Crystal garden in Rivalis

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Crystal garden in Rivalis

Post by Joël of the FoS »

Next game, Sunday, the players are going to visit the Crystal Garden, on their way to Richten Haus (Bleak House part 3).

Van Richten insisted on stopping there to speak to a long time botanist friend, Gayle Tallgallows.

Gayle, hearing of the PC's adventurer path, ask them if they can get rid of a "bug" in the Garden's main room (Sri Raji room), where the dog of a gardener was hurt by something, this morning. The gardeners fear another deadly plant has grown in the garden, as it often happens since the Requiem (all this material from Gaz).
(FYI, the "bug" is a StakeTree)

I made a "visitor's map" - see image, and here's the description I will use for the rooms. Let me know if it inspires you comments or if you would add things.

Of course, since we are in Darkon, there are a few illusions here and there (animals, noise). The idea is that paying public has a good time :)

A Sri Raji room (jungle) - star showcase of the Garden. very humid, mangrove, often a few inches of water. A path of wood is the dry walkway.
B Markovia's jungle - tropical flowers, tropical birds (real)
C Darkon - east Jagged coast, wave crashing on the coast noise, trees and rocky beach, many crustaceous (real)
D Har'Akir's sands + cactus, desert people-type music noise
E Souragne' marshes - wooden path over a very wet marsh, pines with moss, illusions of large frogs and crocs
F Keening's desolation - moss, lichens, mountainous, lots of gray rocks, polished by winds, wind noise
G Falkovnia - old growth forest, black bark. Sentries of Death (see Gaz)
H Borca's Ivy - vines and purple mushrooms, A false dead head tree. Passionflesh tree and Caldura roses
I Barovia's Winters - mountainous, evergreen pines, snow, wind+wolf howl noises
K Invidia's maple trees + vines vinifera types for making wine
L Mordent's marshes, many marsh flowers, rice, with painting of abandoned manors, sinking in the marsh for decor, frogs
M Darkon - west - windy, mountainous, very small trees = badlands. A few real mountain goats.
N Forlorn room (exotic and very large mushrooms, all under glass cover) see list Gaz p 66

OA Visitors center
OB Restrooms

Pa Offices (private)
Pb Private, no access - rare plants (Shadowrift's apple worth, heart rose of which one is atuned to Gayle Tallgallows, Shee's kiss (under glass)) and other very rare plants. Would it be far fetched if they had a Necropolis amaranth?
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

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Rambling thoughts for sale - 1 copper. No refunds... :P

The first thing I though when looking at the map is 'Where's the front door?'
I'm guessing it is the notched piece on the half circle near the visitors centre. Though if that is the case, I assume the other notch on the Sri Raji room is a back door/maintenance entrance?

Does the visitors centre sell the usual crap or 'samples' of the plants on display?

Is there a 'preferred route' that tour guides/visitors are supposed to take? From its prominence the Sir Raji room appears to be 'star' of the show. Is this room cycled as a new exhibit appears, or is it a permanent fixture?

Are the displays just plants in pots etc, or do they 'theme' the room with minor illusions. Eg: The Har'Akir's sands has pyramids in the background scene with some statues around, the marshes have low level fog and a few tombstones, etc.

On edit: Ah, checking the date of posting (Sat) the game on Sun is probably already over.
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

Post by Joël of the FoS »

Thanks for the reply.

All your guesses are right @ how I did use the place. No there was no store :)

And indeed, they were made in diorama mode, with some real small animals (mostly birds and fishes), with many signs to explain specific trees, plants, or local RL facts (special plants, local legends about forest or trees (ex. sentries of death in Falkovnia; passionflesh trees & caldura roses in Borca), etc.

Since a little magic is involved, to give paying customer a good show, there is snow + illusionary wolf howling sounds in the Barovia room, illusionary wind noises in Keening, etc.

That was a fun visit, with the Sri Raji room being the largest room. I added a marsh, a lily pond, a bamboo forest, and even a false rumbling volcano :)

Soundtrack I used - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8myYyMg1fFE (when there was a thunder-like noise, I told them the earth shook a little, as the volcano was "rumbling").

