NPC Index

Discussing all things Ravenloft
User avatar
Band2
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 205
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: NPC Index

Post by Band2 »

More questions:


A contradiction:
In Bleak House van Richten has two grandmothers mentioned, Ella Van Richten who is buried with Rudolph's grandfather, Frederick, and Leora Van Richten who passed down her love of music to her children and grandchildren. Rudolph regrets not spending more time practicing music.
My solution is that Leora is the first wife of Frederick and Rudolph's biological grandmother. When she died, Frederick remarried, and Ella became his second wife.

Zhone Clieous in Feast of Goblyns was human. In Gaz 1, S reveals that he was a werewolf. What was he in the novel? A werewolf or a wolfwere?
S also calls Casimir a werewolf in Gaz 1, but since he is the son of Harkon Lukas, he must be a wolfwere? Did she get them both wrong?

In the web enhancement of Gaz1 and the Book of Sacrifices, the Reaping Angel is mentioned. Do we know its race? Or has it been kept vague?

In gaz 2 the shadow insurrection is mentioned but never explained. Is that Gondegal's rebellion with the knights of shadows?
Only two things scare me and one is former back-up dancers for Christina Aguilera.
User avatar
Band2
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 205
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: NPC Index

Post by Band2 »

More nicknames:

From Gaz 3
The Silent Field Slavers - a slave ring run out of the Silent Fields.

From Gaz 5
Shambling Mud Monster of Bergovitsa - it haunts the Avener's District in Bergovitsa at night.

Islands of Terror
Elena Faith-hold's Mount - her nightmare

Quote the Raven 15
Kelpie of Apton-en-Mer

From Thoughts of Darkness
Bonespur's Nightmare
Only two things scare me and one is former back-up dancers for Christina Aguilera.
User avatar
Band2
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 205
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: NPC Index

Post by Band2 »

Ok, I have finished collecting all the names, unless someone gives me a positive review on Death Unchained or the release The Shadow Rift pdf.

Only have my open questions to finalize the list. I will try to post them all in the next day or two.
Here are some:

In Van Richten's Guide to the Shadow Fey, the twins mention the White Lady who dwells in Wytchwood in Tepest. Who is the White Lady? The only other White Lady I found was Queen Maeve of the shadow fey, but she would not dwell in Tepest.

In the same book, the Snowmen of Mount Bramble are mentioned in passing. Does anyone know what they are?


In Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead, the twin's grandmother comes back as a zombie. I am going to assume this is Martha Scoville, wife of Jules Weathermay, rather than Daniel Foxgrove's mother since I could not find her name anywhere.

In the same product, the twins mention the author called the Iron Crown. They hint at knowing his real name. I assume this is an alias for Azalin.


From Gaz4, the Blessed Knight is mentioned. I am not clear on what he is. Is he suppose to be a ghost or other undead spirit?

Gaz5 mentioned the Centaur. It sounds like it could be a broken one that escaped from Markovia before the GC. Does that sound right?


In QtR 20, Alexandre du Cire. I cannot decide if this is the wax golem or the real man. Is that intended to be left vague.


In Undead Sea Scroll 1, could The Headless Mule be a bogeyman?
Only two things scare me and one is former back-up dancers for Christina Aguilera.
User avatar
Band2
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 205
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: NPC Index

Post by Band2 »

More questions:

A contradiction:
In the Undead Sea Scroll 3, the hag Semine appears, supposedly the same one who met van Richten in his guide to hags and witches. However, in the same guide, the twins say George Weathermay killed the hag Semine.

In Van Richten's Guide to Fiends, there is the story of Lord Armand Ironhand's encounter with the Black Duke. Van Richten meets the current Lord Ironhand, the grandson of Armand Ironhand. In Gaz 5 it is revealed that Armand Ironhand was really Armand Rivtoff. This gets confusing, as VRGtF says Prince Rivtoff sent Armand to deal with the Black Duke. He did not sent himself, did he? Armand's grandson is the current lord Ironhand/ Rivtoff, which according to Gaz 5 is Soren Rivtoff. This could be explained, that Armand was the younger brother of the ruling head of the Rivtoff family. When his older brother did not have any heirs, the line of succession passed to Armand and his children.

