Born in Khazalet, Orlev ben Khazan was a member of a nomadic tribe that roamed the plains around the city. Known for his intellect and aptitude for Spellcraft, he was a student of a variety of Schools of Magic, particularly conjuration. He spent decades honing his power and eventually became an Archmage of great renown, going by his surname "Khazan". Famed for his conjurative abilities, Khazan was hired by the Count Strahd von Zarovich to help the construction of Castle Ravenloft, after the lord conquered the Zarovich Valley. The wizard did so with alacrity, making friends with the Count as well as his younger brother Sergei and his betrothed, Tatyana Federovna.
For several years, he toiled to construct the castle alongside a cadre of artisans and labourers, while Strahd fought many battles to conquer the valley. After the castle's completion, Khazan decided to leave the eastern valley, as Strahd had grown increasingly unstable since his parent's death. He lived in Vallaki for a few years, befriending the noble Wachter family, and became an ally of the famed healer Tasha Petrovna. He planned on ultimately returning to his homeland, but found himself unable to leave the valley as Strahd had formed a pact with Vampyr and caused his domain to shift into a demiplane guarded by deadly mist.
To distance himself from Barovia's increasing dangers, Khazan went to live on a small island on Lake Baratok connected by a small causeway of land. There, he built a magical structure that became known as Khazan's Tower. He eventually revisited Castle Ravenloft to challenge Strahd, but was defeated at the castle's bridge by the Count's overwhelming new power. However, in his travels across Barovia he had learned a secret of cheating death; as a bargain for his life, Khazan told the Vampire Lord about the dark magics of the Amber Temple.
Interested in what Khazan could learn, Strahd kept him alive as an "advisor" based in the temple's library. Alongside its guardian Neferon, the architect learned secrets of dark wizardry that he had never thought were possible. Orlev planned to escape the lands by becoming a Lich, and after many years of preparation, split his soul into a small box of bone. While the efforts to create a Phylactery succeeded, the conversion process failed, resulting in the destruction of his body and scattering of his mind. Strahd found this amusing, and despite the wizard's power, allowed him to remain incarnate in the Amber Temple.
There, Khazan maintained work as an eternal librarian and custodian of sorts, working to clean up Neferon's messes and produce traps and monsters to guard the Dark Powers trapped in the amber sarcophagi. In this time, he would would teach many in the temple who came in seeking knowledge, such as Patrina Velikovna and even later Strahd himself; however, he would never remember these moments, as his failed memory ensured his eternal torment.