess of Adria, On Venison Stew and Kindness, 400 E.S.

 

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VI

 

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE SINNERS’ WAR, Prince Philip Aurelian’s assassination, the Aster Revolution, and the excommunication of Philip III and Anastasia I have been covered in depth in the previous instalment.⁴⁷ But how did Lady Moliana, as the Baroness of Woldzmir, respond to these events? She first released a public letter of concern,⁴⁸ warning members of House Tuvyic not to travel to Providence and outlining the following grievances:

 

❈ Philip III, following Princess Charlotte being discovered meeting with the Grand King of Urguan, had a fit of bad temper in the Imperial throne room where he expressed a lack of care for the safety of Lady Moliana and her kin. This was despite the fact that Lady Moliana had raised Princess Julia, his own daughter, as her ward.

 

❈ Information came to light that the Emperor and Empress may have plotted to murder Prince Philip Aurelian, the Duke of Adria. “House Tuvyic does not cling to these accusations as pure fact and truth, but we shall not disregard them so easily as forged documents either. We may be more inclined to the latter, had it not been for the continuous displays of rashness from the Crown since their ascension.”

 

Lady Moliana concluded with the sentiment that “Blind loyalty is thoughtless, it is dangerous… Blind loyalty will destroy this Empire.” Until she could be formally assured of the Crown’s integrity and respect towards House Tuvyic, Woldzmir’s gates would remain closed.

 

Empress Anastasia responded, stating that no harm would befall any member of House Tuvyic, including Princess Charlotte. “It is my hope that my relative would not betray her own kin with the Dwarves, and for whatever reasons she had whilst being in the private audience of the Grand King Ulfric Frostbeard it shall not be held against her so long as it was not in violation of the law.” Empress Anastasia expressed a desire to see her daughter Julia again, as it had been a year since she saw her last, and ended her letter thus: “You are correct, Baroness Woldzmir, that you should never be blindly loyal. I shall pray that, should the day come, my husband and I may receive honest advice from you as a peer of the empire.” 

 

Of course, this day would never come. One year later, Lady Moliana released another missive.⁴⁹ She stated that, while House Tuvyic remained with the Empire, it would not fight in the war against the dwarves of Urguan. She also bid the Emperor and Empress to abdicate in order to end the war. To the people of the Empire she wrote, “The town of Dobrov welcomes any who would wish to flee those cursed in Anathema and seek solace from the bloodshed of the efforts to dethrone them. You needn’t sacrifice your lives for the follies of another.”

 

Lady Claude Ashford de Savoie was the first to respond, the swiftness of her riposte likely due to her vehement dislike of Lady Moliana; they had even been witnessed nearly coming to blows outside of the Imperial theatre some years prior. Lady Claude’s scathing letter addressed, among other things, the matter of Lady Moliana’s safety, the war, and the excommunication of the Emperor and Empress.⁵⁰

 

For their part, the Emperor and Empress gathered their Adriatic Court and issued an Imperial Ban, stripping Lady Moliana of her titles and land on account of treason.⁵¹ In her place, the Imperial Crown raised Fyodor Barrow—bastard son of Lord Ostromor Carrion-Tuvyic and Lady Moliana’s uncle—as the Count of Dobrov, after legitimising him by Imperial decree.

 

Before Imperial troops could march upon Woldzmir in the name of reclamation, the entire castle was mysteriously uprooted and spirited away to parts unknown. Many theories surrounded this transportation, with some believing it was a divine act to save the righteous House Tuvyic from the anathema Emperor and Empress, while others claimed it was the act of dark magic.

 

47] HL Erika Kortrevich, Ward of the Lady Palatine, The Empress Who Never Was: The Legacy of Princess Charlotte of Aldersberg, 558 E.S.

48] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Letter of Concern, 403 E.S.

49] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Peer's Choice, 404 E.S.

50] HL Claude Ashford de Savoie, Viscountess of Provins and Director of the Imperial Ministry of Civil Affairs, An Orenian’s Response, 404 E.S.

51] HIM Philip III and HIM Anastasia of Kositz, The Imperial Ban of Anna Elizaveta Tuvyic, 404 E.S.

 

Lady Moliana and Castle Woldzmir after its uprooting.

