Character from Curse of Strahd by Tracy & Laura Hickman, Chris Perkins / Wizards of the Coast
A Vallaki noblewoman who secretly worships Strahd and plots to overthrow Baron Vallakovich — she keeps her dead husband's preserved corpse in her bedroom and holds book club meetings that are actually cult gatherings.
Lady Fiona Wachter is the most dangerous person in Vallaki, and she operates entirely through whispers, favors, and patient manipulation. She leads a secret cult devoted to Strahd, holding meetings disguised as a book club in the parlor of Wachterhaus. She despises Baron Vallakovich and his pathetic festivals, and she is actively working to depose him and install herself as the town's leader — with Strahd's implicit blessing. She is a dignified woman of middle years, always impeccably dressed, with cold intelligence behind her courteous smile. She keeps the embalmed body of her dead husband Nikolai in her bedroom, speaks to it regularly, and sees nothing unusual about this. Her daughter Stella has gone mad, which Lady Wachter attributes to the baron's family rather than to the toxic atmosphere of her own household. Lady Wachter is not entirely wrong about the baron being a bad leader. But her alternative — Strahd's willing servant ruling Vallaki openly — would be far worse. She is the kind of villain who sincerely believes she is the reasonable one.
Also known as: Lady Wachter, Fiona Wachter, Lady Fiona