The Dilisnya family maintains a tradition of treachery. The land of @Borca originates from the same world as @Barovia's conquerors, the von Zaroviches, and Dilisnyas were present at @Castle Ravenloft the night of @Strahd von Zarovich's transformation.

Ages later, the siblings Boris and Camille Dilisnya each plotted to steal the prestige of their cousins, the Boritsis. Camille manipulated her way into the Boritsi family while Boris prepared his son @Ivan Dilisnya to be the new head of a united Boritsi–Dilisnya line. Despite abundant opportunities to excel, Ivan grew to embody childish vice and impulsiveness, with his family's wealth and doting servants exacerbating these whims. Frequent "accidents" transpired around Ivan, forcing his family to cover up the maimings and deaths of numerous pets and servants. Only Ivan's sister, Kristina, was exempt from his bullying and wicked tricks.

Over time, Kristina proved precocious and eager to learn. Ivan, however, became stubbornly obsessed with childish toys and behaviors. He encouraged his sister to indulge his idealized visions of their childhood, going so far as to affect childlike behaviors and ways of speaking. Although his family members grew increasingly unsettled, they sheltered the future head of their house, reshaping their estate and investing in whimsical diversions for him.

On the night @Ivana Boritsi poisoned her family, Ivan learned of his parents' intention to send Kristina to a prestigious boarding school. Screams, cruel cackling, and clockwork screeching filled the Dilisnya estate that night. When it ended, Ivan was the last living member of the Dilisnya family, and @The Mists closed in around Borca.

Ivan's Powers and Dominion

@Ivan Dilisnya isn't a physically or magically powerful Darklord. He's an extremely old man, but supernaturally he remains as physically fit as he was in the prime of life and has the statistics of a @Human @Noble. His menace manifests in the form of psychological manipulation, making others doubt reality, and causing victims to overestimate his control.

Cursed Correspondence. @Ivan Dilisnya loathes leaving his estate, but the Dark Powers have granted him the ability to have his letters delivered anywhere he pleases. See the Ivana's Intrigues & Ivan's Intrigues Lore article for details on Ivan's letters.

Manipulative Actor. One of @Ivan Dilisnya's favorite manipulations is using his letters and his high-pitched voice to pretend to be a lonely youngster. Ivan keeps out of sight from those he targets for deception so they don't realize the discordance between his childlike affectations and his appearance. If forced to reveal his aged form, he pretends to be confused and employs elaborate clockwork toys, disguises, and conveyances that further mask his true ability.

Toy Maker. The Dark Powers provide @Ivan Dilisnya with any toy he desires. Creatures of many sorts serve Ivan, and any of them, from maids to monstrous guardians, could be clockwork devices or stuffed toys. This doesn't change the creatures' statistics and is revealed only in dramatic moments. Individuals the characters have known for years might eventually be revealed as Ivan's toys.

Wicked Wonderland. The Dilisnya estate, @Degravo, is a confusing tangle of topiary gardens, hedge mazes, and neglected petting zoos that abut sheer cliffs. @Dilisnya Manor (F1) lies at the heart of the estate, and is divided into multiple structures, including the Laughing House, a playhouse where life-sized toys enact brutal operas, and @Ivan's Playroom, a wing dedicated to the master of the estate's clockwork tinkering and private decadences. @Ivan Dilisnya tempts victims to his home, where they gradually realize they're trapped in a fun house of childish grotesqueries. Those unable to escape are eventually forced to don the ludicrous livery of the Dilisnya household staff and become Ivan's new servants.

Closing the Borders. @Ivan Dilisnya can close or open @Borca's borders once per day. He closes them to prevent those he's obsessing over from escaping. When he closes Borca's borders, @The Mists rise as detailed in the Featured Domains & The Mists lore article. Additionally, the fog is filled with Ivan's taunting voice and patrolled by grim clockwork toys.

