Domiain of the Hour: Sanguinia

[Strahdsbuddy]

Sorry for the title; the lack of archived info contained on this site was conspicuous to me. This domain is a mystery to me. On the one hand, Castle Guirgiu had its own cardstock sheet in the original Black Box, lending the realm a slight feeling of importance which never went any further.

There are some intriguing thoghts at mordent cartographical society, like all the rivers conspicuously lining up with rivers in the Core if Sanguinia were to have taken Markovia's spot after GC. It certainly has a Balinok-worthy peak in the middle of it.

GryphonHill.com also had a write up on darklord Ladislav Mircea, casting him as a hideous Schreck-esque vampire with ties to Gothic Earth, a stark contrast to the version in RL3e which mentions that he is "handsome."

And where did "Kryoso" come from?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this enigmatic little corner of the demiplane?

[ewancummins]

I imagine that Sanguinia was dropped because it's too close to being a clone of Barovia- which may be the same reason that Gundarak got the axe.

I'd start with the darklord- he needs to be quite unlike Strahd.

If Barovia is 'Fantasy Transylvnia'- what is Sanguinia?

[Mangrum]

GryphonHill.com also had a write up on darklord Ladislav Mircea, casting him as a hideous Schreck-esque vampire with ties to Gothic Earth, a stark contrast to the version in RL3e which mentions that he is "handsome."

I didn't know that Gryphon Hill had done him, but he's a hideous vrykolaka in 3E too. (The key word before "handsome" in that sentence is "was.")

I personally pictured him as looking like Leonardo DeCaprio (circa The Man in the Iron Mask) in life. In death, his nose has shriveled away, and overall the mixture of decay and vampiric distortion has left his features looking something like those of a bat.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Quick note, was Gundar invented just to be killed in the very first adventure published for the setting?

I would agree with Ewan that Mircea is close to Strahd in that he is a vampire, but there is so little info on him how can you tell they're similar besides their species? There was a lot of room for improvement, and the Gryphonhill version casts him with a more clerical bent. Still no personality though.

There seem to be differences in the two domains, subtle though they may be. The Sanguinians seem to be a bit more lusty and friendly than the sullen Barovians, described as "fearing little", rather uncommon among residents of Ravenloft. There is a difference in technology level also, being one level behind Barovia. In the transfer from Black Box to 3e the domain lost its summer season (as described originally) and has been replaced with the eternal winter of the Frozen Wastes. The map from 3e would indicate that Sanguinia has either grown or Vorostokov has shrunk (Having been mapped as a whopping 300 miles across in Darklords).

[The Giamarga]

Prince Ladislav Mircea
Secrets of the Dread Realms - p7
Ravenloft Third Edition - pp153-154
Realm of Terror - p84

Prince Ladislav Mircea: Stat block (CE male human mature vrykolaka vampire Ari3/ Exp6, CR8); a boiled-down version of his backstory was presented in RLDMG. Big thing to know about him is that he drains "humours" rather than just blood, with differing effects. There's also a sidebar on vampiric thralls that I'm sure saw print somewhere early on. Gaz II, mayhaps.

[...]
I suppose I could post the stat blocks, but here's the thing: we were all brand new to 3E at the time, and it shows. We continually revised these stats as we revisited darklords in the Gazetteers, and nearly a decade later (particularly now that I've picked Pathfinder for my poison & I've moved toward a more revisionist mindset) I'd want to essentially just remake them all from scratch anyway.

[Delyun]

I always had a feel of Prince Prospero when I read of sangunia and how he has turned into a vrykolaka. I just thought of a decedent man who has fallen ill to a disease that turned him into that beast. After reading the RLDMG he is like prospero from poe's masque of the red death.


Creepy Thing
Vlad Dracul had two ancestors who had the names Prince Mircea and Prince Ladislav.I leave that up to the rest of you to draw a connection.


Wild Thing
I found Alanik Ray's email on Ladislav Mircea buried in an archive site. It was done by someone called Mikey.I don't think they will mind the repost since it was buried anyway.I am checking the cemetary if its in there. if its not i think we should add it.

Ladislav Mircea
(Darklord of Sanguinia)

By Mikey



Birth of a Darklord

The baby was born in a make shift lean-to on a dirty sidestreet down by the
docks. After the birth, the exhausted mother and child cried themselves to
sleep under the full moon amidst the filth and garbage of the alleyway
which was their home. In the morning, the baby's wails could be heard a
block away. Unfortunately, the cries did not wake its mother. They could
not, for she had died in the night, cradling her new babe in her arms.