Also from Gaz 5, I think this is a mistake. Kethmar Bolsnik, the father of Othmar, is said to have knighted Tristen Hiregaard in 683. Kethmar would have only been 11 years old, and his father, Ingemar Bolshnik was the current Prince of Nova Vaasa. I believe it was suppose to be Ingemar who knighted him.

In QtR 17's Lost Wonders of the Mists , J.R. Livingston is said to live near the missaconic university. Any idea where that is?

In the Fraternity report on Zherisia, is it saying that Queen Orenia is still around Timor as another marikith queen? Or is she dead?
Only two things scare me and one is former back-up dancers for Christina Aguilera.
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: NPC Index

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Band2 wrote:In Bleak House van Richten has two grandmothers mentioned, Ella Van Richten who is buried with Rudolph's grandfather, Frederick, and Leora Van Richten who passed down her love of music to her children and grandchildren. Rudolph regrets not spending more time practicing music.
My solution is that Leora is the first wife of Frederick and Rudolph's biological grandmother. When she died, Frederick remarried, and Ella became his second wife.
I think it's clearly an editing error. If they'd meant Frederick to have two wives, they'd likely have mentioned it (and made it relevant). I think this is another case like poor Lilia Godefroy where we should list them as alternate names. Maybe "Ella" was his pet name for Leora?
Zhone Clieous in Feast of Goblyns was human. In Gaz 1, S reveals that he was a werewolf. What was he in the novel? A werewolf or a wolfwere?
S also calls Casimir a werewolf in Gaz 1, but since he is the son of Harkon Lukas, he must be a wolfwere? Did she get them both wrong?
Is he mentioned anywhere other than p19 in FoG? because it's not clear to me from that page that he is human. Granted, it was 2e, so having Bard levels implies a playable race, but that hasn't always been clear cut in Ravenloft, with grandpappy Strahd being the poster boy for such things. Clieous could have been a werewolf even then, it just went unmentioned. I'll have to check HoM later. It's been a while since I read it. I have a feeling Clieous was a werewolf, and Casimir was of course a wolfwere, (greater wolfwere, actually, since he's Harkon's son) even though he may have been falsely "outed" as a werewolf, and S would naturally have picked up the story at face value.

ETA: Yup, I skimmed the book (I'll have to read it again sometime. It was a good one, as I recall). Clieous is called a werewolf up to his death, Casimir is also mistakenly called a werewolf (and thinks of himself as such) but by the end is revealed to be a wolfwere. It's possible that Clieous was a wolfwere as well (Everyone in the book calls the wolves of kartakass werewolves, not narrulve or wolfweres) but he was injured by silver, so I say werewolf.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: NPC Index

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Band2 wrote:In the web enhancement of Gaz1 and the Book of Sacrifices, the Reaping Angel is mentioned. Do we know its race? Or has it been kept vague?
To my knowledge, those are the only mentions of it, and neither mentions a specific race. I suppose you'd have to ask Chris Nichols for a definite answer, but I'm guessing he left it deliberately vague.
Band2 wrote:In gaz 2 the shadow insurrection is mentioned but never explained. Is that Gondegal's rebellion with the knights of shadows?
The Shadow Insurrection is Gondegal's rebellion against Drakov. As far as we know, he's the only Knight of the Shadows involved. Each Knight has their own charge, and Gondegal's is the oppressed Falkovnian people.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: NPC Index

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Band2 wrote:In Van Richten's Guide to the Shadow Fey, the twins mention the White Lady who dwells in Wytchwood in Tepest. Who is the White Lady? The only other White Lady I found was Queen Maeve of the shadow fey, but she would not dwell in Tepest.
In The Shadow Rift, Maeve has left the Rift to find out what Loht is up to and maintains a cottage in the Wytchwood. So it's her.
In the same book, the Snowmen of Mount Bramble are mentioned in passing. Does anyone know what they are?
No idea. what page are they on in VRGttSF?
In Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead, the twin's grandmother comes back as a zombie. I am going to assume this is Martha Scoville, wife of Jules Weathermay, rather than Daniel Foxgrove's mother since I could not find her name anywhere.
Yes, it's Martha. It says so right at the top of page 4, "my ailing grandmother, Martha Scoville."
In the same product, the twins mention the author called the Iron Crown. They hint at knowing his real name. I assume this is an alias for Azalin.
Yes, it is.
From Gaz4, the Blessed Knight is mentioned. I am not clear on what he is. Is he suppose to be a ghost or other undead spirit?
http://fraternityofshadows.com/wiki/The ... oren_Soth)
It's unclear if he's just a normal human at this point, but aside from his unusual creation, nothing would indicate otherwise.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: NPC Index

