Ravenloft Cosmology

[NykylaiHellray]

If you want ideas for the elemental plane of blood click this.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20030314a
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp? ... b20030208a

These two articles are the only D&D official stuff I have seen



On one thread I saw this......it contridicts the other info though in a way

"the plane of blood is between the abyss and the 9 planes of hell, and is the collected blood of all who have died during the blood war. It is ruled by a diety known as Voultarr, the god of war and slaughter, and his queen, the blood mother, from the web article about the Blood elves"

I saw this on this thread http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=613551


How accurate it is, I have no idea.


Actually if you want idea for the dark lord of blood, look at warhammers chaos gods.

A khorne like fellow may be apropiete.


Maybe a prirate who sailed the seas or somthing =/....

EDIT: XD Lol someone thought the same thing.

Also I really like Lord Cyclohexane's idea

[Spiteful Crow]

I've read those articles before, actually. They're referring to a non-Ravenloft plane of blood. That one seems more Lovecraftian than gothic, really.

[NykylaiHellray]

Did not know that =/.....well there has not been any other mention of them.....accept those two articles.

You could easily make it the ravencroft one. =)

EDIT: Offiicial word on those web articles
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/printthread.php?t=86084
"Finally, about the Blood Weird and Elemental Plane of Blood, WotC agrees with Scott -- even when they make a "blood elemental", the creature is actually an outsider and they precise that the names "plane of blood" and "blood elemental" are misnommers chosen by a clueless and cautionless spellcaster."

Basically they hav nothing to do with the blood war like I mentioned prior.

That they are considured outisde the normal cosmos.

So therotically it could be used as the ravenloft one.


The blood mother could be used, as how one of the dark lords finds a way to escape.

By imprinting her mind onto certain blood elementals. Her physical form remains in the plane of blood, yet she can have mny evrsions of her mind going everywhere else.



With the lovecraft point. I dont think with blood you can avoid getting lovecraftian. =/ I mean it is an odd place.

[Spiteful Crow]

With the lovecraft point. I dont think with blood you can avoid getting lovecraftian. =/ I mean it is an odd place.

Well, you DO have a point there.

Anyway, the Ravenloft blood elemental is entirely different from the bloody outsider on the WoTC website. I'm still gonna stick to the Planewalker article for my source on this.

[NykylaiHellray]

Oh if you want tips, water is the repersented by the suite of cups.

Meaning emmotion.

So maybe the lady was a great swimmer, beutifull and strong. Maybe she was even a mermaid.

She fell in love with a human man, and not the usual part of the myth where mermaids kill the men, they pretend to fall in love with.

Though her kind hated this, and said they would kill her if she doesnt kill him.

So one night when they meet, she kissed him one last time. When thy kissed she stabbed him in the back. His eyes looked at her with such surprise and saddness.

It was only after she relised the horror which she had done. So stricken by grief she cut her own wrists (the previous posters idea).

The water turned red with the bodies of the two lovers.

The dark powers saw this, and the water turned intoa whirlpool, pulling in her body and soul.

She woke up in the sea of blood. Now she swims in constant despair trying to find the man she loves in hope of forgiveness.

Though his soul is in a different place to where she is.

The dark powers play tricks on her portraying the face of her love onto others.

If she sees someone who bears a similar apperance to her dead lover she will pursue the party. She will kill any other members which stand in her way to get to her love.

When she obtains the man, she relises it is not her love, and kills him as well.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

She fell in love with a human man, and not the usual part of the myth where mermaids kill the men, they pretend to fall in love with.

Though her kind hated this, and said they would kill her if she doesnt kill him.

So one night when they meet, she kissed him one last time. When thy kissed she stabbed him in the back. His eyes looked at her with such surprise and sadness.

Sounds too coerced for her crime to merit becoming a darklord. If her only motive for betrayal was fear for her own life, that's sordid, but not really an Act of Ultimate Darkness IMHO.

Perhaps the man in question was married to a human woman, but the mermaid seduced him into murdering his wife as part of a ritual to turn him into a merman. After his transformation, however, the mermaid found he'd lost the "exotic" quality that had made him attractive in the first place -- plus, being unfamiliar with his new body, he was suddenly so clumsy that his bumbling made her embarassed to be paired with him -- so the narcissistic mermaid disposed of him in some grisly fashion.