Larissa Vayenda was the daughter of a fairly well-to-do family living in
the city of Waterdeep. It lies on the southwestern coast of the continent
of Faerun in the realm of Toril. Eight months earlier she had announced to
her family her plans to wed her lover, Gaston. He was a sailor and since
the family had aspirations of becoming a force in Waterdhavian politics,
they would not hear of their eldest daughter marrying such a man. When she
added the fact that she was pregnant, they promptly threw her out into the
street. Distraught, she went to Gaston.

Gaston Labrecht, third mate aboard the merchant ship "Chimera's Fury", was
a rather ordinary man. He was neither handsome nor ugly, smart nor stupid,
neither courageous nor cowardly. Unbeknownst to Larissa, all he wanted from
her was physical pleasure. On the first night they laid together he
whispered that age old lie. "I love you", he said and that was all it took.
She laid with him that night and many more over the next month. She talked
of their love for each other. She talked of how they would be married and
live together. Gaston nodded at the right times and told her what she
wanted to hear. He told her whatever he had to to keep her laying with him.
The night that she came to his door after being turned out by her family,
he spurned her. He told her he was done with her and laughed at her for
being such a fool. "Love you? How could I love a miserable wench like you?"
he shouted. She cried and told him she was pregnant. It was then that
Larissa saw a side of him that she had never seen before. He lunged
forward, grabbed her fiercely by the hair and said in a whisper as deadly
as an Emordenung's kiss, "You are NOT pregnant by me and if you ever speak
another word of this, I will kill you". He then threw her out the door and
slammed it in her face.

Penniless and with nowhere to go, Larissa made money the only way she knew
how: on her back. She was even able to rent a small room until she was
thrown out because she had no more money and was too big to work. She made
her home in an alley from discarded crates. The smell of garbage was her
world, the rats, her only company. Then came the baby. She had never seen
anything so beautiful in all of her life and she held him as tears of joy
streamed down her delicate face. Suddenly, she found new hope within
herself. She looked up at the full moon, certain that she could make a
fresh start for her and her son. They would have a wonderful life. She lay
thinking of a name for her precious angel as she fell into an exhausted
sleep, a smile on her lips.

A vagabond discovered her corpse in the morning. After determining her to
be dead, the man callously searched her body for valuables, picked up the
baby and left her to be discovered by the flies or the city guard,
whichever happened by first. Another man, one also dressed in rags,
witnessed this from the shadows and seethed with anger. This man was the
infamous pirate Pyotr the Black (his real name being Pyotr Mircea, Captain
of the "Shadow's Bane") in disguise. He swiftly intercepted the man with
the baby and with a practiced movement, broke his neck. He then claimed the
boy for his own.

Pyotr Mircea was not a cruel man as being a pirate seemed to indicate. He
had just sailed in from the Isle of Chult where he had consulted a seer.
The old woman had told him he was destined to have a son. Pyotr laughed at
the old fool and turned to leave when she claimed she knew of his accident.
His interest piqued, Pyotr listened as the woman related the story of the
cutlass that had cut deep below his waist. This was his deepest secret and
he was astonished that she knew it. The cutlass had not only seen to it
that he would never have children but also that he would pee like a woman
(sitting) for the rest of his days. She finished by telling that his son
awaited him in "a city of deep water" Pyotr sailed that very day. After
anchoring far enough away to evade patrols, he took a rowboat to the shore
where he witnessed the vagabond take the baby. He was so disgusted that he
killed the man outright and then looked into the face of his new son. Cold,
dirty and covered in his mother's blood, he was still a beautiful sight to
the old Captain's eyes. "I shall call you Ladislav. Ladislav Mircea, yes,
that suits you" he whispered as the child smiled for the first time in its
life.



Ladislav's Teenage

The boy grew up mostly in tropical climates because that's where Pyotr
preferred to stay. Ladislav adored the warm weather. As a matter of fact,
he loathed any type of cold, or even cool, weather. He was a very neat and
tidy boy, sometimes bathing 3 times a day or more simply because he "didn't
feel clean". He also developed an aversion to blood. Strangely, the sight
of anyone's blood except his own made him queasy. An unfortunately unlucky
boy, at the age of 12 Ladislav was attacked by a diseased dog and almost
died. Only a friend with a healer's touch was able to save him. He hated
all animals with passion after that. Another accident, this one a few years
later, claimed his left leg. The ship was damaged in a battle and his leg
was crushed underneath a fallen cannon. Pyotr made the boy a peg leg out of
wood from the "Shadow's Bane" for he knew how much the boy loved the ship.
Small consolation for the boy. Pyotr thought about the boy's eccentricities
from time to time. He thought maybe they were related to the condition in
which he found the boy. Although it was ludicrous to think that a child
could remember events that transpired on the day of its birth, it made some
sense. The baby was cold, shivering in fact, when Pyotr found him,
therefore Ladislav hated the cold. The baby was dirty, therefore the boy
cleans himself constantly. The baby had been covered in his mother's blood,
hence his aversion to blood. Other than the leg, the boy grew tall and
strong. He was fit and healthy. A right handsome young lad.

