Café de Nuit

The mists of Ravenloft can reach out to any world, at any point in history, and pull people into the dread realms. Starting in 1991 TSR produced collectors cards with NPCs, monsters, and items. Here are some of the NPCs that found themselves drawn into the mists. Here I present some collectors cards (not the Ravenloft cards) of NPCs, and a brief description. Feel free to add your own descriptions.

Xanthom
Xanthom emerged from the mists in Sri Raji, where far from her extra pair of arms being considered a curse, people think of her as a saint (although not a nice one). Maharaja Arijani has his eyes on her and if she proves to be a pain, he will have her eliminated. Xanthom also has her eyes on Maharaja Arijani.



Zadoc
Zadoc emerged from the mists in Valachan and made his way to Tepest. There he found employ with the inquisition and villagers to hunt down monsters, in particular goblins. He held a goblin's feet to the fire (literally) and confirmed the existence of the hags of Tepest. He is keen to hunt the hags down, but needs to be paid a hefty sum to do so (and to hire assistants).



Nameless Priest of Zard - Code Name: TRQ
Brother TRQ emerged in from the mists in Paridon, in Blackchapel, to be precise. While stumbling about the unfamiliar area at night, brother TRQ was noticed by a doppelganger on the Path of Iron (see VRS Doppelgangers for details of that path), and the doppelganger was looking to murder. With only the lightest mind reading the doppelganger was able to tell that Brother TRQ was a non-native of Paridon, and thus no locals will be clamoring for an investigation. What followed was a vicious back alley knife fight between the alchemy deranged doppelganger and the Nameless Priest of Zard. Eventually brother TRQ won out, but just barely. Now aware that his attacker was a shapechanger, he is on high alert. Brother TRQ remains in Paridon, and believes the reason he was sent to Paridon is to recreate the priesthood of Zard in Paridon, and fight the doppelgangers (or bring them under the teachings of Zard). The clan of the dead doppelganger had to organize an emergency clean-up crew to depose of the body. They are disturbed that they are unable to get any information about what happened.



Alazar
Alazar emerged from the mists in boring Mordent, and ended up in Invidia where he found gainful employment with Lord Malocchio Aderre. He has a 'fixer' position, doing any kind of job required by Lord Aderre, but especially the kind of job that is likely to end in the spilling of blood. Lord Aderre pays well, and Alazar is very satisfied with the work. The only thing about his position that Alazar dislikes is dealing with the Inquest. Lord Aderre knows this and often sends Alazar to deal with the Inquest because he finds it amusing that Alazar is unnerved by the judges.



If people enjoy this, I will continue it later.

I like it. Always cool to see the old cards.

Anatoly Crarr

Anatoly emerged from the mists in Verbrek. Hungry, you might say Anatoly bit off more than he can chew when he unwittingly attacked a family of werewolves for their blood. Driven out of Verbrek, he now wanders Valachan. His existence in Valachan is tenuous, and the authorities there are looking for the interloper bloodsucker.



Bylquore

Bylquore emerged from the mists in Darkon, and settled in Martira Bay. Bylquore now believes that he has always lived in Darkon and he visits the graves of his 'parents' in Martira Bay. Bylquore is trying to re-establish himself by creating a gang of infected wererats.



Carolyn

Carolyn emerged from the mists in Borca, and traveled to Barovia. In Barovia she managed to destroy one of Strahd's servant vampires using her mace of disruption. Now convinced that the evil undead are rife in Barovia, Carolyn has been trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to organize the locals to fight against this evil.



Casimir

Casimir was not taken by the mists at all. Rather he used his plane traveling mirror to travel to the dread realms, and he appeared in Nova Vaasa. Unable to return home, Casimir is trying to establish himself in Nova Vaasa, going to the extent of using magic to compel people to assist him. It won't be long before Casimir is a wealthy man in Nova Vaasa.



Gimballon

Gimballon emerged from the mists in Dementlieu, where he soon found success as a gambler. He lives in Port-a-Lucine, fleecing wealthy marks of their money. Of late one of his victims has become suspicious and put out a hit on Gimballon. Gimballon has no idea what is coming.



Catriona

Catriona emerged from the mists in Richemulot, where she remains. Removed from her wealth in her home world, she has had to squat in one of the many empty buildings of Ste. Ronges. Blood has not been in short supply because Catriona has been preying on the wererats of that city. The frequent, almost daily, murders of wererats has the local wererat population spooked. Its only a matter of time before the local wererats beg Jacqueline Renier for help.

Bylquore for Lord Mayor!

