The origins of Barovia... Finally revealed?

[Le Noir Faineant]

Hello,

Years and years, people have kept wondering what might have been the setting or the the inspiration for the original Ravenloft adventure...

It seems that I just stumbled over the answer... Back in the 80s , there was a RPG called "DragonQuest", released by a company called SPI, later bought and cancelled by TSR.

It seems that a place called "Borovia", who had been ruled by a vampire lord in the past and is now governed by two elven sorcerers is part of the game's lore... No idea if it was added later - means by fans who had converted the module - or if it indeed was officially mentioned... AMAZING!

More on this later - I am currently stuck in the research...

I am stunned! - I can only say that I am absolutely marvelled about this matter! - Maybe this is really the origin of Ravenloft?!

Yours,

Rafael

[Joël of the FoS]

Well, I-6 was published in 1983, so you just have to check the release date for this stuff.

Joël

[Le Noir Faineant]

The original box is from 1980...

Still, on the map I have, the place is not exposed...

Check the wikipedia entry here for some details, if you like!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonQuest

[Le Noir Faineant]

Here's where I got the map from:

http://www.darkrealms.com/~alarian/DQ/A ... siamap.htm

Maybe someone else wants to give it a look...

BTW, it's a cool setting, and I'll most likely DM a campaign there some day!

[Le Noir Faineant]

Okay...

Found a map. It seems to have been made by fans, but maybe this is a first hint.



Look for the northeastern corner...

Borovia
From DQWiki

The County Palatine of Borovia is located north of Midheim in the foothills of the Drachenzahnberge Mountains.

The County covers about 3500 square miles, although most of this area is rugged foothills and deep forest. Settlements consist of one major town Borovia (population: approx 5,000), and a number of small villages in the surrounding farming areas.

The population of Borovia is around 12,000: 8,000 human [including 2,000 native (Old) Borovians, and 1,000 Domani.]; 1,500 elven; 1,000 halfling; 700 dwarven; 500 Erelheine; 300 other races.

Seat of government is the Rabenschloß (Castle of the Raven) which stands on a high bluff overlooking the town. Heads of State since 787 WK are Countess Anestasia Desiree and Count Kree Taijin. Head of the civil government is Mayor Ismark.

A variety of languages are spoken in the County. Most people speak at least some Common; other languages in frequent use are Elven (30%), Old Borovian [a derivative of Old Kravonian] (20%), Erelheine (15%).

There is no official religion, but about 10% of the population (mostly the older native Borovians) have some association with the Raphaelite sect of the Elohim. There is some adherence to other religions, including Erelheine animism.

There is no official currency, but most common currencies can be freely exchanged, and merchants from many parts of the Baronies can be found in Borovia. Trade runs south along the new road into Midheim, by river down through Borderlay, by canal (via subterranean tunnel) to Alfheim, and by permanent portal gate to the city of Kyoshin in Kinlu.

An unusual point of interest is the Mechanician's Guild and Seige Warfare training facility run by Katerina, daughter of the late Duke Frederick of Aquila and wife of Baron Silverfoam, Admiral of Borovia, which lies at the foot of the hill upon which is perched the resplendant blue-and-silver Chateau Neuf-de-Pap, the Baronial abode.

[Spiteful Crow]

And now we know.

[The Giamarga]

Most awesome, Rafe!
I bow to your research skills. *bows*

There is no official religion, but about 10% of the population (mostly the older native Borovians) have some association with the Raphaelite sect of the Elohim. There is some adherence to other religions, including Erelheine animism. [/i]

.. as do some of the Borovian natives apparently!

[Le Noir Faineant]

Thank you! But I am still not definitely sure if "Borovia" is indeed a place that was included in the first edition of DQ. If it was added later, it might well have been a nod to the old I6 adventure...

Problem is, I cannot find reference to the Dragonquest adventure modules anywhere... But I am definitely working on this.

[Dion of the Fraternity]

I'm guessing that "Borjia" is a post-Dragonquest addition to Borovia.

[Le Noir Faineant]

The DQ setting is pretty *Conan* or *Greyhawk*, so I assume Borca etc were indeed no part of it...

[Bluebomber4evr]

I think what we're looking at is actually a fan-made DQ map with a nod to I6. The DragonQuest game was originally published in 1980, and the "Frontiers of Alusia" map you linked to (at http://www.darkrealms.com/~alarian/DQ/A ... siamap.htm ) is the only official map of the DQ world, published in 1981, with no reference to this "Borovia" anywhere on it.

DQ's publisher, SPI, went out of business in 1983, the same year TSR published I6. I'm pretty sure Tracy & Laura Hickman took their time to create the module (and that map by Dave Sutherland must have taken quite some time to draw), so it's unlikely that they started work on this after DragonQuest was bought by TSR.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

The reference to "Alfheim" is at least moderately suspicious, too. While there's certainly precedent for a plane of existence of that name, in Norse mythology, the nation of Alfheim was a published realm within the Mystara setting's Known World. It was even accessible through a tunnel leading from Rockhome, IIRC.

Again, no smoking gun -- the term could've been inspired by the original Norse myths -- but it's another clue that it's fan-looting at work, nothing more monumental than that.

[Lord Cyclohexane]

I have to agree with Bluebomber, it doesn't look like "Borovia" is on the original map. I went to the website linked, downloaded the entire "Frontiers of Alusia" zip file, which includes a better scan of the map, and tried finding this "Borovia."

My findings? Not only is "Borovia" not on the original map, neither is anything else that's on that fan-made map. I couldn't even find these supposed countries of Aquila, Aladar, Bowcourt, etc... I think this one might be a bust.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Indeed, this seems all very *homebrew* to me. Still, I haven't looked through all the DQ resources, and at least the *Western Kingdom* seems to belong to the canon.

More on this later.(Sorry, gotta go to work...)

But really, I am not wining or loosing with this. If you find anything that corrects my assumption, please post it!

Alfheim indeed is from Mystara, and Sanctuary from Robert Asprin's Theives World... It would be logical that Borovia was also taken from somewhere...

I'll investigate this a bit further...

[Le Noir Faineant]

1.1 HISTORY OF THE CAMPAIGN
In August of 1981 a single game master (GM) Robert Leyland started a campaign based on the then new
DragonQuest (DQ) game. Since that time and with the help of more than a few GMs the campaign has expanded to now
encompass roughly 50–60 players, over 100 active characters, roughly 15 hard working GMs and approximately as
many worlds as 15 GMs can dream up.

This is a strong hint that the so-called Western Kingdom is no canonical source!

Plus, the map of the supposed DQ world that is featured on the Seafarers Guild site, seems to be heavily based on Mystara's Known World – except for Alusia, of course.

I am sorry to have caused so much confusion.

Again, the mystery of Barovia's origin seems to be lost in the mists of time...

But my research will go on!