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Band2 wrote:Gaz5 mentioned the Centaur. It sounds like it could be a broken one that escaped from Markovia before the GC. Does that sound right?
Cermak all but confirms it here:
http://fraternityofshadows.com/TheParlo ... eer_V.html
he doesn't say "broken one", but it seems a reasonable assumption.
In QtR 20, Alexandre du Cire. I cannot decide if this is the wax golem or the real man. Is that intended to be left vague.
Good question. I think it was probably left vague on purpose. Jester? care to enlighten us? I suppose it depends one how the CotN:Created adventure ended. In most campaigns, the PCs will have succeeded in saving the real du Cire and destroying the golem, I'd imagine. But in some, maybe not, so perhaps that's why it's not spelled out.
In Undead Sea Scroll 1, could The Headless Mule be a bogeyman?
Well, the article does use that word, but she doesn't seem to quite fit the mold, as it would later be laid out in DT&DL. She doesn't seem to have the same sort of restrictions the other bogeymen do: only being able to enter where her story is known, only being able to seen by and affect the innocent, children and the mad, etc. Also, her seduction process seems pretty long-term, where she becomes part of the community, while the other bogeymen come and go quickly, it seems. I'd lean toward not forcing the Mule into a category that doesn't quite fit. Lots of creatures could be considered bogeymen in the loosest sense, but not the strict sense of the bogeyman creature type in DT&DL.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: NPC Index

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Band2 wrote:A contradiction:
In the Undead Sea Scroll 3, the hag Semine appears, supposedly the same one who met van Richten in his guide to hags and witches. However, in the same guide, the twins say George Weathermay killed the hag Semine.
This one is addressed in the document: "While reportedly slain by George
Weathermay, it is possible Semine lives on,
either by deceiving her would-be assassin into
killing a fellow hag, or by using foul hag magic
to be reborn from a cauldron somewhere in
Nova Vaasa. Even if Semine has breathed her
last, this need not be the end of her as a villain;
her hatred of hags may be potent enough to
cause her transformation into a spectral hag. "
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: NPC Index

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Band2 wrote:In Van Richten's Guide to Fiends, there is the story of Lord Armand Ironhand's encounter with the Black Duke. Van Richten meets the current Lord Ironhand, the grandson of Armand Ironhand. In Gaz 5 it is revealed that Armand Ironhand was really Armand Rivtoff. This gets confusing, as VRGtF says Prince Rivtoff sent Armand to deal with the Black Duke.
Where? I skimmed the Beast of Ehrendton excerpts that I could find in VRGtF and I don't see anything about Ironhand being sent by anyone, and no mention of Prince Rivtoff that I can find. What page is that on? I seemed to me like he just took it upon himself to go after the Duke.
He did not sent himself, did he? Armand's grandson is the current lord Ironhand/ Rivtoff, which according to Gaz 5 is Soren Rivtoff. This could be explained, that Armand was the younger brother of the ruling head of the Rivtoff family. When his older brother did not have any heirs, the line of succession passed to Armand and his children.
I don't see any contradiction. Families have branches. There could be any number of lesser Rivtoffs, (Gaz V p 34 mentions the Keirin and Ladzlin branches) some of which might call themselves Ironhand for whatever reason. Also, VRGtF is set in 741 and Gaz V is set in 758, 17 years later. So IF Soren is a direct descendant of Armand, he might be the same grandson Van Richten met, but he might also be a great-grandson.
Also from Gaz 5, I think this is a mistake. Kethmar Bolsnik, the father of Othmar, is said to have knighted Tristen Hiregaard in 683. Kethmar would have only been 11 years old, and his father, Ingemar Bolshnik was the current Prince of Nova Vaasa. I believe it was suppose to be Ingemar who knighted him.
Well, making sense of Tristen's history has never been easy. :) According to the Mistipedia page for NV, Kethmar ruled for a year, 683, after Ingemar died in office, but the citations listed there don't prove that. I suspect that cure (who wrote the page) was trying to piece things together as you are, concluding that since Ingemar was Prince in 682 and "Prince Kethmar knighted Sir Tristen in 683", then Kethmar must have finished out his father's reign after his death sometime in 682 or 683. This is a reasonable assumption except that page 32 says Kethmar died shortly into his second reign, not his third. Also, if he was 11 (cite? where'd you get his age or year of birth?), he would have been rather young, yes, but Othmar proves that you can become Prince while still not of age, as long as you have a regent. So, I'm not sure what to make of it. If it's Ingemar who knighted him, then the sentence doesn't make sense because it goes on to say that they became fast friends, and it's Kethmar who was Tristen's friend, not Ingemar.
In QtR 17's Lost Wonders of the Mists , J.R. Livingston is said to live near the missaconic university. Any idea where that is?
I don't think it's ever been used before. It's clearly an homage/reference to Lovecraft's Miskatonic University. I doubt much more thought than that was given to it.
In the Fraternity report on Zherisia, is it saying that Queen Orenia is still around Timor as another marikith queen? Or is she dead?
I don't see that implication. I see this line here:
"It appears that the Queen does not rest
quietly. She wished for immortality through
her works and now they all lay ruined and
she is forgotten. Her spirit longs for both
glory and revenge."