I used images from this for the Sri Raji "exhibits" : https://www.activewild.com/tropical-rai ... ants-list/

Some illusions were added to this diorama too - large frog in the pond, python snakes in the marsh, ... At one point, after the rumbling volcano noise, they came to ask to the garderner in chief (who waited outside) - tell us what is real in this room ? ;)

A Staketree can be quite nasty, by the way. Fun critter, with its tremorsense sight at 120' (in a jungle were visibility was 20-30' max)!
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Seems like a nice place. I'll definitely buy a ticket when I'm next visiting Rivalis. :)

How did it go?

I'm reminded of the trouble with my du Cire adventure. Was there anything for the PCs to do in each of the rooms other than look at the pretty stuff the DM described? I suppose being on the hunt for a bug was helpful to keep them moving and motivated. But when my PCs went through the wax museum, there was a lot of "OK, that's nice. So.... Next room, I guess."
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

Post by Joël of the FoS »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:How did it go?

I'm reminded of the trouble with my du Cire adventure. Was there anything for the PCs to do in each of the rooms other than look at the pretty stuff the DM described? I suppose being on the hunt for a bug was helpful to keep them moving and motivated. But when my PCs went through the wax museum, there was a lot of "OK, that's nice. So.... Next room, I guess."
It was a little like that for some players, except the "exhibits" (signs) about local legends and lore related to plants for each featured domain (all of thsi from the Gaz), and the various special plants, which was of interested the druid. But that took longuer to flesh then the time spent there.

Also the fact that they did go directly to the main hall through a backdoor, instead of doing the whole circuit while the bug was still around.
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

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Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Was there anything for the PCs to do in each of the rooms other than look at the pretty stuff the DM described? I suppose being on the hunt for a bug was helpful to keep them moving and motivated. But when my PCs went through the wax museum, there was a lot of "OK, that's nice. So.... Next room, I guess."
That's why I asked if there was landscape scenes to add ambience and potential 'jump scares', 'goose chases' or 'uh oh' moments. I would have continued but discovered it was already over. :(

Some wild speculative ideas which came to mind -

*Har'Akir has the usual Egyptian themed kitsch - including a mummy and sarchophagus. The guide goes on about how it is Princess Somebody who founded the gardens of Blah. Of course the obvious herioglyphs spell out curses and damnation. None of it is real - the mummy is a dummy and the hieroglyphs copied from a book. But this is Ravenloft...

*One of the trees is claimed to be a hangmans tree (It's not, but is done up to look like one), complete with a mannequin swinging in the breeze. However an accident reveals that the body is actually a real one. (See the tale of Elmer McCurdy). Nothing sinister - just a mistake made long ago.

*A Rose bush labeled - 'Sanguis Rosa' and its petals are all bright red. (Nothing sinister, just a mistaken label. But if the PC's know what a blood rose is...)

*In the Mordent marsh there are some nice lilly flowers. A PC either picks or steps on one - suddenly all the background noise stops. Insects, frogs, everything is dead silent. The guide quickly ushers them on to the next stage, saying 'Not to worry'. (Just a malfunction in the illusion but they wont say that)

* Again Mordent - one of the pictures of abandoned manors - the one called 'House of Usher', it has people in the scene. Don't they look familiar. Hey they look like adventurers. ..wait a minute...

* A odd type of tree called a Goldenwood is being grown. It looks like a normal oak tree but has a yellow sheen. However is has the unusual property of acting as a 'resonance board' for certain sounds - low frequency sounds of sufficient volume are echoed by the tree. A banging door or tremor (say by a volcano exhibit) results in a low bass sound being emitted from the tree. As the sound bounces back and forth between two or more trees it starts to sound like a heartbeat. The addition of infrasound being emitted causes hairs on necks to raise - it eventually fades only to start again at odd intervals. The curators know about the effect but don't say anything as it 'Adds to the ambience'
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

Post by Joël of the FoS »

Those are great ideas! Keep them coming, I'll go for a QtR article on places. I have a few other in mind, I'll let ou know soon.
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

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Joël of the FoS wrote:Those are great ideas! Keep them coming
As Uncle Inajira would say - be careful what you wish for ;)
I decided to hit up Gonzoron wax museum next... sorry G.