As water and glyphs (there's no suit of cups, in a Tarokka deck) are also associated with divine spellcasters, the mermaid might be a druidess or a cleric of some malignant sea deity. Personally I'd prefer the former, as druids are still underrepresented among darklords as a legacy of their 2E alignment restrictions.

[NykylaiHellray]

Ah I was thinking of tarot =P Lol.

Anyway yeah I prefer your retelling of my story, much darker, much more morbid

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Glad you like it!

Heh. If the mermaid is a druid and darklord of a blood-themed domain, perhaps her animal companion can be a grotesque, DP-mutated monster of a giant lamprey?

[NykylaiHellray]

Maybe, but then again I cant say, as this project is spitefull crows and not mine. =)

Though the idea of a blood clenched (wearing very little) mermaid, with long black hair, and eyes that are as red as blood. With endless flowing red elixer flowing from the cuts on her arm s, with tons of magic at her disposal does sound wierdly appealing


Oh I just found somthing. Each of the main elemental planes has a race of Djinn. e.g. earth has the Dao, air has the Djinni, fire the salamander and water the marid.

Theoritically these races would have arrived in the corrupted versions of the elemental planes at one time or another. So does that mean we should have dread versions of these races?



EDIT: Actually one other thing I was wondering, if the dark powers have mimiced versions of the elmenetal planes. What is stopping them, from expanding there realm into a full blown seperate multiverse of it's own.

I mean the etheral and the elemental planes are the building blocks of creation, so with that power at there disposal with there own versions. Couldnt they start making there realm more larger?

E.G. making it's own underworld, it;s own hell.

Creating alternate realities for conducting multiple experiments.

Meh they probably cant but hey it is a thought.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I can't quite vouch for real elemental planes in ravenloft, but the Demiplane of Dread does seem to have its own version of the afterlife set up.
The domain of Mordent sets a precedent for the demiplane holding on to the souls of the departed, rather than allowing them to ascend or decend into the upper or lower planes.
After all, if the demiplane allowed the souls of the dead to return to whatever plane upon which their god resides, then it would be feesible for players to kill off their characters, then have a friend gate them back to their home plane.
Certainly this is not beyond the scope of high level D&D parties, and would provide a loop-hole through which canny rules lawyers might ubvert the system.
Thus, I submit that there is probably some rules somewhere in the old canon that alludes to an after-world in Ravenloft.

[Jason of the Fraternity]

Oh I just found somthing. Each of the main elemental planes has a race of Djinn. e.g. earth has the Dao, air has the Djinni, fire the salamander and water the marid.

Tehcnically, fire would have Efreeti, since a salamander isn't considered one of the genie races.

[Spiteful Crow]

The Dread Elemental Plane of Pyre
- Coexistant with the Near Ethereal, Coterminous with the Elemental Planes of Fire, Mist, and Grave, and the Demiplane of Dread.
- Fire Dominant
- Mildly Evil Aligned. Good characters suffer a -2 penalty to Charisma based checks.
- Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor are both maximized and enlarged (as if the Maximize Spell and Enlarge Spell had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already maximized or enlarged are unaffected by this benefit.
- Impeded magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create water (including spells of the Water domain and spells that summon water elementals or outsiders with the water subtype) are impeded. A spellcaster attempting to cast one must make a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + the level of the spell). If the check fails, the spell does not function but is still lost as a prepared spell or spell slot. If the check succeeds, the spell functions normally.
- Altered Magic. Spells are still subject to the same rules that govern the Demiplane of Dread. Due to the limited flora and fauna of the domain, most summon spells are rendered useless. Any attempts to summon an elemental automatically brings a hostile Pyre Elemental instead. Spells with the fire descriptor are more painful than normal. Not only are they
maximized and enlarged, but any creature that takes damage from them must succeed at a fortitude save or be stunned for one round from the pain. Casting a spell with the fire descriptor requires a powers check.