To me that implies she might be a ghost of some sort, but not a marikith queen.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Band2
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 205
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: NPC Index

Post by Band2 »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote: Is he mentioned anywhere other than p19 in FoG? because it's not clear to me from that page that he is human. Granted, it was 2e, so having Bard levels implies a playable race, but that hasn't always been clear cut in Ravenloft, with grandpappy Strahd being the poster boy for such things. Clieous could have been a werewolf even then, it just went unmentioned. I'll have to check HoM later. It's been a while since I read it. I have a feeling Clieous was a werewolf, and Casimir was of course a wolfwere, (greater wolfwere, actually, since he's Harkon's son) even though he may have been falsely "outed" as a werewolf, and S would naturally have picked up the story at face value.

ETA: Yup, I skimmed the book (I'll have to read it again sometime. It was a good one, as I recall). Clieous is called a werewolf up to his death, Casimir is also mistakenly called a werewolf (and thinks of himself as such) but by the end is revealed to be a wolfwere. It's possible that Clieous was a wolfwere as well (Everyone in the book calls the wolves of kartakass werewolves, not narrulve or wolfweres) but he was injured by silver, so I say werewolf.
Ok so Clieous was a werewolf and Casimir wolfwere. I am not concerned that Feast of Goblyns did not call him a werewolf. He could have contracted it after that adventure.
Only two things scare me and one is former back-up dancers for Christina Aguilera.
User avatar
Band2
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 205
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: NPC Index

Post by Band2 »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:
In the same book, the Snowmen of Mount Bramble are mentioned in passing. Does anyone know what they are?
No idea. what page are they on in VRGttSF?
Page 69 of VRGTTSF:
The shee appear to be especially intrigued by the stuff (ie snow), as the life -like "Snowmen of mt. Bramble" in Tepest demonstrate.
Only two things scare me and one is former back-up dancers for Christina Aguilera.
User avatar
Band2
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 205
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: NPC Index

Post by Band2 »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote: Where? I skimmed the Beast of Ehrendton excerpts that I could find in VRGtF and I don't see anything about Ironhand being sent by anyone, and no mention of Prince Rivtoff that I can find. What page is that on? I seemed to me like he just took it upon himself to go after the Duke.
Sorry wrong product. Children of the Night Demons page 15 has the comment about Prince Rivtoff.