Reading Gonzoron's campaign notes on the wax museum, he points out the lack of interactivity - an important factor for PC’s. No PC’ wants to be stuck in a DM cutscene. Wax museums being a bit touch about fiddling with some exhibits, however they occasionally do have ‘quasi-interactive’ exhibits which may be able to pique your PC’s interests.

I will make a few assumptions based on reading the journal on the gallery here on my wild (and unasked for) ideas.
*There are no photographic devices – even the old clunky tripod cameras of the 1800’s
*No magic.
*Very limited mechanisms – simple clockwork and automata. No Lamordia level ‘high’ robot tech.
*No monsters – the wax golems are enough

Wax museums distractions and attractions

“Date with a Darklord”
To make extra money, the galley has exhibits of some of the more famous leaders (aka darklords) in various poses. These poses however are set up to be half of a scene. Strahd Leaning over a chessboard, Azalin discussing arcane formula in front of a blackboard, Jackie Reiner in a dance pose etc. For a fee the customer can join in the pose filling the other half of a scene. An artist has a collection of half-finished paintings, quickly sketches the customer into the scene and then sends it out back for the rest to be filled in. After an hour or so the customer picks up their painting of them ‘playing chess with Strahd, discussing the arcane with Azalin, or dancing with Jackie).

If you can convince the PC’s to buy one, later on they may notice odd details – eg Strahds chess pieces look like people they have met, or will meet. Jackies face seems a bit more feral and lustful than when you were posing, and you swear those strange formula are disturbingly malevolent when you posed with Az”

A side note - this is how many cheaper portraits were done before photos – a stock picture with the characters missing heads/faces etc which were painted on later.

“Good to be the King”
Similar to the about, but the customer takes centre stage. A gaudy throne the customer can sit on, surrounding it is a gaggle of nobles and knights all looking adoringly at the throne. The customer sits in it, assumes regal pose and gets their painting. Though you could swear that wax dummies are starting at you with an unpleasant expression, and it looks like the artists is sizing you up for a permanent display?

“It Moves”
Simple animatronics. By hiding joints and such under clothing you could have a basic animatronic setup. Not just boring council meetings, but more titillating thing like ‘Not Jack the Ripper’ holding a victim and holding a razor to her throat with a faint red line visible. No gore or 'splatter punk' as that would be crass for a gallery, but just the hint of the final strike.

Of course there is a tale about how Not Jack was never caught and that many believe he still hides somewhere in the district, waiting to strike again. Wait a minute is that blood on the razor… nah just paint. Wait dripping paint…

"Beneath the Flesh"
Set up a wax scene reminiscent of The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. Or depending on your players waybe go further and have a set of scenes like Body works exhibitions. This would also fit nicely with the du Cire’s fascination with humans. Make sure however that PC's who know something of anatomy noitce things which are subtly wrong, the heart is in the wrong way, the muscles seem a bit too large. Of course it's not a real body ... for now.

“Don’t I know you”?
A wax sculpture of Van Richten locked in a Peter Cushing style fight with a Vampire - always a crowd pleaser. Obviously not the real thing and the scene has him fighting hand to hand and such. But with the right background lights it looks nice. And maybe disturbing given Van Richten is going nuts and could cause flashbacks if he way with you.

"The Sideshow"
A wax sculpture of some religious icon. The catch ‘there is a long and spooky tale about how it cried blood when someone is about to die – and oh dear, it appears to be crying now. And that this blood is said to have curative properties. Fake of course (a hidden mechanism pumps red dye out hidden tear ducts), but in brings in the Lucre from the rubes.

"The Macabre"
Not all the figures have to be humans. Have things like a giant wax mouse holding a trap with a human figure in it. An animatronic demon (Inajirra?) holding out a piece of paper with the words ‘Contract’ written on it. A tribe of goblyn cannibals dancing around a pot with an explorer (pith hat and all) in it - offering refreshment platters. All with suitably spooky tales to match.

