The Plaines of Lost Innocence - Rough version

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NykylaiHellray
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The Plaines of Lost Innocence - Rough version

Post by NykylaiHellray »

Some people may remember my train master topic last year, and may of seen this post on the wizards forum.

After a while, I have decided to come back to it.

This is the most up to date block of all the stuff which has been written so far.

Any critiques and suggestions to expand some of the mythology would be greatly appreciated =).

Adventure hooks

Some lands have been revealled not to have had a dark lord in over a hundred years. Despite the paradox they have not faded back into th mists.

If it was one land, maybe it would be a concidence, maybe a few of them are. But it does not explain each one of these non fading lands has a trainstation.....

Each leading to the plaines of lost innocence, to grand central, and the crypt of the trainmaster.

What are the plaines of Lost Innocence?
Part steampunk, part wild wild west, all terror. Oh and also with alot of trains thrown in.
Featuring new takes on legends like the Wendigo, and featuring cultures based on victorian england and native america, with also a culture based on the aztecs.

It features a variety of new darklords, and 2 new dread elemental domains.

Weapons and Technology
Firearms are no exotic weapon in the Plains of lost Innocence. Guns and pistols are aviable for moderate prizes in every "civilized" settlement. Unregarding of the CL of the domain, the white settlers use always firearms as favoured ranged weapon.
The natives have only few firearms (stolen or bought) and use primary bows.
Crossbows are virtually unknown in the Plains (and, according to the widespread repeating firearms are not realy usefull here).
Any firearm taken out of the plaines of lost innocence, is subject to the whims of that dread domains darklord, and as such most fall apart.

Domains

Great Domains
Grand Central : The mysterious Train-Master - A sprawling metropolis based on the foundations of New Glenwich. Its leader the greedy Mayour Grubwich III and ruled of the train-master the sinister dark lord of mad steam-tech.
Grand central is the centre of an expansive dessert and wasteland, which composes most of the plaines.

Grand central has three unique levels, which are positioned above each other.

The lowest level, is a mixture of slums, and factories, and also serves as a water collection basin. It is located just above the sewers, but alot of these open up into this layer, so disease is run rife.
It is the world of the slaves and the lower class, and as such many of the grey skinned orcs and poor humans toil down here, with also many mutants and outcasts (there is also a civizilisation of drow down here, who usually live in luxury, and also organise the slaves, and also run alot of the criminal underbelly in grand central).
The main food source down here is a special type of black rice made to grow in darkness, another lynchpin of there diet is fungus bread, made from flour which is composed of the various fungi which grow in this damp underbelly.
Looks akin to a smog and darkness filled venice.

The second level is in the daylight, and is a sprawing metropolis. It is the level most seen by visitors. It is filled with merchants, and workshops (many run by drawfs).

The third is suspended by chains, and is composed of various floating gardens, and manors. It is the realm of the rich.

The trainstation itself is infnite upon entering. It has an endless amount of platforms, each one taking people from all the various planes in the greatwheel, but they are always one way.

Characters in Grand Central
[sblock]
Name: Mayour Grubwich III
Age: 64
Occupation: Mayor
Bio: The Mayour of new glenwhich is a greedy pussball of a man, currupted and fed by the money which endlessly flows into his pockets, from taxes and from his employer and master.
He runs the town for the trainmaster, provides a face, somthing to fool the poulace that
they as a group have some control over the running of the city.
He is Glutunnous as he is greedy, and often has food stains covering his shirt, his belly
rasing obesisity new hieghts (and widths).

Name: Margret Lodd
Age: Unknown
Occupation: Pie Maker
Bio: An evil dragon daughter of Tiamat, cursed by the dark powers to a human form. She makes fine pies which are known throughtout the demiplane of dread, one may even be tempeted to be trapped in the demiplane just to taste one of her legendary pies.
Rumour has it though that the ingrediants she uses are not natural. She has been said
to extract peoples fears and lusts just to give her pies that little extra flavour. It
is also said that her pork pies contain human flesh.
They say she has baked at least one of everything in a pie at one time or another.

Name: Uncle Crackerjack
Age: unknown
Occupation: Candymaker
Bio: The self named candy cane king. An elf who has built a profitable business selling some of the finest sweets in all the land.
Has a friendship with Margret Lodd, though it is unknown how deep there relationship is.
Oddly the moment his shop opened, children went missing, and as popularity of his sweets continued to rise, so did the missing persons.