The Dread Elemental Plane of Pyre is an endless wasteland of flames. Unlike the normal Plane of Fire, the flames here seem almost malevolent and bloodthirsty. Horrible gouts of flame erupt from the ground at random, posing a serious threat to anyone treading across the plane. Found throughout the plane are charred bodies, still burning at stakes in the ground. The only natives to the plane are the cruel and sadistic pyre elementals, as well as some wandering pyro skeletons and other fiery creatures.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

EDIT: Actually one other thing I was wondering, if the dark powers have mimiced versions of the elmenetal planes. What is stopping them, from expanding there realm into a full blown seperate multiverse of it's own.

Obviously we can't say for certain, but I suspect that wouldn't just be stepping over the line as far The Unspoken Pact is concerned, it'd be taking a running leap over it. That sounds like it'd involve just a little too many stepped-on toes to be condoned or ignored by the various Gods and other powers of the multiverse.

[Spiteful Crow]

Keep in mind that Ravenloft is only a Demiplane. An entire great wheel actually COULD be a bit beyond the dark powers.

[Spiteful Crow]

Wow, Roti. You're a darklord making machine!

Better be careful or else the DPs will take notice.

Diana, Darklord of Blood

NE Female mermaid vampire Druid 10 (Have fun generating the stats for that! )

Diana appears to be a mermaid, but something is not right about her. Not only is she swimming in blood, but the scales on her tail are blood red, and her skin is horribly pale.

Lets just say she's wearing just as much as the DM thinks is appropriate for the audience.

Background:

Diana used to be a priestess for an underwater nation of merpeople. In spite of her religious devotion to the ocean, she had a strange fascination with the surface world. She would often come to the surface to bask under the open sky. Eventually, she discovered a fisherman named Hans. Having never seen a human before, she spied on Hans from a distance, then eventually became brave enough to approach and talk to him. Diana started to visit Hans regularly, and they soon fell in love. Unfortunately, Hans was already married. Unsure of what to do, Diana confided in the high priestess of her temple, but was sorely rebuked for falling in love with a surface dweller. Not taking no for an answer, Diana began studying forbidden magic in order to find a solution. After much searching, she discovered a ritual that would turn Hans into a merman, requiring him to spill the blood of his wife. The grisly ritual succeeded, and Hans became a merman. Hans and Diana were married, but Diana soon began to have second thoughts. As a human Hans was different and mysterious, but in his new form, he was no different than any other merman. Worst, Hans was not used to his new body, and swam very clumsily. Diana soon tired of Hans, but they were married "until death took them apart". She lured Hans into open water and stabbed him to death. Upon his death, Hans transformed back into a human and Diana was horrified to see the result of her actions. Suddenly, blood began to spread from the corpse, enveloping Diana and causing her to black out...

Current Sketch:

Diana is utterly horrified by where she is. The Plane of Blood is a hideous mockery of the ocean she once loved. Even worst, she suffers from horrible cravings for human blood. Diana uses her magic to lure humans to her, then drinks them dry. In between feedings, she tries to find a way to resurrect Hans, but her inner fear of causing him more suffering prevents her magic from working. If she has already fed, she will usually avoid outsiders. Otherwise, she is unable to resist her cravings and will kill them, leaving one to feed upon.

Combat:

In combat, Diana will try and use the limited visibility of the plane to her advantage, attacking with magic from a distance and then swimming to another location while her animal companion and blood elementals keep them occupied.

Special Attacks:

Blood Drain (Ex): Diana can only suck the blood of humans. The blood elementals and native blood of the plane provides no sustenance for her.

Create Spawn (Su): Diana cannot create vampire spawn.

Wild Shape (Su): Diana's wildshape form is always undead. The only elemental she can transform into is a blood elemental.

Summon Blood Elemental (Su): Diana can summon up to 4 Blood Elementals per day. Each elemental has 8 hit dice and serves Diana willingly.

Special Qualities:

Turn Immunity (Ex): Diana can only be turned or rebuked by someone bearing the holy sign of a deity of water or the ocean.

Command (Su): All elementals in the plane are under Diana's control. She can see through their eyes and take direct control of them at will.

Closing the Borders: Diana cannot close the borders.