Ionel Straud married Aureliana Schäfer in 1903 and had their first daughter, Druella, in 1905, followed by their son Vladislaus in 1907.
They remained in Windenburg, their place of origin, until 1916 when Ionel invested in Havard Lunvik’s logging company in Moonwood Mill; they moved to the new settlement now known as Forgotten Hollow in order to be closer to the logging town, there the Straud’s last daughter, Alina, was born in 1917.
The Strauds children grew in a newfound wealth, somewhat alienated from society, that made them a little out of touch from reality. Druella was smart, kind, quite shy and a hopeless romantic who took rules very seriously and thought the world was like the ones in her books, Vlad used learned to use his charm to manipulate others and behaved as if he could do anything he wanted without consequences, only showing respect and affection to his sisters while Alina, frail in nature, was in her own world; she seemed to possess an energy no one could quite explain and as a lover of riddles and poetry she often spoke in ways only few could understand.
In 1918 Ionel’s mother Miriana dies and his father wastes no time, remarrying a girl 29 years younger than him. This puts an end to the already precarious relationship between the two men and Ionel won’t meet his half sisters Georgiana, born in 1919, and Adriana, born in 1930, until Flavius death in 1948.
Meanwhile, in 1935, Druella marries Sebastian Black, one of her father’s employees that had been courting her for th past seven years. She gets pregnant with their first child right away and the news is welcomed with happiness by both families but, unfortunately, the pregnancy makes her health decline and the child is born prematurely. Her parents use their resources to hire the best doctors in Windenburg, but nothing seems to help Druella and her child, who passes away a month after bein born, followed by the woman herself, few weeks later. Her passing leaves a sense of emptiness in everyone, but especially her sister Alina is affected by it. Her mental state declines to the point where she starts speaking of ghosts and often wanders in the foggy estate during the night, talking to someone that isn’t there. Seeing his younger sister behaving like this makes Vlad spiral in aggressive state, as the year passes the fear of losing her and the frustration of not being able to help, makes him become mean towards her; In many occasions he reacts by yelling at her until one, in 1937, time when he slaps her to make her stop. Action he’ll regret for the rest of his life, as this prompts her to leave the house to reach her sister’s grave, situated on the small island at the center of Forgotten Hollow’s lake, where she dies due to the freezing temperature.
This event changes Vladislaus to the core, he becomes mean and cold towards anyone he once loved and develops an obsession for Irina’s diaries and poetry. The need to dispel his sense of guilt by trying to find a meaning behind her words and actions, brings him to the occult. This desperate search for an answer will ultimately be the reason behind his friendship with mage Nosferat Faba.
Vlad leaves the family during this time, only to return in 1948 for his grandfather’s funeral. There he meets his aunts and Sebastian, Druella’s ex husband, falls in love with Georgiana. The age gap between them is quite important but her resemblance with Druella makes him desperate to be with her. So they eloped, few months later, causing them to be estranged by both of their families. From this union, one year later, (jaigny’s) Victor Black is born. The child was loved but the passion his parents shared for each others, passed as he grew older. Realizing the grave mistake they had made by letting their immaturity and grief take over them, made them part ways. Victor and Georgiana kept their distance from the woman’s family until 1981, when Victor decided to reach out to Vlad, thinking he was his cousin’s son and not the same Vlad she once knew. The woman was hesitant but missing her relatives, she ultimately decided to join her son in his quest. The man, now a vampire, prayed on their desire to reconnect, manipulating them into accpeting immortalilty, thus turning them into vampires as well.
During those times, in 1964, as Vlad became a vampire after Nosferat’s attempt at a self duplicating spell failed, his cousin Adriana gave birth to a son, Arthur Climate. The man, completely unaware of the history of his family, is the only remaing human member, along with his elderly mother and kids, Summer and Nicolas, of the Straud’s lineage.