Mistipedia - User contributions [en]

Category:Rusalii

2025-06-29T23:29:04Z

Cure:

{{canon}}

In [[Transylvania]], those departed [[ancestor]]s not properly honored during the [[Week of Rusalii]] arise as [[invisible]], malignant [[spirit]]s identical to [[odem]]s. Once [[possessed]], the victims of the rusalii can only be free through [[spell]]s such as [[banishment]] or [[dismissal]] or a [[ceremony]] performed by the [[Company of the Dance]].<ref>[[Guide to Transylvania]] p. 66</ref>

{{ref}}

[[category:Possessor]]
[[category:Odem]]
[[category:Chaotic Evil]]
[[category:Undead]]
[[category:Native Monster of Transylvania]]
[[category:Native Monster of Gothic Earth]]
[[category:Transylvanian]]
[[category:Incorporeal]]
[[category:Incorporeal Undead]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T22:46:46Z

Cure: /* Chronology */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

"682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe 'howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south'. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear."<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core", pg. 3, Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:55 pm.]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southeast. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or everywhere it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref> The Mist do not withdraw from the east to reveal the [[Nightmare Lands]] until 683 BC.

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC The Mists withdraw from the east to reveal the [[Nightmare Lands]].

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T22:45:41Z

Cure: /* Chronology */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

"682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe 'howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south'. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear."<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core", pg. 3, Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:55 pm.]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southeast. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or everywhere it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref> The Mist do not withdraw from the east to reveal the [[Nightmare Lands]] until 683 BC.

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC The Mists withdraw from the east to reveal the [[Nightmare Lands]] until 683 BC.

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T22:21:02Z

Cure: /* The Great Upheaval */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

"682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe 'howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south'. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear."<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core", pg. 3, Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:55 pm.]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southeast. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or everywhere it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T22:19:30Z

Cure: /* Place in the History of the Formation of the Core */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

"682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe 'howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south'. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear."<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core", pg. 3, Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:55 pm.]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or everywhere it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T22:06:51Z

Cure: /* Future */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear.<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core", pg. 3, Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:55 pm.]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or everywhere it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T12:39:29Z

Cure: /* Place in the History of the Formation of the Core */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear.<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core", pg. 3, Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:55 pm.]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or every it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T12:37:09Z

Cure: /* Place in the History of the Formation of the Core */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear.<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core" post 1285.]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or every it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
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|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
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''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T10:34:20Z

Cure: /* Place in the History of the Formation of the Core */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear.<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 An Illustrated History of the Core post 1285.]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or every it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T10:33:17Z

Cure: /* Place in the History of the Formation of the Core */

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear.<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core post 1285."]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or every it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T10:31:38Z

Cure:

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear.<ref>[https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616 "An Illustrated History of the Core"]</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or every it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Mistipedia:Community Portal

2024-11-09T10:25:58Z

Cure:

Come join the online Ravenloft community at the [http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum Fraternity of Shadows Forum, Le Cafe de Nuit.]And enjoy all the compiled Ravenloft information, netbooks, and resources at [http://www.fraternityofshadows.com The Fraternity of Shadows.]

Mistipedia:Community Portal

2024-11-09T10:25:35Z

Cure:

Come join the online Ravenloft community at the [http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum Fraternity of Shadows Forum, Le Cafe de Nuit.] And enjoy all the compiled Ravenloft information, netbooks, and resources at [http://www.fraternityofshadows.com The Fraternity of Shadows.]

Reckonings

2024-11-09T10:24:58Z

Cure:

DeepShadow's Epic Ravenloft experiment, starting in the Forgotten Realms, and centering in [[Saragoss]]. Run as a play-by-post on MadStepDad's What Would U Do forum and the [http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/ Cafe de Nuit.]
[[Category:Campaign]]
[[Category:Online]]

Call Wild Hunt

2024-11-09T10:23:59Z

Cure:

{{Potential-Canon}}
This spell was cut from [[Gazetteer I]]. Presumably, the effect was to call [[The Wild Hunt]].<ref>Unused [[Gazetteer I]] material revealed by [[Chris Nichols]] in a [http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=54129#54129 post]on the [[Cafe de Nuit]] forum</ref>

<references/>

[[Category:Spell]]

