Lazendrak, the land of Blood and Honey

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Mistmaster
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Re: Lazendrak, the land of Blood and Honey

Post by Mistmaster »

I could either ignore or make an exception to the "only living sentient beings blood" rule for ravenloft vampire, maybe thanks the perduring blessing of the Blood Mother, which is still there because it plays in the hand of the Dark Powers, and I actually find that the idea of the blood rivers and lake does give the domain a disturbing and grotesque athmosphere; players who end in this domain will have interesting reactions. That said the idea of the illness is quite good, so I think I will fit it in the domain alongside the blood rivers and lake.
jamesfirecat
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Re: Lazendrak, the land of Blood and Honey

Post by jamesfirecat »

Mistmaster wrote:I could either ignore or make an exception to the "only living sentient beings blood" rule for ravenloft vampire, maybe thanks the perduring blessing of the Blood Mother, which is still there because it plays in the hand of the Dark Powers, and I actually find that the idea of the blood rivers and lake does give the domain a disturbing and grotesque athmosphere; players who end in this domain will have interesting reactions. That said the idea of the illness is quite good, so I think I will fit it in the domain alongside the blood rivers and lake.
I would need to know more about the Blood Mother/ the religion of Lazendrak to comment with any real detail on her and her blessings (do you have info on her stored in some other thread/somewhere else?) but I think it would be a mistake to keep too much distance between humans and the vampires.

If the vampires only need to drink from the blood rivers/streams/wells than essentially they're just having a time share with the land's human occupants, which is neat, but not as dramatic as it could be...

Vampires have long been a short hand for sex/sensuality in horror stories, and I think it would be a mistake to "defang" them of that particular aspect.

If you want to unerve your players/PCs who wind up in Lazendrak... simply play the sensuality straight from a futuristic ultra libertine view point as opposed to the vastly more conservative approach in D&D in general and Ravenloft in particular.

Every general store sells bandages by the front counter, with a few special ones that are extra expensive but colored with attractive patterns and made from dyes that will not be ruined when they get soaked with blood.

People casually compliment one another on said bandages, (since just about everyone out of their teens is wearing some) and the PCs get distinct side eye for the fact that they won't be wearing bandages around their neck...

The first night that the PCs spend in the inn they're awakened by screams, which only after they've rushed out of their rooms (probably arming and armoring themselves to battle in the process) turn out to be the cries of passion from the inn's owner having his/her blood drunk by a vampire.

Marriages are complicated twisty affairs which involve not just person A marrying person B, but vampire X who regularly drinks person A's blood needs to get along with vampire Y who regularly drinks person B's, though there are also some vampires who play matchmaker and try to get two people whose blood they drink to hook up together.

There's no need to be graphic about it, but vamprisim and blood drinking should be relatively front and center with how life /business is conducted in Lazendrak, it shouldn't be long before at least one PC gets propositioned by an attractive vampire of appropriate gender.

This also possibly helps build/ could suggest another interesting angle on Bloodstrike's character, he's not just a vampire hunter who has wandered into the one domain in Ravenloft where vampires are actually a net positive and are unable to let go of his mindset/just go hunt vampires elsewhere... he's Shaw Moore from Footloose, he's Jeremiah Brown from Inherit the Wind, he's every religious figure ever who has looked out upon truly victimless crimes of people enjoying themselves through sensual acts of one sort or another and demands that it be stopped because it offends his sensibilities of how the world should be!

Also I might revise Bloodstrike's curse/the terms of his resurrection, 99% or so of the living people of Lazendrak get along fine with vampires, so there's no great significance to the act of beating all the sharp wooden points that could be used for stakes dull as a symbol to the end of the bigotry that makes him such a monster, because the bigotry didn't exist in Lazendrak until he brought it there and is more or less confined to him and his followers.

Maybe it should be something like he can only die for good if he's drowned in blood, as a symbolic act of making him commit the "crime" that he so hates vampires for?