[Art by UnBaed]

 

DIFFERING THEORIES

 

The narrative propagated by Lady Moliana was that her undead grandfather, Lord Ostromir Carrion-Tuvyic, had tried to destroy Castle Woldzmir with a dark ritual, but Lady Moliana disrupted the ritual so that the castle was displaced instead, moved by magical means to elsewhere on the continent. “That very night, a gathering formed before the castle… Ostromir headed them, his features like a man’s skin thinly wrapped over a skull with a perpetual look of malice in his eyes. He had caught sight of me on the battlements and I thought I might have seen him grin, before turning to draw shapes into the soil.”⁵² Lady Moliana did not release this public statement until three years after Woldzmir had been teleported, meaning that other theories had taken root in the interim.

 

Because all that was left of Castle Woldzmir was a smoking crater, many believed that it had simply been destroyed. Presbyter Ileana described it as a “true miracle of GOD sent as a message to the Anathemata of the Empire.”⁵³ She wrote that “fire from the Seven Skies descended upon Woldzmir, engulfing and entirely obliterating the keep that was once home to Anna Elizaveta Tuvyic and her family and the consecrated memorial site of the Fallen Heir. GOD has shown his favour to the Tuvyic family and His disfavor to the Anathemata of the Empire, refusing to allow the Empire to lay claim to the Last Bastion.” 

 

The conclusion reached by the Lectors of Owyn many years later was that it had actually been Lady Moliana’s foster family who “used blood magic to rip the castle from the continent and transport it elsewhere.”⁵⁴ Regardless of the truth of how these events transpired, it remains indisputable that Castle Woldzmir was once in the township of Dobrov but then found itself at the base of the icy foothills in the eastern reaches of Haense.

 

52] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, A Plot Most Foul, 408 E.S.

53] Presbyter Ileana, The Miracle at Woldzmir, 405 E.S.

54] The Flaming Covenant Cohort, The Tsutenkaku Report, 423 E.S.

 

⌯◃⟐▹⌯

VII

AS A

 

WHEN CASTLE WOLDZMIR WAS FIRST TRANSPORTED, Lady Moliana and her family did not venture beyond the walls. Little was heard from House Tuvyic except for an announcement in 408 E.S. that the line of Lady Moliana and Lord Elimar would henceforth be known as House Luceafǎru.⁵⁵ By this time, their children Viorel and Sorina were six years old, and Emilian had yet to be born. This period of quietude ended after Lady Moliana’s younger sister Josephine was executed by Anastasia I, becoming a holy martyr.

 

The sigil of House Luceafǎru.

[Art by UnBaed]

 

Lady Moliana hosted a funeral service for Josephine in Karosgrad in 413 E.S., making the beginning of her public appearances in Haense.⁵⁶ Shortly afterwards, her husband Elimar was made the Baron of Richtenburg, thus elevating them to the Haeseni peerage. A brief history—Hildebrand Mondblume was granted the Barony of Richtenburg by Heinrik II in 378 E.S.⁵⁷ He died in 386 E.S. with no living children to succeed him, so the barony passed to his nephew Yvo Mondblume, Elimar’s elder brother. When Lord Yvo died, the title passed to his eldest son Sigmar, who was captured and hanged during the Sinners’ War, leaving no issue.⁵⁸ Sigismund III confirmed that Lord Elimar was the rightful Baron of Richtenburg in 414 E.S.⁵⁹

 

Both Lady Moliana and Lord Elimar attended His Majesty’s Royal Duma, fulfilling their obligations as peers of Haense. Duma records show a representative from Richtenburg being present at all sittings of the Royal Duma between 417 and 420 E.S. Lady Moliana also joined the King’s Court of Sigismund III, becoming his Court Alchemist.⁶⁰

 

Princess Julia of Furnestock remained Lady Moliana’s ward even after Woldzmir was transported to Haense, although she would later go travelling to seek her independence. Lady Moliana took on Princess Elizaveta Ulyana of Alban as a ward, the young girl having lost both of her parents at a young age. She published a series of compendiums discussing the fantastical wildlife of Woldzmir, including a type of faerie known as ‘noomies’. “A sanctuary at the base of Woldzmir has been created for them, where they are free from the confines of jars and consume as many insects as they desire.”⁶¹

 

55] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, House Luceafǎru, 408 E.S.

56] TH Moliana Luceafǎru, Baroness of Woldzmir, Mourning a Lost Sparrow, 413 E.S.

57] HRM Heinrik II, King of Hanseti and Ruska, Royal Letters for the Barony of Richtenburg, 378 E.S.

58] HRM Sigismund III, King of Hanseti and Ruska, Is This Your Peace?, 418 E.S.