Dr. H.H. Holmes

2024-11-09T10:14:59Z

Cure:

{{canon}}

H.H. Holmes (no relation to [[Sherlock Holmes]]) was a very skilled [[doctor]] but also a ruthless [[serial killer]], having [[murdered]], mutilated, and [[tortured]] between 25 and 200 people in the [[World's Fair Hotel]], what he called his "[[torture palace]]". On [[Gothic Earth]], the [[sadistic]] pleasure he gains from such horrors draws him closer and closer to the embrace of [[the Red Death]]. He may already be a [[:category:Demilord (Red Death)|a servant of demilord rank]].<ref>[[Masque of the Red Death (Book)]] p. 204</ref>

More on H.H. Holmes at [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes Wikipedia]

{{ref}}

[[category:character]][[category:NPC]]
[[category:Absconder]]
[[category:American]]
[[category:Betrayer]]
[[category:Bigamist]]
[[category:Builder]]
[[category:Character Without Game Statistics]]
[[category:Con Man]]
[[category:Conspirator]]
[[category:Deceiver]]
[[category:Defiler]]
[[category:Desecrator]]
[[category:Disloyal]]
[[category:Doctor]]
[[category:Exploiter]]
[[category:former Medical Student]]
[[category:Former Student]]
[[category:Fraudster]]
[[category:Graduate]]
[[category:Historical Figure of Earth]]
[[category:human]]
[[category:Imprisoner]]
[[category:Inhabitants of Chicago]]
[[category:Inhabitants of Illinois]]
[[category:Inhabitants of North America]]
[[category:Inhabitants of the United States of America]]
[[category:Inhabitants of Gothic Earth]]
[[category:Inn Owner]]
[[category:Liar]]
[[category:male]]
[[category:Masque of the Red Death]]
[[category:Medical Doctor]]
[[category:Medical Professional]]
[[category:Murderer]]
[[category:Pharmacist]]
[[category:Poisoner]]
[[category:Potential Demilord (Red Death)]]
[[category:professional Killer]]
[[category:Professional Murderer]]
[[category:proprietor]]
[[category:Sadist]]
[[category:Sadistic Torturer]]
[[category:Serial Killer]]
[[category:Thief]]
[[category:Torturer]]
[[category:Trapmaker]]
[[category:Villain]]

Nova Vaasa

2024-11-09T09:09:49Z

Cure:

{{dombox
|picture=Jester-Nova-vaasa.png
|culture_lvl=Medieval
|ecology=Full
|terrain=[[Temperate forests]], [[hills]], [[plains]]
|year_formed=[[682 BC]]
|population=67,700
|races=Humans 91%, halflings 5%, gnomes 3%, other 1%
|languages=[[Vaasi]], Halfling, Gnome, [[Balok]], [[Darkonese]], [[Falkovnian]], [[Tepestani]]
|religions=[[Church of the Lawgiver]]
|government=Aristocracy
|ruler=[[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]
|darklord=[[Malken]]
|analog=[[Russia]], [[Vaasa]] on [[Toril]]
|nationality=[[Nova Vaasan]]
}}
{{canon}}
==Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend==

*[[Chezna the Blood-cat]]

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]]

*[[George Weathermay]]

*[[Nightmares]]

*[[The Black Duke]]

*[[The Centaur]]

==Biology==

===[[Flora of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Grasses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p11">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p11.</ref>====

*''[[Dødmangraes]]'' ("dead man's grass") is found in the [[Ehrendton]] of [[Nova Vaasa]]. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.

*''[[Havgraes]]'' is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking [[plains cat]]. It is common in the [[Pommel]].

*''[[Hestgraes]]'' is a knee-high grass, in which the [[plains cat]] is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ('Thundering Plain').

*''[[Knivgraes]]'' is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the ''[[Dommark]]'' ("Plains of Judgement").