[/sblock]
Redwood-County : The Wendigo - The cold northern woodland-domain, haunted by a ancient and evil spirit with a devouring hunger for human flesh.
Prosper : Reverend Jebedia Holmes (Gold mines ruled by the Wanderer) - A small town frenzied by gold rush. It's Gold mines are haunted by the Dark Lord the Wanderer, and above ground is ruled by a false priest and the most greedy man west of the great saltflats.
Aruxco : High-Priestess Azcal-Xochitl - A mexico-like domain far south plagued by the Camasotz-Cult. Its darklord a 3000 years old, seductive vampire. Currently she "works" as a tabledancer in the strange salloon "Meson Sangriento".
The Wasted Huntingrounds: Warchief Black-Owl - The most part of the Plains, controlled by the bitter and fanatic native, who closed a pact with dark powers in an hopeless atempt to drive out the white man.
River-Countys: Gilles de Rosceresse - A domain that looks like the east-cost-states described in Mark Twains "Tom Sawyer". Civilised villages, green fields, Steamboats on the river.The darklord is a charismatic, cultivated and completely chaotic ricean vampire who dwells in a ancient and baroque estate. He created a secret coven of ricean vampires, who recently rebelled against him and now ignores his orders.

Pocket-Domains
Port Illsmouth: Captain Obhed Lewis - A small city at the seaside, basicly the same as Illsmouth. Its darklord is the leader of a strange, dark cult of Illithid-Workshippers, commands a large group of reavers (Cthullu greets ;) ).
Battleside of Squirrel-Peak: A place in the plains terrorized by eternal militaristic nightmares. Its darklord the collective lost souls of the fallen soldiers - died in such a horrible battle those poor souls are unable to find eternal rest.
Fort Biggs : The Wolven-Lady - A fort of the white man, its dark lord a teenage halfblood-girl, who was terribly missused by the soldiers in the fort. In search for revenge she closed a strong friendship with the alpha-lycanthrope of a werewolf-pack and brought the werewolfes to siege the fort and slay all soldiers inside.
The O´Leary-Gang : Ahab O´Leary - Not a location as such, but a moving pocket domain. Composed of the lost souls of gunslingers and murderers from the plaines. There leader a Lich and an outlaw known as Ahab O´Leary (the man that can´t be shot by a colt), riding his terrifying nightmare steed . Even his own death can´t keep him or his fellow undead desperados from raiding towns, robbing post-carriots and having a damn good time with stolen brandy.
Serenity Gulch : Mayor Bradley Higginbothom the III - a ghost as everyone in this forgotten and deserted town in the middle of the saltflats. Perhaps it was´nt a very good idea by Mayor Brad, to found the city on an ancient holy site of the chipooka and slaying the old chipooka-medicine-man who guarded it personaly.

Dark Lords

The Trainmaster
[sblock]
His only known name is Marcus Fleeting, he came to the demiplane of dread with the design for a new type of planar travel, powered by the Planar Consumption Engine. It utilises the mists to fuel is tremendous power output.

Though after he went missing, anything about him soon faded into myth.
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Wendigo
[sblock]
Shortly after the arrival of the whiteman, the natives were driven from there land, and there food supplies pilliged. The natives became angry and desired there land and there freedom back, so the shaman of this the snakebite tribe rallied all the tribes of the Plaines. In the hope of one last effort.
This war lasted for many days and many nights. Though on the fifth it’s conclusion came to a close. Both sides where exhausted and the rotting carcasses of the fallen pulsated and festered on the battleground.

The shaman had one last gambit. Though it cost him his soul.

He crept into the mountains with the remainders of his followers, and an ancient ceremony was preformed. For an hour they danced, carving ancient sigils and charms into there flesh. Then one by one the followers slit there own throats over a bowl of bone and stone. He then put into the mixture ancient spices, opening vials that had not been undone for hundreds of years. Opening things which where never meant to be undone, and then he begged, he begged the spirits of nature to come to his aid, he begged the souls of his ancestors, and he begged dark gods whose names cant be written. On that night all debts that nature owed the tribes were paid, and new deals opened, as demons and gods clawed at the soul of this one man. He summoned a force great magic to transform him into a warrior for his people, and he got it.
The heavens opened, and magic bleed from the skies, the lands crackled and belowed, as if reality itself had fractured. Ancient magic crawled at the enviorment like dancing serpents made of colours not found on the rainbow. Colours of magic which cannot be comprehended by the mortal mind.
They flowed into the bowel, until the blood bubbled and boiled. The mixture turning black and green, then purple and red. Seething with power, flowing with magic.

Then he drank it, waving humanity goodbye.