I am interested interested in possibly doing a short Novella of my Monster Party series taking place in Lazendrak though if that is okay with you, you mention how people rely on vampires for protection against werewolves, how strong is anti-lycanthrope sentiment in Lazendrak were they just a useful example or do the people of Lazendrak hate werewolves with a passion not often seen outside of Verbrek?
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Re: Lazendrak, the land of Blood and Honey

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The more I read you the more I'm convinced you are right; Maybe, I could change it from real blood to blood red water, to keep the scenographic effect; Or maybe, the blood from the lake can placate the thirst, avoiding the risk, for a vampire, to go in a rampage, but they still need blood from necks, to be healty; the blood from ther rivers only makes them safer for humans.
And I said werewolves, but they could be any kind of other horror; there isn't particular hate for any monster.
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Re: Lazendrak, the land of Blood and Honey

Post by jamesfirecat »

Mistmaster wrote:The more I read you the more I'm convinced you are right; Maybe, I could change it from real blood to blood red water, to keep the scenographic effect; Or maybe, the blood from the lake can placate the thirst, avoiding the risk, for a vampire, to go in a rampage, but they still need blood from necks, to be healty; the blood from ther rivers only makes them safer for humans.
And I said werewolves, but they could be any kind of other horror; there isn't particular hate for any monster.

Are you finding any of my suggestions/ideas particurarly useful?

Also what is the plant and animal life like in the land?

What is the fashion/dressing style of the people like?

What is the lands economy like, those parts of it that are not vampire related?

How long ago was the truce between humans and vampires struck exactly?

The rivers all being blood red but actually water for effect sounds good, maybe drinking from the rivers will allow a vampire in frenzy/the grip of hunger to recover, but to avoid going into that state in the first place they need to drink blood like everywhere else.

Do the vampires tend to exist by themselves or do they also keep retinues of other forms of undead under their control around?

What would be the first major encounter/situation you would want to see an adventuring party deal with upon arriving in Lazendrak?
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Re: Lazendrak, the land of Blood and Honey

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Are you finding any of my suggestions/ideas particurarly useful?
Yes, the part about sensuality and blood-drinking in particular.

Also what is the plant and animal life like in the land?
Well, back when it was real blood it attracted alot of mosquitos and leechs; I suppose that this can be still true, and that would make the swarm of bats a vampire can summonvery usefull, and would endear bats to the regular population. I shall guess that much of the vegetation closer to the blood-like water would be red colored.

What is the fashion/dressing style of the people like?
I thought about tipical carpatian dressing stile, but maybe it should enfatize neck nakedness.

What is the lands economy like, those parts of it that are not vampire related?
The soil is rich (partly thanks to bat guano) and the mountains create a temperate clime;I would see the domain as a food basket, which a florid alimentary trade;

How long ago was the truce between humans and vampires struck exactly?
Roughtly three centuries before Bloodstake's folly.

The rivers all being blood red but actually water for effect sounds good, maybe drinking from the rivers will allow a vampire in frenzy/the grip of hunger to recover, but to avoid going into that state in the first place they need to drink blood like everywhere else.
Yes, more or less what I thought, even if, drinking a glass of it when the syntoms starts will placate it and keep the vampire rationaleor a while; but it is a temporary solution; as I said it simply makes vampire company safer.

Do the vampires tend to exist by themselves or do they also keep retinues of other forms of undead under their control around?
Necromancy is frown upon like in most of every other domain, and so vampires do not surround themselves with undead; however, an intelligent undead who behaves civily could easily enought integrate himself here. Vampires do tend to mate often with the humans, however, and drinking the blood-liker water do make the siring of Dhampyrs more easy, thus the hight number of the latter.

What would be the first major encounter/situation you would want to see an adventuring party deal with upon arriving in Lazendrak?
Interesting question; I suppose it would vary with the circumstances and with the party attitude; a party dropping here casually because of the mist, maybe used to Barovia or Sanguinia, well would be quite flabbergasted if it would meet a couple walking romantically on the riverside, than one of them, after kissing the other passionally, drink from the other's neck; after they try to stop him the bitten part shield the biter, and the nearby militia quickly arrive to defuse the situation. If they already know about the domain, they could instead find themselves assisting to an aggression against an innocent vampire.
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