One thing Pyotr meant to do was tell the boy about the day he found him.
He never could find the right time and after he died, it was too late.

One night, they came across another pirate ship. The "Murky Bitch"
attacked them immediately. Her Captain was Levan Monaascan, a man who had
an old grudge with Pyotr. The "Shadow's Bane", unprepared for battle, was
captured easily. Monaascan then executed Pyotr right in front of his son.
Slit his throat from ear to ear. That was a BIG mistake. Pyotr Mircea had
been a hard captain, but also a fair one. He had always taken care of his
crew and they loved him for that. Ladislav, now the Captain, led his men to
an emotional victory. Unfortunately, Monaascan escaped but not before
putting a crossbow bolt into Ladislav's right eye, ruining it. In a rage,
Ladislav butchered the pirates that had been captured in the fight.

At that moment, he ripped what was left of his useless eye out of its
socket and crushed it in his fist, swearing to the gods that he would one
day be the shadow of death upon Monaascan's back. It was then that the
seeds of madness within him began to sprout. The seeds that had been
planted years ago in that cold, filthy Waterdhavian alley. Covered in the
blood of the slaughtered pirates, he bathed for hours and still felt he
would never be rid of that "damned blood".



Mircea's Obsession

Over the next few years, Ladislav captured many pirate ships. Seeking
information on the whereabouts of Monaascan, he grotesquely tortured and
killed hundreds of men. His insanity assuring him that they all knew but
would not tell. Then one day, by accident, he found Monaascan.

He had pulled into a small port village for supplies and had gone to a
local tavern for a drink. He looked over to the other side of the room and
there he was.

He had dreamed of how he would kill Monaascan for years. Each death more
horrible than the last and as he started towards the man he suddenly
stopped. The man was with a small boy and there was no mistaking the
lineage of this one. The boy had to be Monaascan's own son. It occurred to
Ladislav that if he had to live with the memory of his father's death, then
this man would live with the memory of his son's death. It was then that
Ladislav reached the height of his evil and malicious insanity. With an
evil grin, he strode across the room, picked up the boy and sank his teeth
into the boys throat, tearing it wide open. As the boys blood gushed out
onto his clothes and face Mircea found that he was not disgusted but rather
more satisfied than he had been in his entire life. Realizing he had to
flee, he shouted at an unbelieving Monaascan "That was for my Da". He fled
the tavern and hurried back to his ship. He ordered the men to prepare to
sail and when they didn't obey (probably because he was covered in blood),
he killed every last one of them. Then he noticed the mists. He looked and
the land was gone and as he lost consciousness, he saw the tip of a
mountain begin to rise from the water near his ship...



The Present

Mircea awoke in the bedroom of a castle. He knew this was his castle but he
didn't know how he knew. Shortly, he came to understand that he ruled a
domain (which he named Sanguinia) with no sea access, hardly any warm sunny
weather and animals every where. Sheep, goats, deer, birds, bears, wolves,
and any othe type of forest animal you can imagine. He also found out that
now he craved, indeed cannot live without, human blood. The Dark powers
have made him a Nosferatu Vampire. He must drink blood every day to survive.

The "Shadow's Bane" now rests high up on the slopes of Mount Radu above the
snow line. He finds that he canot even go near his beloved ship nor can he
command the Bowlyns there. (his former crew)



Current Sketch:

Mircea is now 679 years old. He is the Darklord of Sanguinia, an Island of
Terror in Ravenloft. He is 6'2", 200 lbs with flowing shoulder length black
hair. His eyes are dark brown but you'd swear they were black. He sports a
close-cropped mustache and beard just around his mouth. He also wears a
black leather patch to cover his missing eye. He is quite handsome and
charming despite his handicaps.