Black lightning gathered and struck his mortal form. The dead then rose and wandered towards him, forming a cocoon of flesh and bone. The souls of the dead and nature united by one ego, for one cause. The demon then awoke.

Like a giant it tore through the flesh, and upon wings composed of dead mans skin flew into the sky. It screamed with its new throat, like a banshees wail, it tore into the souls of men. It flew into the battlefield, though because of the transformation, no longer knew friend from foe. It killed as many natives as it did the enemies it was meant to kill in the first place. For nights after it ravaged the land, like an unstoppable beast.
So an union was made. The remaining shamans and the wizards that the newcomers took with them joined forces, in constructing a way to contain the beast.
They made a cave, between Arkendale to Redwood-County using spells from both there cultures. Calling on the might of there combined gods.
The few brave warriors lured the beast to the place, and then the beast was contained.
Locked deep in the cave, and sealed for all time.

The place was forever known as wendigo trail.

For ten years a truce was made between the two people, and for a time this was good. Though this was not the only catasphroe to befall this land.
[/sblock]

The Wanderer - Dark lord of Prosper
By Manofevil
[sblock]
The gold in Prosper was first discovered by a wandering white immigrant who entered the wilderness seeking his fortune. Starving, ill, harried by natives, He stumbled into a cave in a rainstorm and lit his last match. He discovered the walls literally lined with gold. He was rich beyond his wildest dreams....and he was dying. He managed to cobble together a torch and explore the cave until he collapsed. As he realized he was dying. He cursed and cursed. He swore that the gold was his and ONLY his and would be noone else's. He would stay there and guard it for eternity. This he swore as he expired. Later the heavy storm caused the roof above him to collapse.
When the gold was later discovered and the town founded. One of the groups of immigrants to follow the stories of gold came from one of the orient based RavenLoft domains. (Sorry I can't remember their names Embarassed ) Since there were many of them and they couldn't speak the language, the greedy mine bosses put them to work round the clock for fractions of the regular wages and in very dangerous conditions. This led to hostility and later open racial violence from everyone else in the town who didn't much care for those 'chinky boys' to begin with. It was these miners who, one day unearthed the body of the wanderer in the mines. Almost the minute they did, a feeling of intense greed and resentment possessed them and they turned on the mine foremen who had been so cruel and brutal to them. Having massacred the foremen, they then turned on each other and free-for-all riot ensued. Two miners who managed to keep their heads raced for the mine entrance and caved in the mine behind them. Perhaps because they realised what was happening or perhaps because they thought it would be the easiest way to kill everyone else in the mine and claim the gold for themselves.
Whatever their reasons, The other miners (at this time in it's history, Prosper is more mining camp than town) rose up to lynch the two survivors as the instigators of the riot and destroyers of the mine. Whatever the reasons had been for causing the cave-in, The two survivors were now overcome with rage. As the nooses were placed over their heads and the wagon pulled out from under their feet, they cursed the miners, the mine, and the gold. The looks of sheer raw hatred on their faces caused more than one miners eyes to widen. As their necks snapped, a gold nugget fell from one of their pockets. Several men dove for it at once and another 'greed riot', as they came to be known, broke out. The miners brutally massacred each other in the same way the ones below had. The only survivors of the riot were the ones who were lucky enough to be struck unconscious. The mine was never reopened. Other mines were opened, however, and the gold mined again. What noone realizes or refuses to accept is that the gold itself is, in fact, cursed. The greed of the original wanderer and the miners who unearthed his remains bleeds outward from that first shaft through the very gold itself. Anyone who mines it or comes into contact with it becomes obsessed with keeping it. More than a few more 'greed riots' have broken out since and noone goes into the old shaft. At least, noone whose been heard from again.
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History
In times long ago, this was land dedicated to the worship of nature. To spirits of animals and plants, and very ancient gods. The people prospered here, and for a time it was good. The hunt always provided a bounty of food, they never went hungry. The waters where always pure, and so they never went thirsty. It was known as the Plaines of innocence. But internal wars within the tribes started a dominio effect which tainted the lands, and blackened the waters. It is uncertain when the plaines of innocence became apart of the demiplane of dread, but soon after peoples from the other dread domains started to immigrate to this new land, starting more wars in this allready tainted land.

Then the trainmaster came.


