Who they are
The only daughter of Lady Fiona Wachter, she has recently been kept cloistered on the grounds of Wachterhaus for unknown reasons.
What the party knows
Stella’s True Condition
Three months ago, Stella and Victor Vallakovich attempted to build a teleportation circle to escape Barovia. The experiment failed catastrophically—the psychic backlash exposed Stella’s soul to the Ethereal Plane, where it was severed from her body by a malevolent spirit (a gallows speaker). The ghost of Erasmus rescued her soul and has been protecting her in the Ethereal Plane ever since.
Stella’s physical body remains at Wachterhaus in a catatonic state—mindless, speechless, unable to move or care for herself. Her soul, trapped in the Ethereal Plane, is slowly fading and losing her memories. She has perhaps a week before she disappears forever.
While in the Ethereal Plane, Stella can see both planes and has discovered she retains some ability to interact with the Material Plane—moving small objects, creating cold drafts, and appearing in reflective surfaces. She’s been using these abilities to play harmless pranks on the Vallakovich household staff (the “hauntings” that drove away their butler and lady-in-waiting).
Stella has tried numerous times to approach Wachterhaus to communicate with her mother, but a protective circle around the estate prevents ethereal entities from crossing its boundaries. Lady Wachter erected this circle years ago to protect against a vengeful spirit, unknowingly barring her own daughter from coming home.
Personality
Where we’ve seen them
- Mentioned by Urwin in Session 11
- Session 13 - The Lost and The Found (Neyavr 4, Afternoon) - Met her ethereal spirit in Victor Vallakovich’s workroom through the spirit mirror. Learned about her trapped soul and the circumstances of the teleportation circle accident. She communicated through sign language, translated by Victor. Witnessed her playful personality when she admitted to causing the “hauntings” at the Vallakovich Manor.
- Session 14 - Dinner and a Show (Neyavr 4, Evening) - Her catatonic body briefly appeared in the parlor of Wachterhaus before Nikolai Wachter led her away. After the party convinced Lady Wachter to lower the protective circle, Stella’s spirit entered Wachterhaus for the first time in months. She proved her presence to her mother by delivering a peony (her favorite flower) to her lap and arranging broken teacup shards into a crescent shape (the mark of Luna, her childhood cat). This emotional reunion convinced Lady Wachter of the truth and secured her aid in rescuing Stella’s soul. Lady Wachter modified the protective circle to allow Stella to freely visit her home.