59] HRM Sigismund III, King of Hanseti and Ruska, The Lower House Redress Edict, 414 E.S.

60] HRM Sigismund III, King of Hanseti and Ruska, The King's Court, 417 E.S.

61] HRH Elizaveta Ulyana Barbanov-Bihar, Creature Compendium Vol I: Creatures of the Realm, 427 E.S.

 

REPUTATION AS THE WITCH OF DOBROV

 

Lady Moliana had already earned somewhat of a reputation as a woman of the occult due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding Woldzmir’s teleportation. This was exacerbated by her serving as the Court Alchemist, and several interactions with other Haeseni peers during the Royal Duma. When discussing the Magic Clarification Bill of 418 E.S., Lady Sorina said, “My mama practices magic and she is perfectly safe, I believe.”⁶² Lady Moliana spoke in defence of magic, arguing “Do we make swords illegal in the kingdom? No, because they are tools. It's about how it is used—the same goes for magics and alchemy.”⁶³

 

Many in Haense were already wary of magic in all its forms, so when Lady Moliana performed a magic trick at the unveiling of the Karenina Accord statue in 420 E.S., this further solidified her reputation.⁶⁴

 

62] Office of the Lord Speaker, XXXVII Session of the Royal Duma, 418 E.S.

63] Office of the Lord Speaker, XXXVII Session of the Royal Duma, 418 E.S.

64] HL Erika Barclay, Revealing of the Karenina Accord Statue, 420 E.S.

 

DEATH

 

Lady Moliana and Lord Elimar’s deaths were announced by way of a public missive.⁶⁵ The announcement contained no information about the manner of their deaths. The Tsutenkaku Report, published two years later, provided more insight. “Lothar’s coven cornered Elimar, the husband to Moliana, with the intent of having Moliana slay him in order to prove her loyalty to the ‘family’. Moliana refused and she and Elimar fended off the five vampiric assailants. Elimar managed to escape whereas Moliana’s fate is unknown; it is assumed that she perished.”⁶⁶

 

It is highly likely that Lady Moliana’s foster family murdered her, outraged that she refused to become a vampire alongside them; something she alluded to many times in her journal entries. It is possible the Cotsofana family also hunted and killed Lord Elimar, or he could have faked his death in order to escape them. We may never know the truth of these events; all that we know is that, to the world, the Baroness of Woldzmir and Baron of Richtenburg had perished, leaving behind an infant Emilian who had to be raised by his two elder siblings, Viorel and Sorina. Thus ended the fascinating story of Lady Moliana.

 

65] HL Sorina Luceafǎru, A Statement from Woldzmir, 421 E.S.

66] The Flaming Covenant Cohort, The Tsutenkaku Report, 423 E.S.

 

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VIII

 

LADY MOLIANA’S LIFE WAS AN INTRICATELY TANGLED WEB from her birth to her death, filled with snarls and contradictions that even the most diligent historian could not hope to unravel. Her journals give us the sense of a woman who was defiant, noble, and mystical in equal measure. Her refusal to fight for an excommunicated Emperor and Empress—despite the steep cost of losing her titles—showcased her unwavering moral compass and fierce independence, learned through her unconventional upbringing by the Cotsofana family. This act of rebellion against the Empire would come to define her legacy as much as her later reputation as the Witch of Dobrov. 

 

She was a woman who continually reinvented herself in the face of adversity, unable to be labelled nor contained. The fact that her story has continued to captivate and intrigue more than a century after her death speaks to the enduring allure of the mysterious; something that Lady Moliana embodied throughout her life, from the halls of nobility to the shadowy realm of the occult, and even into the ambiguous circumstances of her demise. She will certainly be remembered.

 

⌯──────────────────────◃⟐▹──────────────────────⌯

 

 

Her Ladyship, ERIKA KORTREVICH, 

Ward of the Lady Palatine

 

 

[MunaZaldrizoti 8037]

The Lady Palatine received both her ward and that latest biography with equal enthusiasm, keen to see what had kept the young Kortrevich abroad for nigh on two years. Clearly, the princess was not to be left disappointed as she turned over that first leaf of parchment, already fascinated by the tales of this 'Witch of Dobrov'.

[Lhindir_ 3691]

An ancient lich stirs in the shadows, reading memoirs with blazing eyes. Even in these times past, there was a twitch, a passing memory, a fleeting hint of interest in times long past.