Legendary Prehistory of the Natives:
- 657: First Tribes enter the still green and flourishing Plains and live there under heavenly conditions (tons of game to hunt, wild plants to gather and eat, perfect weather).
-406: First tribe-wars between the brothers Two-Bears and Singing-Weasel
-396: After ten years of warfare the tribe of Singing-Weasel is nearly wiped out. The surviving braves and their squaws are forced to flee southward. Warchief Two-Baers founds the warloving Chipooka-Tribe
-396 to - 200: The Chipooka fight wars succesfull against nearly all other tribes. Than, in 200 they try to invade the northern woodlands and fail badly. The invading chipooka-bravea are nearly wiped out by the warriors of the mysterious Takani-Tribe

The rise and fall of Aruxco:
-340 to -150: The decendans of Singing-Weasel find Aruxco and rise to a higher level of civilisation. While the rest of the tribes remains in the stone-age, the Aruxco learn to work soft metals like chopper and gold, develop better agricultural techniques and invent the pueblo.
-150: First of the great temple-pyramids in Aruxco is builded
-30: The mysterious high-priestess Azcal-Xochitl apears in Aruxco and preaches of Camastotz. High-King Ilhuicamina is seduced by her with the promise of immortality and gives the order to abandon all other gods.
-30 to -25: King Ilhuicamina becomes slowly a Vampire. All other cults in Aruxco are wiped out completely. Only Camasotz is allowed to be workshiped in Aruxco
1: Aruxco starts the first War-of-1000-Flowers to gain "material" for the blasphemous human-sacrifices at the main temple-pyramid
1 - 240: The selfproclaimed God-King Ilhuicamina starts a whole series of flower-wars against the northern tribes, while he conquers the bronze-age-citystates south of Aruxco. This is the golden age of Aruxco
240: While Ilhuicamina starts a extraordenary bloody ritual for the sake of Camasotz, strange mists surround the borders of the known lands and the climate changes dramaticly. The plains dry out and the Lake Chipoo becomes the great salt-flat.

The coming of the white man
290: A first Expeditionship coming from the mysterious "Holy Empire" lands. It´s comanded by Capitan Esteban Franco.
291: Imperial troops build the first fort "Santa Lucita" (Ezras-Hold today). The contact to the natives is peacefull at first. The imperials try to spread their religion with missions.
305: Imperial ships come more frequently, Santa Lucita expands
306: the new Viceroy Franco hears for the first time about the immense rich city of Aruxco.
306-315: First contact between Imperials and Aruxco ends bloody. The Aruxco see them as new source for their sacrifice-rituals, while the Imperials intend to steal the Aruxcos gold.
315: Great Battle at Aruxco. The city is leveled nearly complete by imperial knights and musketeers. Only the great pyramid stands undamaged. Ilhuicamina is impaled and burned by imperial priests while high-priestess Azcal-Xochitl manages to flee into the desert. Aruxco is turned to the imperial religion and becomes a colony.
315 - 460: the slowly downfall of the imperial colony starts because the mistways home to the empire become more and more unsecure. Ship-traffic becomes very infrequent.
470: A ship with fleeing pilgrims from Mordent arrives at the shores of todays Redwood-County. Soon, a little colony florishes at the coast. New Glenwich is founded.
500: The town of New Glenwich prospers, and develops from town to city.
600: Mysterious man, named Marcus Fleeting and a group of engineers and builders, arrive in the city of New Glenwich, bringing plans of a new railsystem, which will revolutionise transportation in the plaines, with even rumours of inter-planar travel.
605: Building work begins on the construction of the monlithic structure known as Grand Central on the outskirts of New Glenwich. Many slaves die during construction, and many go missing.
630: Building work is completed. The Head Engineer and friend of Marcus, Filius Brown goes missing. Rumours that Marcus murdered him are few.
Sure enough as the trainmaster said, transport to the dread domains is established, but trains which come from planes originating from the great wheel and others are only one way.
640: City expands around grand central till the point, grand central is considured it's centre. The building of an addition to grand central called the watchtower is started.
645: Watchtower is finished, and the city is renamed Grand Central.
745: Trainmaster not seen in a 100 years, rumoured dead.

How to get to the Plaines from existing domains
The Path of the Hopeless A travel route by sea from Mordent
Loa-Lines Inc. A mist way of excellent reliability from Souragne to the south of the Plains (There is regular steamship-traffic)
The Wendigo Trail A oneway-mistway of poor reliability from Arkendale to Redwood-County
Mist way Express 666 The strange, mysterious train station that can appear randomly all over Ravenloft and takes you to Grand Central. Theoretically all domains have a station, though they are not always visible, due to the politics of the mist domains and the poor relationships beetween dark lords. Therefore trainstations are hidden within the plane, and to discover it one must will to see it. For example one may see an old broken down house, which may look like nothing, can in reality be a station, to see it one must take a will test. If you pass your belief that it is there will make the place reveal itself. If you fail you must find an alternate route.
Necorpolis Railway The funeral train, harder transportation then the mistway express, but is one of the only ways to get to both the plaines of lost innocence, and the dread elemental plane of graves.