Above all else, Mircea longs to sail again. To feel the wind on his face
as his ship races across the water. Although he suffers no penalties or
damage from being on water, the Dark Powers have seen to it he can never
sail again. Should he take a boat out onto the water of any of the rivers
of his domain or onto Lake Argus, all wind will cease immediately and his
vessel will NOT move. The water itself will not propel the boat either. He
does not try this too often because he does not want the people of his
domain to get suspicious. They do not know him as a vampire, only as their
ruler.



Powers and Weaknesses:

Though a Nosferatu Vampire, Mircea has many special abilities:

1/2 damage from electricity
Double damage from cold-based attacks
Regenerates 1/hp per round
Charm with gaze (-5 save)
+3 or better weapon to hit
Gaseous form at will
Can polymorph into a Shadow Dragon (1xday)
Continual darkness and Major Missile (as spell/1xday each)
Saliva can infect others with normal Nosferatu Vampirism
Sunlight/daylight does no damage


He also has weaknesses:

No animal summoning
All animals will either attack him on sight or flee immediately
Only a stake made from wood from the "Shadow's Bane" driven into his heart
will destroy him
Moonlight will destroy him as sunlight will normal vampires. He must rest
during the full moon like a normal Vampire rests during Sunlight.
Unfortunately, Sanguinia has 2 moons and 1 is full every 3 days.


Alanik Ray
Former Constable of Martira Bay
Now serving in Port-a-Lucine

[DocBeard]

Here's what I did: Sanguina's Peter the Great era Russia to Vorostokov's traditional Slavic domain. Its in the midst of a cultural shift, with several prominent boyars leading the way to the future, and others stubbornly sticking with tradition.

The Prince, a vain man who craves attention, cannot directly influence his nation because of his curse, and so while he furthers his agenda of modernization, he suffers from a lack of recognition as one of the great philosophical minds of the time. Ladislav's search for a way to cure his ugliness, and his constant need for food and political catspaws, ensures that Sanguina will be invested in the Core and other domains because, well, Vorostokov doesn't exactly have anything the Prince needs.

[whalejudge]

Quick note, was Gundar invented just to be killed in the very first adventure published for the setting?

No. There's only one encounter with him in the adventure, and it's not a combat encounter. The focus of the adventure is, in a way, preventing the death of Gundar.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Prince Ladislav Mircea: Stat block (CE male human mature vrykolaka vampire Ari3/ Exp6, CR8); a boiled-down version of his backstory was presented in RLDMG. Big thing to know about him is that he drains "humours" rather than just blood, with differing effects.

So, in addition to the traditional blood, Mircea could opt to suck out a victim's phlegm (eew), yellow bile (EEEWWWWW) or black bile (HURGH!)?

Wow, and to think that writeup never saw print. I can't imagine why....

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

hey, I could use a vampire that drained phlegm sometimes...

[ProfPete]

I recently ran a northern wilderness adventure with the prince as an degenerate vampire like alchemist who had populated his domain with half golems, clones of the player characters and clones of himself and the royal family. All CE naturally.

That coupled with a frozen domain and Mirceas magical traps made for a completely different adventure than castle ravenloft. Especially when they found the prince was using magic items stolen from the corpse of foreigners to build a gate to free a 'god like being' frozen in the utter north. Details of which he had found carved into some of sanguineas mountains.

I borrowed the Northern Wilderness setting
I used the masque of the red death feel to the castle. Mircea even held a ball on one night allowing the PC's to sneak in past the degenerate nobility.
Added a touch of an HP lovecraft great old ones.
Had clones of the pc's created by Mircea hunt them down and when killed only to reappear stronger later on.
Added a deserted village called barrow - recently attacked by Vampires? as a homage to 30 days of night!

The upshot is you really can make this domain Very Very different from Castle Ravenloft.

[Mangrum]

Here you go: Ladislav Mircea's unedited, 3.0 special abilities, as they would have appeared in Secrets of the Dread Realms:

Alternate Form (Su): Mircea can assume the shape of a dire rat or a swarm of rats or Fine vermin as a standard action. This ability is similar to the vampire ability found in the Monster Manual. Each creature in a swarm has 1 hit point, and the swarm is composed of a number of creatures equal to Mircea’s total hit points. He suffers 1 point of damage for each creature in the swarm killed. Contact with the swarm can still transmit the shakes, but the swarm is highly vulnerable to area attacks, so he typically assumes swarm form only to slip through narrow gaps.

Children of the Night (Su): Unlike most vampires, Mircea can use this ability only to summon 6d10 Hit Dice of monstrous vermin.

