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Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 1:42 am
by thekristhomas
It occurred to me while I was putting together a map.

The demiplane is not a sphere, it is flat, there are no poles, and yet...north is clearly marked on all maps, and in normal circumstances, compasses work, we know this because compasses cease to work in the mists.

So, the question becomes, what in all the domains are the compasses pointing to?

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 3:59 am
by Nathan of the FoS
Presumably the direction that's on your left when you face the rising sun.

Maybe that sounds a little facetious, but it's the only useful answer I've come up with--for whatever reason, compasses align themselves orthogonal to the movement of the sun across the sky (setting aside questions of axial tilt, etc., which, as you say, have no Ravenloft relevance.)

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:25 am
by Dion of the Fraternity
Image

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:58 am
by Skyrock
thekristhomas wrote:So, the question becomes, what in all the domains are the compasses pointing to?
A Wizard Dark Power did it.

Ravenloft is a weird demiplane driven by the arbitrary rules of the Dark Powers, so it isn't necessary that compasses are powered by our physical laws of magnetism.
There are already several border closing powers that should result in weird output from compasses, such as the endlessly looping streets of Odiare or the endlessly mirrored lands of Dementlieu.

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 2:11 pm
by alhoon
That's a very interesting discussion that aside of:
"The compasses point towards what the DPowers want them to point towards."

I can't offer much insight.


HOWEVER: In Blutspur the compasses should point towards that big pillar that draws lighting.
In Darkon, they should point towards Avernus
In Barovia, they should point towards Castle Ravenloft

Just because. It just feels "right".

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 2:26 pm
by ewancummins
thekristhomas wrote:It occurred to me while I was putting together a map.

The demiplane is not a sphere, it is flat, there are no poles, and yet...north is clearly marked on all maps, and in normal circumstances, compasses work, we know this because compasses cease to work in the mists.

So, the question becomes, what in all the domains are the compasses pointing to?
Northpoint Isle or the Tower of Iron, natch.

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 2:28 pm
by ewancummins
ewancummins wrote:The Great Lodestone, the Tower of Iron, Northpoint Isle, etc

It has long been known that certain stones, lodestones, are attracted to the north for some mysterious reason. Why this is a matter of much debate among natural philosophers throughout the land.

Lamordian scientists have noted that near proximity with large bodies of iron tends to distort the north-seeking properties of lodestones and compass needles. This observation has led to the notion of a great mass of ''tellurically charged'' iron must reside someplace north of the main continent, and that it is this iron-mass towards which compass needles are attracted. This hypothetical mass of iron is sometimes called the Great Lodestone.

Dementlieuse philosophers who have tackled the question of 'what is North'' have come up with a bewildering variety of theories. One of the more bizarre models suggests that North is merely a concept created by human minds, and that compasses only point that way because everyone agrees that they should.


Sailors on the Shrouded Sea have relied heavily on the compass since its introduction to the region, because navigation by the heavenly lights is so often frustrated by the gloomy skies and heavy fogs over those waters.

The mariners of Armeikos recount legends of Northpoint Isle, an island 'at the end of the world.' It's supposedly inhabited by a race of beautiful immortals, and also by monsters of legend that guard the happy island from unwanted intruders. Some tales even claim that the gods themselves visit this place from time to time, to dance in its lovely gardens and sylvan glades. The wine of Northpoint Isle is magical in nature, so all the bards claim, but its exact properties vary from one tale to the next. Liffite cartographers often mark their maps with an arrow at the top, indicating the direction of Northpoint Isle. No known Mistway leading to the island has been charted and verified, so adding it to a map is the equivalent of writing 'here be dragons' or 'Terra Incognita' in a blank spot along the edge of a map.

Within the Vaasan branch of Church of the Lawgiver there is an old tradition that the Lawgiver maintains a great Iron Tower in the ''Uttermost North'', which he is wont to visit at times when he leaves his heavenly abode. His Black Seneschal rules the Tower, and this sinister figure will deal out a doom worse than hellfire to any mortal man who enters the Tower of Iron uninvited. Few are invited.