Elemental Plaines of Rot & Rust


The Elemental plane of Thorn & Rot – Sometimes called the fields of thorn. Its very form is a perversion of nature. A place of dark necromancy, and plants which devour men whole, in this place there is no ground, but thorns and vines that endlessly grow in all directions. It is unknown why it exists, as it is not based on a normal elemental plane, though some say it is based on the little known plane of wood.

Thorn Elemental by Watchdog_of_Hades
[sblock]
Thorn Elemental
Medium Elemental (Augmented plant)
Hit dice: 16d8+80+16 (168 hp)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 40 ft.
Armor Class: (), touch , flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+18
Attack: Claw +19 melee (2d6+6 slashing and piercing)
Full attack: 2 claws +19 (2d6+6 slashing and piercing)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Impale, engulf, the embrace of roses...
Special Qualities: Elemental traits, conflagrate
Saves: Fort +15, Ref +11, Will +11
Abilities: Str 22, Dex 18, Con 20, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 18
Skills: Profession (gardener) +30*
Feats: Improved initiative, Improved toughness, Iron will, Lightning reflexes, Improved natural attack (claw), Weapon focus (claw)
Environment: Forests
Organization: Solitary of gang (2-5)
Challenge Rating: 12
Treasure: Solitary
Alignment: Usually neutral
Advancement: 17-27 HD (Medium); 28-39 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: -

From the brush to the side rises a humanoid figure. It seems to be made of brambles, roses and other thorned plants, stinking of rotten vegatation and the bodies impaled on its thorns. It shambles towards you, rustling and scraping as it comes.

Thorn elementals are creatures composed of plants with thorns, usually created when such a mass is exposed to very strong transmutation magic. They claim the nearby forest as their own and begin growing thorned plants, uprooting non-thorned ones whenever possible. Beyond that, they are enigmatic. Whether they have goals or wishes, nobody knows.

Combat
Impale (Ex): A thorn elemental can shake itself wildly at opponents, launching a volley of barbs at them. As a standard action, it can spray a 30-foot cone of thorns, dealing 8d6 damage (Reflex DC 22 half) to any creature caught in it. After using this ability, a thorn elemental cannot use it again for 1d4 rounds, during which time the damage from Engulf and Embrace of Roses is halved (round down). This regrowing of thorns is supernatural, and so is suppressed by an Antimagic Field.
Engulf (Ex): A thorn elemental is a mass of thorns, and its constant movement rips and tears at anything unlucky enough to be caught within it. With a successful grapple check against an opponent of Medium size or smaller, it can shove the enemy into itself, gouging it with thorns every round for 4d6 damage, A creature can escape with a successful grapple check made once a round.
The embrace of roses... is full of thorns. Yes, I shamelessly stole that line from the Rose and Thorn Stylist class. Every round a creature is grappling with a thorn elemental, it takes 2d6 damage. This ability is extraordinary.
Conflagrate (Ex): Yes, a thorn elemental catches fire, but often it is not worth it to set it alight. Whenever a thorn elemental takes more than 10 points of fire damage, its body becomes one giant inferno. It takes 3d6 a round, but whenever its claw attacks hit a target's touch AC (though the claws have to hit the normal AC to deal their damage), the enemy takes 1d6 fire damage.
Elemental Traits: A thorn elemental has darkvision 60 feet, immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, flanking, and critical hits, and can only be resurrected by Limited Wish, Wish, Miracle, or True Resurrection. A thorn elemental does not breath, eat, or sleep.
Skills: Thorn elementals have a +8 racial bonus on Profession (gardener) checks involving thorned plants. This bonus is taken into account in the number given.
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The Elemental plane of Rust & Blades – Known to some as the final hell for constructs, the domain of rust and blades. The effects of this plane vary, in some cases all metal on the person rusts in an instant, though in rarer cases, the victim is forged to there armour, there vary weapons becoming as much a part of there body as there eyes and ears.
It is said that it is where all armour and weapons end up, and is rumoured to be a perversion of the elemental plane of minerals.

