Domain of 2009 - Ghastria

[Garudos Celestar]

With three eating/hunger/decay themed beasties, maybe something art or emotion oriented would be a nice addition? Any suggestions?

Hmm... glass golem, perhaps a living spell (from the Eberron Campaign Setting, using some appropriate figments and patterns to create living artwork), an intelligent bottle of Nolzur's marvelous pigments that's acting as the muse for an insane artist... maybe it's encouraging the artist to use strange and unsettling paints in his work, from umbral grey to human blood to liquified ghast gas.

[ewancummins]

An insane artist might work. I have heard of a Pathfinder adventure that might work well for this.

The glass golem also sounds cool. Maybe it could be connected with the church that Stezen had destroyed?

[The Giamarga]

An insane artist might work. I have heard of a Pathfinder adventure that might work well for this.

That would be GameMastery Module U1: Gallery of Evil (OGL) as Ken of Ghastria already noted on page 1 of the thread.

As for the insane artist, I do quite like the story of Ralpuchio and the Portraits of the Darklords articles from days past. Someone also mentioned the wereboar painter from CN:Werebeasts. As you can see I'm all for inclusion and adaption of old canon and even fanon, if it fits well enough.

For reference I'm quoting the relevant links again:

John Baker's "The Unauthorized Biography of the Marquis Stezen D'Polarno" in the Book of Souls. is a must read imho. It's a great article adding lots of detail, ideas and flavour.

Here are a few more fan articles from Alanik Ray's old site that (might) relate to Ghastria, courtesy of the wayback machine:

Portraits of the Darklords by C. Phibbs
Ralpuchio by C. Phipps
Pigments of Immortality by J.M. Baker
Juste Desserts by John M. Baker. (This describes a very interesting campaign set in Ghastria and/or on Scaena - the theater of LeMot Sediam Juste )

[Nevermorrow]

John Baker's "The Unauthorized Biography of the Marquis Stezen D'Polarno" in the Book of Souls. is a must read imho. It's a great article adding lots of detail, ideas and flavour.

Here are a few more fan articles from Alanik Ray's old site that (might) relate to Ghastria, courtesy of the wayback machine:

Portraits of the Darklords by C. Phibbs
Ralpuchio by C. Phipps
Pigments of Immortality by J.M. Baker
Juste Desserts by John M. Baker. (This describes a very interesting campaign set in Ghastria and/or on Scaena - the theater of LeMot Sediam Juste )

The links don't work for me.

[Sareau]

Once again, a question regarding the tasstelessness of Ghastrian cuisine, or perhaps a comment-if the food is tasteless, doesn't that make it easier for a host to slip something into the mix? Poison of course, but I'm actually thinking along the lines of unknowingly becoming a cannibal for the amusement of Ghastrian nobles, or perhaps something like the Wendigo, where cannibalism opens a path to becoming something nasty. The old story of King Lycaon trying to pass off his son as haut cuisine to Zeus comes to mind immediately...

[ewancummins]

An insane artist might work. I have heard of a Pathfinder adventure that might work well for this.

That would be GameMastery Module U1: Gallery of Evil (OGL) as Ken of Ghastria already noted on page 1 of the thread.

[/quote]

Ah, of course! I had read it upthread.

[Nevermorrow]

Once again, a question regarding the tasstelessness of Ghastrian cuisine, or perhaps a comment-if the food is tasteless, doesn't that make it easier for a host to slip something into the mix? Poison of course, but I'm actually thinking along the lines of unknowingly becoming a cannibal for the amusement of Ghastrian nobles, or perhaps something like the Wendigo, where cannibalism opens a path to becoming something nasty. The old story of King Lycaon trying to pass off his son as haut cuisine to Zeus comes to mind immediately...

Actually, I think it might make it more difficult to poison someone's food, as the taste of the poison would stand out even more against the tasteless food. A poison would have to be tasteless itself to go undetected, and in reality, there aren't that many poisons that are tasteless. (Of course, a magical poison could enchanted to be tasteless.)

Now, cannibalism is another kettle of fish. If we presume that the tastelessness extends to meat from Ghastria then I would say that should include human flesh as well, which opens the door for the nasty situations you're talking about.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Actually, I think it might make it more difficult to poison someone's food, as the taste of the poison would stand out even more against the tasteless food. A poison would have to be tasteless itself to go undetected, and in reality, there aren't that many poisons that are tasteless. (Of course, a magical poison could enchanted to be tasteless.)

If the poison comes from a plant that grew in Ghastria, it'd be tasteless no matter what its usual flavor is. Poisoners in Stezen's domain might have to cultivate their own herb gardens "for medicinal purposes", then conceal a few toxic plants among the others.

Now, cannibalism is another kettle of fish. If we presume that the tastelessness extends to meat from Ghastria then I would say that should include human flesh as well, which opens the door for the nasty situations you're talking about.

Of course, that's presuming that a diner would recognize human meat if they could taste it. Unless they're a werebeast or something else used to preying on humans, how many people would have a clue that it's not just oddly-seasoned pork?

[The Giamarga]

The links don't work for me.