*''[[Vingraes]]'' is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

====Cacti====

*[[Catspaw]]

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====
*[[Wheat]]
*[[Oats]]
*[[Rye]]

===[[Fauna of Nova Vaasa]]===

====Cats====

*[[Plains Cat]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref>

====[[Horse|Horses]]<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p17.</ref>====

*''[[Gedfode]]'' ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the ''[[Kesjermark]]'' and of the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' in [[Nova Vaasa]]. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. ''Gedfode'' are used by the [[Vistani]] as pack animals. The [[Vaasi]] use them to carry freight to and from the docks of [[Guldstrand Beach]] and up and down the rock trail to [[Egertus]] perched on the cliff high above.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p13.</ref>

*''[[Jernryge]]'' (“iron-backs”)

*''[[Rødbuge]]'' (“red-bellies”)

*''[[Vaamgaaer]]'' ("heat-walker")

*''[[Vindhåre]]'' (“wind-manes”)

====[[Fish]]====
*[[Cod]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

*[[Herring]]<ref name="RL3E p. 134">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 134</ref><ref name=rlphbp.153>[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.153</ref>

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

====Snakes<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p18-19.</ref>====

*[[Bluffsnake]]

*[[Diamondback]]

*[[Goldenhood]]

*[[Ironwhips]]

*[[Kingsnake]]

*[[Sidewinder]]

*[[Vaasi garter snake]]

*[[Whipsnake]]

===Native Horrors===

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic [[Doedridere]], a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul [[Hestdrikker]], which feeds on the blood of horses<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; vicious [[Hestskærere]], which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>; and treacherous [[Niksiee]], which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19</ref>, and the devilish [[dread nightmare|nightmare]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>, a [[fiend]] that has the form of a horse.

*[[Jermlaine]]<ref name="ROT p. 78">[[Ravenloft: Realm of Terror]], p. 78</ref><ref name="Domains and Denizens p. 26">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]], p. 26</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.19-20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 19-20</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[The Bad Wind]]<ref>[[Children of the Night: Demons]]</ref>

*[[Mud Monster|The Mud Monster]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

*[[The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead]] p. 61</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 36</ref>

====Aberrations====
*[[Broken One]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

====Undead====
*[[Bastellus]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Doedridere]]

*[[Geist]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghoul]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Ghoul Lord]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Ghost]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Shadow]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Skeleton]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Spectre]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>
**[[Dread Wight]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

*[[Wraith]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.20">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 20</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Nova_Vassa.png|thumb|Nova Vaasa map by the [[MCS]].
''Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.'']]

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the [[Nocturnal Sea]].

===[[Weather]]===

===Terrain===

====Plains====

*The ''[[Dommark]]'' ([["Plain of Judgement"]]) is located in central east Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Ehrendton]]'' is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.

*The ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("[[Plain of Misery]]")

*The ''[[Kesjermark]]'' ("[[King’s Plain]]")

*The [[Pommel]] is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the [[Saniset River]].

*The ''[[Tordenmark]]'' ("[[Thundering Plain]]") lies between the [[Ivlis River]] and the [[Saniset River]]. To the north it is part of the [[Ivlis Duchy]] of the [[Rivtoff family]] and to the south it is part of the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]].

====Hills====

*The [[Altid Bluffs]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]] are the southern foothills of the [[Mountains of Misery]]. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since [[740 BC]], they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the [[East Timori Road]] between [[Liara]] and the [[Trished River]] and even beyond.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior [[timber]], and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.

*The [[Hvile Bluffs]]

*The [[Koshka Bluffs]] .... In their eastern shadow stands the [[Misbande Forest]]. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p15</ref>

*The [[Stony Bluffs]]

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

====[[Canyons]]====

*The [[Katsmund Canyon]]

*The ''[[Storrokke Canyon]]

====Forests====

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the [[Balinoks]] in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of [[Nova Vaasa]] beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the [[Saniset River]], the eastern [[Hazlan]]i frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the [[Misty Border]]. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====Woods====
''Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.''

*The [[Abentaage Forest]] stands a few miles north of [[Arbora]].

*The [[Briarweed Forest]] stand between [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]], a little south of the [[East Timori Road]].

*The [[Misbande Forest]] stands in shadow, to the east, of the [[Koshka Bluffs]].

====Lakes====

*The [[Three Sisters]]

===Communication===

====Rivers====

=====Dnar River System=====
The ''Sydligdnar'' ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the [[Nocturnal Sea]] and the docks at [[Kantora]]. With the right winds, the ''Sydligdnar'' can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the ''Sydligdnar''. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in [[Tepest]] as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The [[East Timori Road]] remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the [[Trished River]], inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the [[Borchava River]], suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In [[Liara]] there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the [[Tepest]]ani frontier and [[Lake Kronov]].