Rust Elemental by Fuzzball
[sblock]

Rust Elemental
Medium Elemental
Hit dice: 4d8+12 (30)
Initiative: 0
Speed: 20 ft.
Armor Class: 18 (+8 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+8
Attack: Slam +8 (1d8+5)
Full attack: 1 Slam
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Metal Morph, Rusting Touch, Blade Dance, Slam of many edges
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft, Elemental Traits
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +4
Abilities: STR: 20 DEX: 10 CON: 17 INT: 4 WIS: 11 CHA: 11
Skills: Listen 3, Spot 4
Feats: Cleave, Power Attack
Environment: Scrapyards
Organization: Solitary of gang (2-5)
Challenge Rating:
Treasure: Solitary
Alignment: Usually neutral
Advancement:
Level Adjustment:

A humoined being composed of rusted swords and forsaken armors edges towards you.

A Blade elemental is a corruption of the plane of metal, and is composed of the weapons of war that are left at the end of the battle. It is a walking momument to that graveyard of fury.

Combat
Metal Morph – Due to the elemental’s multiple metal nature its slam attacks count as silver, cold iron, and adamantine for the purpose of overcoming DR.

Rusting Touch - any metal object that touches the rust elemental is immediately rusted and crumbles. Magic items that touch the elemental are entitled to a Fortitude save equal to 10 + ½ the elemental’s HD rounded down. Any metalic creature that fails its save takes 1d6 points of damage per age category of the elemental.

Blade Dance – As a standard action the elemental may make a touch attack against any melee weapon. The weapon becomes a dancing weapon under the control of the elemental. If the weapon is held, the wielder is entitled to a Will save equal to 10 + ½ the elemental’s HD rounded down. The weapon remains under the elemental’s control until the effect is dispelled (dispel magic, limited wish, miracle, or wish), the elemental releases it, or the elemental is destroyed. An elemental may have up to one half its HD in weapons under its control at any time.

Slam of many edges – Due to the elemental’s composition its slam attacks count as slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning for the purpose of overcoming DR.
[/sblock]



Views of non human race in the plaines

Especially in grad central racism runs rife. Orcs have evolved to be grey skin in the plaines, and are bred and used as nothing more then slaves.

Even elves have become nothig more then sex workers in some areas of grand central.

Of course there are exceptions, but usually they are viewed with contempt.

Drawfs are seen lower then humans, but seen higher then orcs, and usually hold businesses in crafts.

Religions in the Plaines

Baelus (Lawfull Neutral) - God of the sands and hermits

Mother Crowfeet (Chaotic Good) - Goddess of magic (voodoo), and alcohol.

Maiden Rosethorn (Lawfull Good) - Warrior Goddess, slayer of evil, sister to mother crowfeet.

The Slave (Chaotic Evil) - God of rage, champion of the opressed, destroyer of the chains which bind, god of the slave caste.

Camasotz (Lawfull Evil) - Vampire god, god of the higher class, god of money and decadence.


Ideas which need expansion

Mist extraction plants The powersource of grand central. These massive contructs churn away in all areas of the plaines. They pump the mists and convert it into power.
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WolfKook
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Post by WolfKook »

For me, there are just too many domains... I guess not every single evil person in a cluster has to have his own domain. There are secondary characters that could be just as evil and dangerous as darklords.

Also, as a side effect of the enormous quantity of domains, it seems that you have lost some focus. The original idea had a consistent theme and mood. Now it seems like an amalgam of many different things, with very loose connections among them. There are just too many things going on!The dread elemental planes, in particular, seem interesting, but completely out of place (As is Aruxco, but I'll return to it later).

Have you though on your DLs backstories? They just seem like a lot of cool ideas without the tragic background and the motivations that would make them into really interesting "ravenloftian" villains.

The layout of the trainmaster's city is very interesting, though I would expect too see something like that in Eberron, not in Ravenloft. The hanging gardens of the rich and powerful (Hanging from what?) are cool, but you should add some element of dread to them to make them fit into the demiplane. Perhaps the rich don't want to touch the infected slums, and some of them throw their less than efficient servants to the void below.

The idea of the trains going (Or coming from) all the planes in the greatwheel seems a little outrageous, as it would imply bringing too many demons and proxies and other things into the realms of dread. However, they could go to and from other domains. With the tons of canon and non-canon domains, that would give them plenty of space to move around.

Don't like the grey-skinned orcs. They just seem out of place in RL. Why don't you use calibans? Don't like drow, either, though shadow elves would be as out-of-place as them in the plains...

I like Margret Lodd, but I don't like the idea of her being a dragon stuck in human form. A succubus (Perhaps cursed by the DPs to lose her beauty and her power over others) or some other creature which is used to play with other people's emotions would be more interesting.