I'll be quiet now. Please put the pitchforks and kindling away ...please?...
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

DustBunny wrote:I decided to hit up Gonzoron wax museum next... sorry G.
Where were you a year ago when I was planning that adventure? ;)
“Date with a Darklord”
...
A side note - this is how many cheaper portraits were done before photos – a stock picture with the characters missing heads/faces etc which were painted on later.
Not sure about this one. I get that you're mashing up two realistic ideas here, but I don't think they work together so well. the purpose of a souvenir picture like this is to show people, "look, I was there." If it's a painting, it loses that. Anyone could paint someone with Strahd. They wouldn't have to sit by a wax Strahd to do it. I doubt this sort of attraction would happen in a pre-photography world. If I went with this, I might actually include a crude daguerreotype camera instead.
“It Moves”
Simple animatronics..... Wait a minute is that blood on the razor… nah just paint. Wait dripping paint…
Yeah, I did some of this, with Tiyet, for example. Trouble is, it's the sort of thing that sounds great to a DM, but still probably doesn't interest a player. "yeah, it's paint. And if it's blood, so what? I can't actually investigate without getting thrown out of museum."
"Beneath the Flesh"
Set up a wax scene reminiscent of The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. Or depending on your players waybe go further and have a set of scenes like Body works exhibitions.
Shudder.... body works is one of those things that creeps me out too much to actually use it in game! <brrr> (and this is coming from someone who had no qualms using pics of the Sedlec Ossuary in-game)


Anyway, some of the other ideas you listed are good ones I might have used, and I encourage others to, but oh well.... too late for me. We now return to Joel's originally scheduled thread.... :)
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

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Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:We now return to Joel's originally scheduled thread.... :)
I have the time so I may as well continue on here – unless you prefer I split to another thread to stop cluttering things up. As another one was not mentioned by Joel, I decided to try and pick a setting which is ‘Ravenloft’ but tends to be a backdrop or the dreaded ‘Meh, whatever – next scene please’.

This I present....

Graveyards – in the day

Yes Ravenloft has the adventurers creeping though them at night often enough. But invariably a coven of vampires are having a rave nearby, enough bats to fill a belfry flit around, assorted Igors fight over who gets the prime materials, and all the while the DPs have cranked up the fog makers to maximum. It’s a wonder the graveyard keepers don’t sell season passes.

During the day, it’s usually very different. Boring even. Rows upon rows of markers of people you never knew or cared about, fairly well maintained lawns, the gardener trimming hedges, and maybe a few mourners about. The only reason PCs usually go there is to scope/stake it out for night time – so what are some ways to keep them interested or on their toes when day walking?

Assumptions:
No monsters, no magic, no supernats
No encounters – ambience, points of interest, red herrings only
Avoid the typical visual clichés of mist, bats, etc. And must be observable during the day.
PC's must be able to interact/fiddle/investigate freely if they want.

The Crying Angel of Grief
A prominent tomb has a statute similar to this on it. Well maintained except for what looks like a stream of dark tear stains which flow down from under the statues covered face and gather at the base of the plinth. No matter how hard the grounds keepers try, the tear stains always return and the stain at the bottom of the plinth is growing slowly. Whispers say the black tears are the spirit mourning over the false accusation levied against the interred, and that the deceased spirit will reveal his vast treasure to those who clear his name.

(It’s actually a harmless biofilm. The covered face allows the accumulation of water and contaminants making it a perfect place for bacteria. The faintly acidic bacterial goo leaves dark streaks as it reacts with the marble and spreads. The occupant died of natural old age over a hundred years ago and has no treasure).


It Touched Me!
One of the rest benches has an angel/divine being statue sitting on one side, with a space for visitors/mourners to sit on the other. People say that one some occasions when a truly upset mourner sits on the bench, they can feel the statue place its arms around them in comfort. No one is seen, and the statue obviously hasn’t moved.