I checked them all, they work for me. All links to Alanik Rays old site link via the web archive, so they may be slow to load, and the main page is missing a few pictures. Another error was that i linked to the FoS Library but the Book of Souls netbook is only found on the kargatane web site: http://www.kargatane.com/souls/
I corrected all those links uopthread.

[The Giamarga]

John Baker already covered both angles in his article "The Unauthorized Biography of the Marquis Stezen D'Polarno" in the kargatane netbook Book of Souls, years ago:

You see, no artist would be a true artist if he did not know the importance of each pigment, especially umbral grey. Umbral grey has a very smoky, almost misty quality, lending itself both to feelings of sorrow and loss as well as a lighter rejuvenation when combined with the reds. It is also one of the deadliest poisons that could be grown in the area. The only reason it does not gain much more use is because it has a horribly bitter taste, forcing the victim to spit it out usually before it has enough of an effect. He would complain for days that he couldn’t remove the taste from umbral grey; he must have killed about thirty servants of his in the attempt to make umbral grey palatable. I never did find out exactly how he did it, although he did ask me to procure several carrion crawlers. He managed to poison all of the bastard’s line, courtiers, and servants in a single feast. The pigment was so delightfully slow that the wails could be heard for hours. I think that was the first time since his curse that I ever saw him smile.

[...]
Umbral grey is a pigment created from a poisonous plant only found native to Ghastria. When used in paints, it creates a deep smoky color that bears an unsettling resemblance to the color of the Mists. Umbral grey is also a very toxic poison, and many artists in and associated with Ghastria have died trying to use this color. Wherever umbral grey strikes a victim, the flesh decays and shrinks, leaving a horrible grey mass of rot. The effects of umbral grey on a victim will vary depending on how it is used.

[...]

A favorite pastime of D’Polarno and D’Marosso when they are together is to find someone they particularly don’t like during a party. Then, they spare that person the portrait’s effect, paralyze the person, and slowly paint them to death with umbral grey. Also, the curse of Ravenloft has affected the victims of umbral grey; they rise the night after their deaths as ghouls. Also note that ’Polarno and D’Marosso are both immune to the effects of umbral grey.

The poison umbral grey is made from Ghastrian plants and carrion crawlers. It was originally a pigment for painting that is also very poisonous. Stezen after much experimenting, managed to make it undetectable by adding carrion crawler. Stezen's self portrait was painted with it. It was also used by Stezen to kill the whole court and later the one who cursed him. Both Stezen and Camar D'Marosso are inmune to Umbral Grey. It can be applied by different vectors with different effects. (i.e. contact , ingested, injection)

D'Marosso is covering the ghoulish aspect quite well: He's a cannibal gourmand glutton slowly turning into a ghast and eats human flesh at least once a week. He likes to hold feasts to dispose of enemies, like after the burning of that church in East Riding.

Read. that. Article. Guys. (...and gals )

[InVinoVeritas]

...and in case you have any further questions about those articles (Unauthorized Biography, Juste Desserts, Pigments of Immortality), I'm still around.

[InVinoVeritas]

One character in the Unauthorized Biography I never did fully flesh out, but kept as an extra villain for Ghastria, was Anneliese.

Anneliese was the sorceress who originally cursed D'Polarno, and I brought her back as a ghost wandering the island. She can travel anywhere in Ghastria, including D'Polarno's private chambers. She knows all his secrets. Normally, she appears as a stunningly beautiful woman, usually teasingly provocative, extremely knowledgeable, and a quick wit.

She, too, has been cursed by the Dark Powers. First, she has fallen in love with the vibrant side of D'Polarno, and can speak with him while his personality is trapped in the portrait. Secondly, during D'Polarno's parties, she twists into how she looked when she died--a grey, dessicated, rotten corpse--and can no longer enter any part of D'Polarno's residence. During the parties, she can usually be found wailing at the walls and doors outside, trying to get in to see the man she betrayed.

She wants nothing more than to destroy the cold half of D'Polarno, but will not let the colorful half be harmed. She was the one who informed the priests about the bodies at the parties, and has learned about the Ezraite faith in the Core. She has been known to pose as Ezra for foreigners, and some faithful circles have heard of Our Lady of East Riding.

I have not written more about her, nor have I made stats. Anyone interested in adding to her story?

[ewancummins]

Well, I must say that I very much like what you've done with Annelise. That's good stuff! I have nothing to add, just now. If I think of something, I'll post it.

One thing I like to add to domains is history, false or otherwise. In fact, it would be dangerous to assume that most false history is simply made up- and not a distorted reflection of things past- IMC.

So, what of Ghastria's history? Who ruled before Stezen? Is the realm of King Oderic remembered by the people? If the language is Mordentish, what relation does the realm have to Mordent, to Dementlieu?

[Joël of the FoS]

Annaliese is indeed a fun NPC to add to Ghastria's rooster. How would you stat her? Cursed Ari?

Ladies and gent, any other ideas for interesting NPCs for this place? I'm asking for good/bad guys, in order to flesh the domain, and make it even more interesting.

Joël

[ewancummins]

Belike our board-brothers would be bless you for the boon, bard, if you'd boast and brag on behalf of the brave battlers who beat the buccaneers of Blaustein by blasting them with baked biscuits!