I do like Gilles de Rosceresse, and I really think this character can have a lot of potential for a backstory, given his "ricean" roots :wink:, and could provide an interesting connection between the plains and Souragne. However, the inclusion of two vampire DLs in the cluster (Again, the High-Priestess, who seems just like an offshot of Salma Hayek's character in "From dusk till dawn") makes him less "unique", IMO.

Port Illsmouth - Unless you go a little deeper and add something that takes it away from the basic Cthulhu Mythos, it just isn't interesting. Also, it doesn't seem like a domain, just an important city (As Vallaki, Kantora or Martira Bay).
Battleside of Squirrel Peak - Why does it have to be a domain? It just seems like a point in the map.
The O'Leary Gang - IMO, its leader shouldn't be a lich, but some kind of unique undead akin to a Death Knight. With an increased mythology ("In the night of full moon, when the plains grow cold, the O'Leary gang rides") it could make for a very interesting character.
Serenity Gulch - Lacks depth. Mayor Brad doesn't seem like DL material.

The Trainmaster - I like the mist-powered engines, and I see how a man could be punished for playing with things he isn't meant to play with, but I would like to see more of this Trainmaster. He isn't depicted very well to be the most important DL in the whole cluster.
Wendigo - Interesting. However, he may end up suffering from Ankthepot's lack of action syndrome. Also, he lacks some charm... I guess the backstory could be worked with a bit.

Finally, I also have to say that I have a (somewhat personal :lol:) problem with both Aruxco and Prosper, which are just too similar to the fan-made domains of Mictlan and Cumbre de Oro, respectively (both of which I'm currently updating for the Golden Peninsula project). Even the Holy Empire is mentioned! I wonder why you didn't mention Matherion...
I see how Prosper could belong into the cluster, but Aruxco seems out of place. There are pretty good ideas in both domains, though. I would certainly love to ravage some of them for my own project.
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Post by NykylaiHellray »

Thanks for your review =)

What I forgot to mention, is a lot of this has not been updated since waldi (who has gone missing in recent months) wrote it. So some needs alot of rewritting.

The holy empire link was waldis idea, as was the influence with dusk to dawn. I did not know the other two where similar to other allready done domains, so I guess I need to rewrite thoses, sorry about that.

Aruxco I agree is kinda misplaced, with is due to it being based on south america where the rest is more north america mixed with victorian england.

I guess I could rewrite it to be further away from the rest, and rewrite it as a serperate large domain set in rainforests miles south of sourange.

Its definatley somthing I need to think about =/.

With the eberron similarity, that was slightly intended (the domain is kinda ravenloft meets eberron meets sandstorm and darktower). Though I wont reveal the trainmasters origins (he is a kinda non stated mystery char, like the lady of pain), eberron is a place I have considered him hailing from, so there will be similiarities. (Also one anamoly about him, is that he wanted to come to the demiplanes of dread).

Maybe to get the dread back in grand central.The hanging gardens where erected when a great plauge ravaged the city. Sending the early new glenwhich into chaos.
The dead overflowed the graveyards, and some did not stay dead.

First they builta city on top of the old, isoltaing the sickness to the lower regions, deeming it only fit for the slaves and the mad.

The hanging gardens was made for the rich, a slice of paradise within the middle of the wastes which surround the city. A way to escape the lower and less deserving people below. Very few ever gain the privilage to enter this city. Many work themselves to death, (and somtimes workothers to death) to earn a fortune to obatin passage. But sadly even with a fortune, many are still not permitted, left to rot outside. Somtimes mad people attemptto get in, though are seen falline from its walls into the yawning abyss of the sprawling cities below.

I partly agree with the trains going to the great wheel, but its an aspect I want to keep, as the idea is that the trainsystem is like a virus. Or more specifically like a creeper. It burries it rotes in deep, still the state when taking it away from the wall its entwined in, will collapse it.
The trains grow.
So maybe hint at people been taken into the deimplanes by train, but not explicitly state it?

One idea about the mist extraction plants, is that they are similar to the reactors in final fantasy 7. But slightly more primative.
They will be filled with many mist based enemys, and machines made sentient due to the mists which power them.

I agree on the amount of darklords, so merging the domains together is somthing I will do.

The grey skinned orcs, is because my mate hates green skinned lol.


Mostly this is a one man thing, as I am trying not to spoil alot of this to my game group.

Also as noted waldi went missing >____<....