Well, making sense of Tristen's history has never been easy. :) According to the Mistipedia page for NV, Kethmar ruled for a year, 683, after Ingemar died in office, but the citations listed there don't prove that. I suspect that cure (who wrote the page) was trying to piece things together as you are, concluding that since Ingemar was Prince in 682 and "Prince Kethmar knighted Sir Tristen in 683", then Kethmar must have finished out his father's reign after his death sometime in 682 or 683. This is a reasonable assumption except that page 32 says Kethmar died shortly into his second reign, not his third. Also, if he was 11 (cite? where'd you get his age or year of birth?), he would have been rather young, yes, but Othmar proves that you can become Prince while still not of age, as long as you have a regent. So, I'm not sure what to make of it. If it's Ingemar who knighted him, then the sentence doesn't make sense because it goes on to say that they became fast friends, and it's Kethmar who was Tristen's friend, not Ingemar.

Gaz 5, Page 149 Kethmar was 59 in 729.
Only two things scare me and one is former back-up dancers for Christina Aguilera.
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: NPC Index

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Band2 wrote: Page 69 of VRGTTSF:
The shee appear to be especially intrigued by the stuff (ie snow), as the life -like "Snowmen of mt. Bramble" in Tepest demonstrate.
Well, "Mount Bramble" doesn't seem to be on any map of Tepest I can find, nor in Mistipedia. Tepest doesn't seem to have much in the way of mountains to speak of, being mostly a forest valley nestled between mountains. But maybe something near the border of the Mountains of Misery, or the former border with Markovia's Balinoks might qualify. From the context, I'm guessing they aren't actually living creatures of any sort, just maybe some supernaturally lifelike snowmen that pop up from time to time when the local Shee sculpt them overnight. ??
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: NPC Index

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Band2 wrote:Sorry wrong product. Children of the Night Demons page 15 has the comment about Prince Rivtoff.
Ayup... there it is. Well, Ryan Naylor wrote that chapter of CotN:D, and also worked on Gaz V, but the NV section of Gaz V was Andrew Cermak's work. I don't know how much input Ryan had into making Ironhand a Rivtoff. Ryan? Thoughts?

I'm guessing your original idea to make Armand a younger brother of Prince Rivtoff works best. That way he can both be a Rivtoff AND be sent by Prince Rivtoff. I don't think there's any need to think that Prince Rivtoff died without heirs. Prince Rivtoff's Grandson (or great grandson) could be Soren Rivtoff and Armand's grandson could be the current (or current in Van Richten's time) Lord Ironhand, his distant cousin.
Gaz 5, Page 149 Kethmar was 59 in 729.
Ah... missed that one. It's 58, BTW, not 59. So Kethmar was born in 671 or 672 (depending on if he'd reached his birthday yet in the year he died. That makes him 11 or 12 in 683. Not old enough to be Prince without a Regent. Tristen was 18 or 19, having been born in 664. It seems more likely for an 18 year-old to become "fast friends" with a 12 year old than a 19 year old to become "fast friends" with someone old enough to be a father to a 12-year old (what, a 28-year old Ingemar, at best? probably more like 32 or higher? Kethmar was over 35 years older than Othmar. Seems they breed late in Nova Vaasa. Ingemar might have been in his 40's or more at that point.)

So, who can knight someone in Nova Vaasa. Does Kethmar have to have been a Prince at the time to do it? (Maybe you refer to him as Prince Kethmar retroactively even though he wasn't yet one at the time, out of respect for having died in office?) Historically, it's been a monarch who can do it. But in a fantasy world, it could be different, perhaps. (In ASoIaF, any Knight can create a Knight, for example). I mean, yeah, you wouldn't want to allow 12 year olds to run around knighting everyone for fun, but maybe with the blessing of his royal father? NV's political system is already weird, so why not?

It does seem that one of the two sentences: "Prince Kethmar knighted Tristan in 683, and they soon became fast friends" and "Kethmar died shortly into his second term as Prince" has to be false in some way (either Kethmar wasn't Prince in 683, or it wasn't his 2nd term when he died, or it was Ingemar who knighted him, and the friendship with Tristen passed from father to son.) It's an easy oversight to make, I'd imagine, for whoever wrote those lines. If I had to resolve it, I'd say he wasn't Prince then, and either was allowed to knight Tristen himself, or influenced his father Ingemar to do it at his request (perhaps as a reward to Tristen for saving Kethmar from some sort of danger).
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
Post Reply