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 3:22 pm
by Gonzoron of the FoS
Nice! Hadn't seen that one before, but I love it.

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 3:31 pm
by ewancummins
Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Nice! Hadn't seen that one before, but I love it.
Thanks.
This is one of those things I have never been sure if I wanted to 'answer' in play. Once the PCs discover the True North, much of the mystery vanishes.
On the other hand, it could offer a fun ending to a certain online Ravenloft campaign...

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 4:21 pm
by thekristhomas
ewancummins wrote:
ewancummins wrote:The Great Lodestone, the Tower of Iron, Northpoint Isle, etc

It has long been known that certain stones, lodestones, are attracted to the north for some mysterious reason. Why this is a matter of much debate among natural philosophers throughout the land.

Lamordian scientists have noted that near proximity with large bodies of iron tends to distort the north-seeking properties of lodestones and compass needles. This observation has led to the notion of a great mass of ''tellurically charged'' iron must reside someplace north of the main continent, and that it is this iron-mass towards which compass needles are attracted. This hypothetical mass of iron is sometimes called the Great Lodestone.

Dementlieuse philosophers who have tackled the question of 'what is North'' have come up with a bewildering variety of theories. One of the more bizarre models suggests that North is merely a concept created by human minds, and that compasses only point that way because everyone agrees that they should.


Sailors on the Shrouded Sea have relied heavily on the compass since its introduction to the region, because navigation by the heavenly lights is so often frustrated by the gloomy skies and heavy fogs over those waters.

The mariners of Armeikos recount legends of Northpoint Isle, an island 'at the end of the world.' It's supposedly inhabited by a race of beautiful immortals, and also by monsters of legend that guard the happy island from unwanted intruders. Some tales even claim that the gods themselves visit this place from time to time, to dance in its lovely gardens and sylvan glades. The wine of Northpoint Isle is magical in nature, so all the bards claim, but its exact properties vary from one tale to the next. Liffite cartographers often mark their maps with an arrow at the top, indicating the direction of Northpoint Isle. No known Mistway leading to the island has been charted and verified, so adding it to a map is the equivalent of writing 'here be dragons' or 'Terra Incognita' in a blank spot along the edge of a map.

Within the Vaasan branch of Church of the Lawgiver there is an old tradition that the Lawgiver maintains a great Iron Tower in the ''Uttermost North'', which he is wont to visit at times when he leaves his heavenly abode. His Black Seneschal rules the Tower, and this sinister figure will deal out a doom worse than hellfire to any mortal man who enters the Tower of Iron uninvited. Few are invited.
This is nice, and exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of :)

Well, tbh, I was thinking of an enormous iron golem, so big that it was both a domain in it's own right and also that domain's darklord, but you get the idea.

I can't help wondering if there is a way to take a reading of magnetic north in Markovia and Vechor and thereby attempt to triangulate the actual position of North?

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 10:11 pm
by Leliel
thekristhomas wrote:It occurred to me while I was putting together a map.

The demiplane is not a sphere, it is flat, there are no poles, and yet...north is clearly marked on all maps, and in normal circumstances, compasses work, we know this because compasses cease to work in the mists.

So, the question becomes, what in all the domains are the compasses pointing to?
This place:

Image

A reckoning cannot be postponed indefinitely, and all that jazz. The Dark Powers are familiar with the concept.

Re: Mad Idea : North?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 2:04 am
by thekristhomas
It has occurred to me to tie this in with my other Mad Ideas and have "the North Pole" be the location of PM Barovia (see my thread "PM Barovia is a lie!")

If this was the "fixed point" of the demiplane (rather than the core as is generally supposed) around which the various islands and clusters orbit, it might reveal a second meaning to the Vistani saying that Barovia is the "heart of the world"

but this might be pushing it.