(The statue is ever so slightly off balance. If a person of the right weight sits in the right spot on the bench the statue tilts slightly brushing against the mourner. The concave shape of the wing makes it feel like they have an arm around them. The slight tilt is almost unnoticeable, and the movement requires the leverage of the bench to move the heavy statue, so wiggling it won’t reveal anything).

Fires of Hell
Before one of the smaller mausoleums is a dead patch of grass about a metre (3 feet) in diameter. The surrounding grass is green and lush, so this dead patch stands out like a sore thumb. Sometimes people standing in the patch report that they feel a burning heat covering their bodies and that they are being pulled down. The word is that at one point a thief tried breaking into the crypt, but a curse resulted in her being dragged screaming down to hell for violating the gravesite – leaving only the patch of dead grass where she was pulled down.

(The grass is indeed dead, and people do occasionally do feel the burning sensation. The cause is the small glass windows on top of a nearby tomb. The glass has warped slightly causing it to focus sunlight on the area. The extra heat and light causes the grass to dry out and die and if the sun in in the right position they feel the heat. The focus is not enough to cause fires or create a visual ‘light beam’ so the cause is unknown).

Fae Circles
A grave - reputably belonging to a seer or prophet - is covered with a layer of white pebbles in an enclosed area. Though white pebbles on a grave is nothing overly unusual, this grave is. After a moonless night, the pebbles themselves seem to have moved – forming strange sigils and patterns. Many people have tried to understand what these patterns mean, and all to no avail. Several investigators have kept close watch over the grave to catch pranksters but no one is ever seen. Even the local priest will swear to this.

(Actually a very curious phenomena in the real world due to ice heave).

13 Ringing Bells
In an older section of the graveyard there is a row of 13 graves. Nothing unusual, except each of these graves has a small post with a brass bell on it. On windy days these bells rock back and forth, but no sound comes from them. Tapping a bell gives a tone and each bell has a different tone. Rumour says that a coven of witches was buried here and that if all the bells a rung in the right order the coven will arise from their graves and grant their summoner their hearts desire. Get the tone wrong and they will drag you to hell.

(The graves are from a period a few decades ago when people went through the ‘not really dead’ and Safety Coffinfad. They would have bells, flags, speaking tubes etc. attached to their coffins to alert people if they were accidently buried alive. The fad didn’t last long, but these 13 graves remain. The bells don’t ring because the keepers got sick of kids playing with them and soldered the clappers in place. But manually tapping the bells in certain orders does give nice sounds - if irritated or terrified looks.)

Room with a view
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gra ... lark-smith
A fairly simple one which can be transplanted easily, so I won’t go into a description. However in the case of Ravenloft, there is always the chance something could look back. 

Come on in
Reported by many people is this mysterious statue. The statue is easily 7 feet tall (including the plinth) and almost totally black. But this statue appears to move – and will appear in different location in the cemetery at different times. But in all cases the arm stretching downwards always points to an unmarked open grave. The other arm is raised and always points towards the graveyard entrance. In every case the grave is filled on the very same day the statue is seen, and it has a reputation that it is guiding people into the open grave before them. Not long ago someone was actually found in the grave which had not yet been filled in, and since then none has wanted to test their luck again.

(The statue does move, the grave is always filled, and it does guide people to the grave. The statue is actually light plaster and used by the grave keepers as a guide post for the undertakers leading the funeral procession. The keepers set it up nearby by the freshly dug grave, and the procession is lead through the cemetery to the marker. Once the funeral is over the keepers pack it and move it to the next location. The undertakers/grave keepers know about the stories, but don’t care and are sick of trying to explain it to wannabe investigators. They brush it off with “yeah it’s true, now stop bothering me”). The death was someone trying to test the statue story and accidently broke their neck when they fell in the hole).

Feel free to comment, hate, add, suggest a new location/place, or sigh in annoyance. :)
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Re: Crystal garden in Rivalis

Post by Joël of the FoS »

Just saw this, and I think it's great.

Before my games, I love to make a collection of atmospherics sights and sounds of a place. Not everything they see/do has to be 100 % relevant with the main adventure in progress :)

Joël
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