If anyone wants to helpme rewrite some of this, or have ideas of what domains to merge together, that would be great ^___^
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Post by WolfKook »

NykylaiHellray wrote:The holy empire link was waldis idea, as was the influence with dusk to dawn. I did not know the other two where similar to other allready done domains, so I guess I need to rewrite thoses, sorry about that.
Aruxco I agree is kinda misplaced, with is due to it being based on south america where the rest is more north america mixed with victorian england.
I guess I could rewrite it to be further away from the rest, and rewrite it as a serperate large domain set in rainforests miles south of sourange.
The domains I'm talking about are Mictlan, which has some overlaps with Aruxco, and Cumbre de Oro, which has the same overall tone of Prosper. Maybe if you read the original articles (In the BoSor and BoSac), you could find a way to prevent such overlapping (Though I would prefer to ravage some of the ideas of Aruxco and use them to enhance Mictlan).
NykylaiHellray wrote:I partly agree with the trains going to the great wheel, but its an aspect I want to keep, as the idea is that the trainsystem is like a virus. Or more specifically like a creeper. It burries it rotes in deep, still the state when taking it away from the wall its entwined in, will collapse it.
So maybe hint at people been taken into the deimplanes by train, but not explicitly state it?
So the trainmaster is something like an agent of the Dark Powers, aiming to spread the disease that is Ravenloft?????????

....I like it!!!

But I would agree with you keeping the "great wheel" understated...

As you have stated it, the city of the night central now looks similar to Nosos. If done right, it could even overshadow a canon domain :shock:
NykylaiHellray wrote:The grey skinned orcs, is because my mate hates green skinned lol.
I also hate them being green-skinned, but why bring them into RL????
NykylaiHellray wrote:If anyone wants to helpme rewrite some of this, or have ideas of what domains to merge together, that would be great ^___^
Too busy with the Golden Peninsula right now, but I would be glad to help with comments, suggestions and ideas!
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Post by NykylaiHellray »

Just got back from wacken, a weekend of pure metal ^__^

Anyway

Feel free to take any of the ideas for your project =)


As for the orcs, it was mainly because they not really been used in RL, and they seem to be the perfect slave caste for the cities underbelly.

I may change the race a bit. Ether make them blind (or near blind), and have amazing hearing (somthing like the creatures from the film descent). But bound and chained into servitude turning the gears that power the city above.
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

They sound more like grimlocks than orcs to me, if that's the case. It's actually not a bad fit, since H.G. Wells' morlocks -- one obvious literary source for the grimlock race's concept -- started out as human laborers trapped in miserable subterranean jobs, and only evolved into the spooky cannibals Hollywood harps upon after many millennia of such menial subservience. (The Time Machine was originally a political critique of Victorian/Edwardian class structure, not just an adventure-story.)

Perhaps the slave-creatures in the Grand Central domain could be just another step along the (d)evolutionary route from human to subdweller to grimlock/morlock? That way, if they started out human but are being reduced to something less than that, it'd be more horrific and suit the "industrial misery" theme better. Or maybe their subhuman working conditions are making each generation of gear-pushers more degenerate and bestial than the one before it, so there are elderly 1st-generation humans, middle-aged 2nd-generation subdwellers, and youthful 3rd-generation grimlocks among their number?
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Post by NykylaiHellray »

Never heard of the grimlocks, and yes they would be a perfect fit.

Other slaves in this city underworld are golems, which takes its insperation from discworld, where many golems exist for compleatly menial tasks, and named as such (e.g. pump 19).

Though I am tempted to make a orc varient as well, though as noted, I will have to revise them to have them fit into the ravenlift style.
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Post by NykylaiHellray »

Here is a couple of rewrites of the locations.

Mist extraction plants
You approach a tower of iron and steel that bursts from the eath and reaches into the sky. The mist it emmits blocks out the sun, and a cold chill surround you no matter how hot the day had become. Jutting pipes go in all possible directions, reaching into the earth like roots of a tree.
Dotted around the plaines, and p'haps even further, stand the great beating machinations of the city of trains. Huge machines encircled by mists, and haunted by the things that inhabit them.
They pump ever hour of every day, drinking the mists, pumping them from the earth itself. Using it as a energy source, to power grand central, and the trains.....oh yes and the trains.
Mist elementals, and other mist based creatures are common here, even mist wierds are said to live in the mist extraction plants themselves.
Entering one of these places can be disorientating however, somtimes the machines emmit screams, as if the very souls of the people who have passed are being used as fuel themselves.

The Wastelands
The wastelands streches across mosts of the plaines, its sandy tendrils pulling what life there is into its grip. Things hant those sands, and the things buried in them do not rest. Sandstorms are frequent here, some shaped like the gaping maws of fiends, carried by wind that sounds reminiscant of screams, of the damned, and the damners.
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