Ivan's Torment

Since the night @The Mists took @Borca, @Ivan Dilisnya rarely leaves the Dilisnya estate. The following circumstances endlessly torment him:

• @Ivan Dilisnya is alone, and the solitude terrifies him. He was given everything, destroyed it all, and doesn't know how to live. He endlessly creates fawning, fake family from clockwork creations to distract him from his solitude.

• @Ivan Dilisnya resents @Ivana Boritsi, his closest relative, for having the power he was groomed for, but he also views her as his only peer and as a potential replacement for his sister. Ivana, however, avoids him at all costs.

• @Ivan Dilisnya looks like a fantastically unkempt old man, a state he believes he has no control over and that grows more pronounced daily. He thinks Ivana keeps the secret of her eternal youth from him.

Roleplaying Ivan

@Ivan Dilisnya demands to be the center of attention while remaining deeply suspicious of the world beyond @Degravo. With his family gone, he coaxes guests to his home to indulge in a perverse mixture of fabulous decadence and his off-putting, childish whims. Ivan delights in his guests' discomfort and in forcing them to entertain him.

Personality Trait. "The world exists only to bring me pleasure."

Ideal. "I never want to be bored or alone again."

Bond. "My possessions are mine to do with as I please. I decide their fate."

Flaw. "I break whatever bores me. At least a broken toy is unique."

Intrigue in Borca

Endless power games play out in @Borca. Something as simple as having the right talent or piece of gear could cause a @Noble to take notice of a character and invite them to an outing or event that leads to further intrigues. These plots initially revolve around small, petty things, but culminate in disasters and true outrages. They often play out in familiar ways.

Ready Accomplices

Characters readily win contacts among @Borca's nobility, since the elite seem easily charmed by the adventuring life. Friendly @Nobles soon embroil new acquaintances in their schemes, asking characters for favors meant to prove friendship or trustworthiness. These requests typically play into characters' action-first inclinations and gradually add up, giving the noble knowledge they can later leverage however they please.

Ignoble Bonds

Between adventures, a @Noble contact might share their problems with a character or seek favors from a character. Roll on the Ignoble Request table, or create an original idea, to determine what the contact wishes. These requests target a specific rival or member of another family, and lead to increasingly dramatic treacheries.

Ignoble Request
d6 - Request
1 - Manufacture a business or social opportunity for the target's confidant, leaving the target isolated.
2 - Deliver a lavish gift to the target, such as a large sculpture or a steed, at an inappropriate time.
3 - Make the target cry in public.
4 - Plant evidence of a crime at the target's home.
5 - Orchestrate a false business deal, political alliance, or arranged relationship.
6 - Make the target miss their own social event.

Lethal Leverage

Ever thinking of themself, the aforementioned @Noble contact seeks leverage over the characters. The Lethal Leverage table suggests things a noble contact might seek to use against adventurers, but the DM should come up with original ideas as well. Once they have such leverage, the noble contact is no longer a friend, but rather the characters' debt holder or blackmailer. Most such treacherous individuals try to ensure that threats or magic can't easily compel them to relinquish their leverage, such as sending it to a third party or disseminating it within a group of allies.

Lethal Leverage
d6 - Leverage
1 - The contact provides the characters with noteworthy gear to use during a request, then collects it afterward as evidence.
2 - The contact conveniently "goes out of town," requesting characters report to them in writing.
3 - The contact requests magical insurance, such as a Geas spell preventing mutual harm or committing the characters to a misrepresented act.
4 - The contact becomes the guardian of someone close to the characters.
5 - The contact holds a powerful magic item for the characters "so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."
6 - The contact has the characters act against a mutual friend "for their own good." The contact then threatens to reveal this act to the friend.

Coup de Grace

Once the aforementioned @Noble has gained leverage over the party, they might make all sorts of demands. It's then up to the characters whether they obey or find a way to escape the noble's schemes. This might even be the point where the noble reveals that they've been an agent of @Ivana Boritsi or @Ivan Dilisnya all along, and now the Darklord they serve has a use for the characters.