Nicknamed "Mad Mary" by the local populace, Marya had never left the Village of Barovia, but was subject to its horrors. Her husband was a member of Ismark Kolyanovich's militia that was killed by Zombies that broke out of a boarded-up abandoned home. Riddled with anxiety and further madness when her husband passed, she raised her daughter Gertruda Pavlenka alone in her townhouse. She shut the young girl in, trying to keep her from danger, and raised her daughter to be completely naive to the world.
Never wanting the horrible truths of Barovia to hurt Gertruda, the girl grew up with a black-and-white philosophy, believing that evil would always be defeated by good. Obsessed with Strahd von Zarovich, Gertruda broke out of her house without telling Marya, believing she was following a prince. Fearing the worst, Mad Mary sat wailing in her home, clutching Gertruda's malformed doll made by Blinsky Toys. Over the course of days, she was negligent in feeding the family dog Lancelot, who went off in search of Gertruda.