Disease (Ex): Any living creature that suffers damage from Mircea’s claw attacks or blood drain runs the risk of disease. The diseases Mircea carries (and the DC of each Fort save to avoid infection) are filth fever (DC 14), red ache (DC 17), and the shakes (DC 15). Victims killed by the effects of any disease transmitted from a vrykolaka return as vampire spawn.

Fever Sleep (Su): Mircea can cause a victim to pass out just by looking into her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that Mircea must take a standard action, and those merely looking at him are not affected. Mircea’s target must make a Will save (DC 16) or fall unconscious as though affected by a sleep spell cast by a 12th-level sorcerer, except that the attack can affect a creature with any number of Hit Dice. Mircea does not wake his victim by drinking her blood. The ability has a range of 30 feet.

Humour Drain (Ex): Mircea can suck the humours from a living victim with his tongue by making a successful grapple check. If he pins the foe, he can choose which of the four humours to drain. Regardless of his choice, the base effect is the same for the victim, who suffers 1d4 points of permanent Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. Different humours produce different effects as they temporarily unbalance both Mircea and his victim’s bodily fluids.

Blood (sanguis): If Mircea is wounded, he immediately heals damage equal to the hit points the victim loses from the Constitution drain.

Yellow bile (choler): Mircea can rage (as the barbarian ability) for a number of rounds equal to the points of Constitution drained. If the victim has a rage ability, it cannot rage for an equal number of rounds.

Black Bile (Melancholy): Mircea suffers the “despair” version of an emotion spell. His victim is affected as by that spell’s “hope” version. The duration for both versions of the spell is equal to the points of Constitution drained. Mircea usually avoids this humour.

Phlegm: Mircea can ethereal jaunt as the spell as a standard action. The effect’s duration is equal to the number of Constitution points drained. For an equal number of rounds, the victim receives a morale bonus to Fear saves equal to the lost Constitution.

Mircea pierces different organs to access these humors. Blood is sucked from the heart, phlegm from the throat, yellow bile from the liver, and black bile from the spleen.

Vampire Weaknesses: Garlic, anise and holy symbols repel Mircea. He cannot cross an unbroken line of aniseed. He does not need to be invited into any building in Sanguinia, but he cannot enter any room that is spotlessly clean. Mircea can tolerate three rounds of sunlight before he is destroyed. Like most vampires, however, he may take only partial actions while exposed to sunlight.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Thank you, JWM, for providing that! I guess the humor-draining was public knowledge prior to this, but i hadn't heard it before. The name of the domain makes sense now (instead of just being the Bloody Land). Would the folk thereby react to an imbalance of humors like the Greeks (i think) did, actively balancing themselves to achieve perfection? Would they try to balance out foregners as well? "Oh such a phlegmatic group, try some of our special tea...." In fact, a quick perusal of the WIki entry on The Humors indicates a lot of parallels of interst to us, particularly Elemental.

I appreciate the nod to 30 Days of Night, IMO one of the better vampire flicks of recent memory. Certainly if it is locked in Eternal Winter, as it says in RL3E, the pendulum has cetainly swung in the direction of the Night; a month or two without sunlight may be interesting. I wondered if any Black Box veterans used the domain, back when it had four seasons and was not dominated by its climate, like the new Frozen Reaches version of it.

Also, on Gryphonhill.com the domain is listed as Sanguinia/Kryoso. DOes anyone know where this may have come from?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Cool stuff, Mr. Mangrum! Thanks for sharing with us.

I like the idea of incorporating the "humors" into a vampire variant. Although the physiology prof in me did wince at this bit:

Mircea pierces different organs to access these humors. Blood is sucked from the heart, phlegm from the throat, yellow bile from the liver, and black bile from the spleen.

Marvelously gruesome, but unless you want Mircea's attacks to be 100% fatal, I hope you'd planned to revise this a little, so he's penetrating the flesh near these organs. Even if it is supernatural, a non-fatal puncture wound to any of these locations is going to break suspension of disbelief for science geeks like me.

[ProfPete]

A way round the killing nature of his attacks could be:

Maybe before combat Mircea drains the humors from other victims or clones.
To boost his powers -dependent on what he knows about the PC's.

Finding Mirceas larder would be quite horrifying and give some clues as to his special abilities and more nastier attacks. Maybe armed with this knowledge the PC's could try and nullify some of the attacks.

I always liked the idea of Mircea degenerating -although he sees it as evolving 'naturally' and changing his special abilities, the longer the PC's dawdled.

Just a couple of ideas.....