*The ''[[Sydligdnar]]'' ("[[South Dnar River]]") has as its tributaries the [[Dnar River]] and the [[Vaughn Dnar River]].
**The [[Dnar River]]
**The [[Vaughn Dnar River]] has as its tributary the [[Borchava River]] and the [[Trished River]].
***The [[Borchava River]] has as its tributary the [[Little Borchava River]]
****The [[Little Borchava River]]
***The [[Trished River]]

=====Ivlis River System=====
The [[Ivlis River]] and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The [[Volgis River]] may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to [[Bergovitsa]] however.

*The [[Ivlis River]] has as its tributaries the [[Volgis River]] and [[Ulvand River]]
**The [[Volgis River]]
**The [[Ulvand River]]

=====Saniset River System=====
The [[Saniset River]] is navigable from the [[Nocturnal Sea]] to [[Sly-Var]] and beyond, certainly not all the way to [[Immol]], but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian [[Balinoks]] where the climb to [[Immol]] begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise ''chuul'', when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The ''[[Genspejle]]'' is navigable from [[Sly-Var]] to the frontier with [[Nova Vaasa]] and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above [[Sly-Var]]. The [[Iron Road]] crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to [[Toyalis]]. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to [[Toyalis]] from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of [[Veneficus]]. The Iron Road crosses ''Genspejle'' at [[Sly-Var]]. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The [[Vaere Bange Road]] crosses the Saniset near the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Again a ferry would make sense.

*The [[Saniset River]] has as its tributaries the ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]") and the ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")
**The ''[[Genspejle]]'' ("[[Mirror River]]")
**The ''[[Felgmøsge]]'' ("[[Mistmoss River]]")

=====Musarde River System=====
The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern [[Pommel]]. Only the [[Vistani]] or a [[Captain of the Mists | captain of the Mists]] could, however, hope to use the [[East Musarde River]] to reach southwestern [[Hazlan]] or the [[Musarde River]] to reach the southwestern [[Pommel]] of [[Nova Vaasa]].

*The [[Musarde River]] has as its tributary the [[East Musarde River]].
**The [[East Musarde River]]

====Roads====

*The [[East Timori Road]] runs from [[Egertus]], through [[Kantora]] and [[Liara]], and into [[Tepest]] where it is cut short by the [[Shadow Rift]]. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to [[Kellee]] is 10 miles.

*The [[Old Svalich Road]] begins just south of [[Bergovitsa]] and joins Nova Vaasa to [[Barovia]] and the lands beyond, crossing the [[Balinoks]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the [[Village of Barovia]] is 47 miles.

*The [[Prince’s Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Kantora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

*The [[Vaere Bange Road]] joins [[Bergovitsa]] and [[Arbora]]. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

*The [[Iron Road]] joins the Pommel to [[Sly-Var]] and [[Toyalis]]. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through [[Tepest]] and [[Keening]] to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]].

====[[Mistways]]====

*The [[Bleak Road]] (poor reliability, two-Way) from the [[Misty Border]] south of [[Arbora]] in southern [[Nova Vaasa]] to northern [[Vorostokov]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

*The [[Serpent's Coils]] (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern [[Nova Vaasa]] to [[Paridon]]. This [[Mistway]] is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the [[dark of the moon]]. [VRGttM pg. 70-71] Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

*The [[Unending Sleep]] (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from [[The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]] outside of [[Egertus]] to the [[Nightmare Lands]]. This [[Mistway]] is unknown as such.

===Landmarks===
*The ''[[forventetaarn]]'' ("watchtowers")

===Frontiers===

====[[Barovia]]====

*The [[Old Svalich Woods]] is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the [[Old Svalich Road]] in [[Barovia]] from the [[Village of Barovia]] to the [[Nova Vaasa]]n frontier.

*The [[Howling Hills]], called the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian [[Balinoks]]. They are thickly forested by the [[Graenseskov]] ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground.

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the [[Hills of Bleak Vistas]] and to the Nova Vaasans as the [[Howling Hills]]. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the [[Old Svalich Road]] where the beech-firs of the [[Old Svalich Woods]] resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into [[Hazlan]] itself.