Elkoremarr

Elkoremarr emerged from the mists in Pharazia in the Amber Wastes. Although Elkoremarr has lost much in his transition to the dread realms, he has discovered a wealth of necromantic potential in the Amber Wastes. Elkoremarr is always seeking adventurers to assist him in exploring and looting Har'Akir and Sebua, although he is circumspect about his activities in Pharazia because he does not want to draw the attention of Diambel.



Goram the Hill Giant

Goram entered the mists somewhere in the Balinok mountains and has been traveling throughout the core traversing the mountainous regions. His activities in waylaying and robbing travelers (even letting them live if he isn't hungry) has earned him the moniker "the blue varlet". Recently Goram ate the son of a local boyar and the boyar has notified Count Strahd Von Zarovich. Goram can reach places that humans find difficult to get to so he can play cat and mouse with his human pursuers for some time. The hunters that the Count sends will not be so easily avoided.



Ireisal

Ireisal emerged from the mists in Forlorn, where she faced almost immediate hit and run attacks from goblyns. For a entire week Ireisal was battling the goblyns, killing goblyns and using them as body guards by making zombies of the goblyn bodies using animate dead. She fled into Gundarak, then still under the control of Duke Gundar. Her retinue of undead goblyns brought her to the attention of Duke Gundar himself, who brought her under his protection. Ireisal now works as part of Duke Gundar's regime.



Krazen

Krazen entered the mists in Dementlieu, and is responsible for killings in Dementleiu, Richemulot, Mordent, and Borca. A wanted man in all these lands, there is a sizable bounty on Krazen's head. Unfortunately for the authorities and bounty hunters, collecting the bounty is hard because Krazen has always killed anyone that attempted to collect. Krazen plans to kill everyone that put a bounty on his head to teach them a lesson.



Morrandar and Liliornin

Morrandar and Liliornin emerged from the mists in Kartakass and went to Sithicus after hearing of elves there. To their surprise there is many similarities between Sithicus and Krynn. Liliornin feels sorry for the elves of Sithicus because they are so devoid of joy. Both Morrandar and Liliornin have been shocked to learn that Lord Soth is the ruler of Sithicus. Recently Morrandar and Liliornin have had a violent encounter with Kender vampires. They are determined to destroy the Kender vampires to free them from the curse of vampirism.

I loved those cards, I especially liked the art for magical items, it gave me a quick way to describe them, and I'd also give the card to the PC once they acquired one. I often reflect on how I could hav ebeen buying MTG Beta cards that actually held value......ah to be 11 years old again!

Great usage in our gameworld, by the way. There's always room for more characters!

Martin

Martin emerged from the mists near Vallaki. Martin has earned the trust of the normally insular locals of Vallaki by helping to repel an attack of the walking dead. Martin is looking for people to help him fight the undead, but none of the locals are interested in the pro-active approach to fighting the undead, preferring instead to ignore the undead until they attack. Its only a matter of time before Martin crosses paths with Carolyn who is situated in the town of Barovia. If they meet Martin will have the ally against the undead that he has long been seeking.



Nastorrian

Nastorrian emerged from the mists in Sithicus, and settled in Valachan. He quickly built a tower in the wilderness, using magic, human and humanoid slaves, and undead laborers. Nastorrian has found that his ability to create evil devices has increased in these lands, and he has already failed two powers checks. Nastorrian has elicited consternation from the Valachan authorities who have been unable to dislodge him. For now they watch and wait.



Martel

When Martel emerged from the mists in Borca, he had lost all his ill-gotten wealth gained over the years. Martel has been on a crime spree in Borca, even stealing a gold reliquary from the Great Cathedral of Levkarest with another thief. Martel planted a dagger into the back of his accomplice because Martel did not wish to share the loot. This murder and betrayal made Martel fail a powers check. Martel now has an eye on the back of his head, concealed beneath his hair. The eye doesn't seem to have any trouble seeing through hair or a cloth hood (but not metal helmets) and now Martel can see behind at all times, and is never surprised by an attack from behind.

Nobilius

Nobilius emerged through the mists in G'Henna. In G'Henna Nobilius was horrified at the abuses that the monks heaped on the peasants in the name of religion. Nobilius has identified High Priest Yagno Petrovna as the main culprit behind the deprivation found in G'Henna. Nobilius goes home to home, gradually inciting rebellion against the unjust authority of the high priest. Nobilius' group is called "the Fellowship of the Bountiful Harvest", and they encourage members to secretly withhold food from the monks, as much as they are able without getting caught. Aware that a purely internal revolution is impossible, Nobilius is courting foreign help.



Pallandra

Pallandra emerged through the mists in the city of Estrangia (Tales of Ravenloft: Undefiled) and settled down there, for she had nowhere else to go. Pallandra has said nothing to the local people about being a powerful cleric, instead telling them that she is a noblewoman deposited in Estrangia by the mists. She suspects that Friar Whelm is a monumental fraud, and in cahoots with the vampire Crave. Pallandra is impressed with the set up these two have in Estrangia - a single religion for the entire city with no rival faiths, and a populace cowed and naive. Pallandra wants to take over this set up herself but she needs to know exactly how things work in Estrangia first. Pallandra has avoided the 'blessings' of Friar Whelm, and is slowly building her own secret cult of Set among bad apples of Estrangia. Pallandra has no idea that Friar Whelm is undead as yet.



Vance

Vance emerged through the mists into Nidala. At first Vance had no idea that he had been transported anywhere because he was in unfamiliar lands before being taken by the mists. Vance was going to take up mercenary work for an evil king after getting an offer of good pay, but ended up in front of Faith-hold Castle instead. Shortly thereafter he was able to meet Elena Faith-hold who he assumed was a standard evil ruler. Elena employed Vance, and Vance was set to work. Vance wonders about Elena claiming to be a 'paladin' because the work he is doing in Nidala (like burning down innocent towns to intimidate the rest of the population) is just the kind work one would do for an evil ruler. Either way Vance figures that he isn't paid to ask questions.



Aladoom

One day the Dragon of Tyr had almost caught up to Aladoom when he arrived at a misty oasis. The next instant a miracle happened - Aladoom emerged through the mists into Richemulot. On his arrival to Mortigny he indicated to the locals that he had no home - and was given an abandoned home, free. The weather was temperate, and there was plenty of water and food. He also found his psionic talents in high demand and quickly began to make money. Most importantly he was beyond the reach of the Dragon and the terror that he had lived for the last ten years. Aladoom knows about the wererats because he has been attacked by them multiple times (they are trying to infect him). He considers the wererats a minor downside of an otherwise wonderful place.

Aladoom probably managed to move rhe youngest Dark powers to compassion, and they begged "Awww, can we take him?" And the Dark Power parents gave in; Lol.

I love Aladoom's reaction to Richemulot.

ewancummins wrote:I love Aladoom's reaction to Richemulot.

Yes! Coming from Athas, it would be a breeze to live and deal with Wererats. I imagine his ring of shooting stars helps in combatting those as well. This thread is great!

GreenWood wrote:

ewancummins wrote:I love Aladoom's reaction to Richemulot.

Yes! Coming from Athas, it would be a breeze to live and deal with Wererats. I imagine his ring of shooting stars helps in combatting those as well. This thread is great!

Speaking of rat-men,
I like the Tari of Athas.

Mahaveeshnu

Mahaveeshnu emerged from the mists in Markovia. A half-breed elf-orc, Mahaveeshnu has long felt sorry for himself - until he met the broken ones of Markovia. Mahaveeshnu's non-human, unique appearance made it easy for the broken ones to relate to him. Now Mahaveeshnu tries to help the broken ones by teaching them meditation techniques that can help them cope with violent impulses and lack of self control (broken ones that successfully learn self control from Mahaveeshnu can change alignment away from neutral evil). Although a novice monk himself, Mahaveeshnu managed to teach a handful of broken ones the basics of martial arts (4 broken ones are 1st level monks, alignment lawful neutral). Mahaveeshnu has heard of the giver of pain, Diosamblet, from his broken one followers and avoids him and advises his followers to do the same.



Ashley the Grey

Ashley emerged through the mists in the city of Kantora, Nova Vaasa, in an alleyway almost identical to where she had been in Greyhawk city. While roaming the city she rescued a drunk nobleman that had been set upon by thugs seeking to rob him. Only then did she realize that she was no longer in Greyhawk city. Since arriving in Kantora Ashley has discovered that a powerful crime lord named Malkin has a near monopoly on criminal activity in Kantora. No longer leaving those criminals that she catches alive (because unlike in Greyhawk city, these criminals never seem to give up the criminal life, which she attributes to the influence of Malken), she leaves her mark of ash on the foreheads of their corpses. Malken has put a bounty of 5000 thousand gold pieces on Ashley, to be presented to Malken alive. Ashley passes almost perfectly for human so her outcast rating is 0.



Ahmintam

Ahmintam emerged from the mists in Hazlan, but had to leave because of religious hostility. From the moment he entered the dread realms his spellcasting ability returned, but he did not feel the presence of his deity. Currently residing in Kartakass, Ahmintam still gives aid to all who ask. He lives in Skald, and has a cordial relationship with Meistersinger Harkon Lukas, who has even donated a small building to Ahmintam to use as a home and shrine.

The Nameless Priests of Zard seem like a deliberate way to mess with some kind of ultimate DnD encyclopedia, by forcing it to label itself as being from "(AAA, Brother) to (ZZZ, Brother)."

This thread has been fascinating.
And Alladoom's response to life in Richemulot made me smile.