====[[Darkon]]====

*The [[Mountains of Misery]]

*The [[Forgotten Hills]]

====[[Hazlan]]====

*The ''[[Graenseskov]]'' ("[[Borderwood]]")

*The ''[[Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne]]'' ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern [[Hazlan]] close to the border with [[Nova Vaasa]] at the limit of the ''[[Ufrugtbarlan]]'' ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]") stradles just south of the [[Saniset River]] the eastern with [[Nova Vaasa]], fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the [[Felgmøsge]] ("Mistmoss River").

====[[Tepest]]====

*The [[Wormwood]] stands south of the [[South Dnar River]] in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into [[Nova Vaasa]] where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the ''[[Elendighedmark]]'' ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, [[Vaasi]] bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the [[Darklords]] of Tepest.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p47,166.</ref>

====The [[Shadow Rift]]====

*The [[Vaesen Foothills]] of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the [[Balinoks]] from vanished [[Markovia]]. They front the [[Shadow Rift]].

*The ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the [[Old Svalich Road]] to the edge of the [[Shadow Rift]] and fronts the [[Shadow Rift]] to a little south of the [[Borchava River]]. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

====The [[Mists]] (the [[Misty Border]])====

*The ''[[Skyggeskov]]'' ("[[Shadowwood]]")

====The [[Nocturnal Sea]]====

*The [[Fortress Coast]]

===Place in the History of the Formation of [[the Core]]===

Ryan Naylor:

682: Nova Vaasa forms.

What have the Dark Powers been doing for the last 50 years? Obviously their attention has been elsewhere.

And so we come to the tangled continuity sprawl that is Nova Vaasa - unique because out of 5 canon descriptions in 2e, not one agreed with the others. How many moons are there? What class is Tristen, Enemy Within? What is Tristen's name, Monster Compendium II? So three cheers for Andrew Cermak for trying to make some sense out of that tangled mess for Gaz V (of which I was not one).

It's also one of the ones that tends to cause controversy because of Tristen not deserving it. Interesting, Lamordia (the other one), is the next domain to form. Perhaps it's a phase the Dark Powers are going through?

Personally, I prefer Rotipher's interpretation of events: before he was cursed, Tristen was LE, and it was the losing control he regretted, not the murder. His hypocrisy (particularly given how young he was when he became a darklord) leads to a literally 2 faced darklord, and an equally bifurcated domain, also full of hypocritical nobles in lovely country villas, squeezing the lifeblood out of their servants and urban poor. As regards Edmund Hiregaard, Malken is gaslighting the alchemist (Tristen's cousin) into thinking his dark side is Malken.

Another theory I devised years ago was that the domains that have been retconned (Arak and Nova Vaasa) also border the Nightmare Lands (although not yet). Perhaps the unreality of the dreamscape drifts in slow sheets across it's neighbouring domains, causing uncertain histories to follow?

Important to note: Malken is the darklord, and Tristen is his curse, not the other way around.

This is also the first time the Church of the Lawgiver appears in the Core.

Another interesting point about Nova Vaasa is that it significantly changes size during the Grand Conjunction. Continuing this theme, the Nova Vaasa on this map is slightly smaller than the Nova Vaasa that'll appear in 690 BC, which is smaller than the one that'll appear in 740 BC. I like to think it represents Malken's struggle with Tristen: as Tristen gets older and more tired, his is less able to constrain Malken's evil, and the domain swells to match (although unfortunately, neither 690 nor 740 really coincides with anything important in Malken's life).

A brief diversion into the world of trade: Barovia (the south Core) and Darkon (the north Core) are originally able to trade through the Krezk path, or the trade route through Arak and Marbh-Cathair. Mordent and Darkon can trade overland or through the Sea of Sorrows, which starts the long demographic shift in Darkon towards the west.

The formation of Keening closes this pass, so for the last 100 years or so, all trade between the north and south Cores has had to go through either Arak or the Mists (the Dark Powers decide that if Strahd and Azalin can’t play nicely, they don’t get to play together at all). Gundarak and Invidia can trade along the rivers, and then overland to Barovia. Marbh-Cathair’s gone, but the mountain passes they used to trade through remain—which just goes to show how traumatic the Scourge of Arak must have been for the Core as a whole. It annihilated a domain, destroyed a healthy slab of the mining industry, and made trade extremely difficult. Again, this probably reinforces Barovian xenophobia.

My placement of Nova Vaasa after 100 years of this means that the old route through Arak suddenly has Liara on it as a way station (in a very similar position to where Marbh-Cathair was, actually). Coincidentally, this is Tristen Hiregaard’s hometown. Trade between north and south Cores therefore continues through Arak, with only minor deviations into Nova Vaasa, which fits Nova Vaasa’s isolated, foreign, wilderness character. In 8 years, Falkovnia forms, and even though it’s Falkovnia, it’s easier to trade through it than Arak, so this trade route with very slowly dry up.

If you don't like the distance between Kantora and Bergovista changing slightly between 682 and 690 BC, you could always stick the domain at its 740 size and position, between Barovia and Darkon (multiple choice histories to go with Nova Vaasa again!). However, there are 2 reasons why I don’t think this is correct.

1. If you want to have Nova Vaasa directly between Barovia and Arak (so, without changing positions in 690 BC), trade goes through Arak, Egertus, Kantora, Bergovista and further south to the Old Svalich Road. I think that requires too central a position for Nova Vaasa, but you may disagree. It certainly would explain the bloated size of Nova Vaasan cities.

And 2. In Gaz V, contemporary sources from 682 (although it has to be 683) BC in Nova Vaasa (in Gaz V) describe “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. Which is to say, shortly after it forms, Nova Vaasa was bordered by Barovia, Arak, the Nightmare Lands (from 683 BC) and the Mists. If it was in its 740 BC position, it’s mostly got Mist to the west, not howling fear.<ref name="An Illustrated History of the Core">https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173616</ref>

===The [[Great Upheaval]]===
Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with [[Markovia]] became one with the [[Shadow Rift]], with positive consequences for the ''[[Dyrskov]]'' ("[[Beastwood]]"). But the [[Shadow Rift]] also ended trade with the western [[Core]] via the [[Timori Road]], which could not have been good for [[Liara]] in particular although it may have helped [[Bergovitsa]] a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the [[Nightmare Lands]], but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] simply being relocated to the east and [[Arbora]] likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the [[Nightmare Lands]] was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], which has not only lent [[Egertus]] and [[Arbora]] considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of [[Hazlan]] was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with [[Bluetspur]]. This greatly altered the locations of [[Sly-Var]] and [[Arbora]] relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable [[Saniset River]] could now carry goods between the two lands.

===Population Distribution===

====Cities====

*[[Kantora]] (pop. 16520)

*[[Bergovitsa]] (pop. 6640)

*[[Liara]] (pop. 7590)

====Towns====

*[[Arbora]] (pop. 4610)

*[[Egertus]] (pop. 3940)

====Villages====

*[[Drataan]] was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the [[Ehrendton]], probably near the [[Darkonese frontier]] which was the [[Arakian frontier]] prior to the [[Great Upheaval]]. In [[685 BC]], it was razed by the [[Black Duke]] and his [[Brotherhood of the Whip]]. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

*[[Guldstrand Beach]] is the leading port in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just south of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It is joined to [[Egertus]] by a steep path, to [[Kantora]] by a ferry, and almost certainly to [[Skibbygger Beach]] by a ferry.

*[[Haaldam]] is the largest settlement on the [[Ehrendton]] in northwestern [[Nova Vaasa]] with a population of roughly 200 people.<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p42.</ref>

*[[Mavalga]] is a small fishing port on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of [[Rutledge]] which itself stands on the border of [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the [[Ehrendton]] in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the [[Bad Wind]] in [[755 BC]].

*[[Mel Fira]] was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in [[735 BC]] as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a [[wererat]]. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.

* {{netbook-small}}[[Rutledge]] is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] that straddles the border between [[Darkon]] and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a [[pirate haven]].

*[[Skibbygger Beach]] is the leading ship building centre in [[Nova Vaasa]]. It lies on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] just north of the mouth of ''[[Sydligdnar]]''. It should be joined to [[Guldstrand Beach]] by a ferry.

==[[Economy]]==

===Agrarian===

====[[Crops of Nova Vaasa]]====

====[[Livestock of Nova Vaasa]]====

=====[[Horse of Nova Vaasa|Horses of Nova Vaasa]]=====

===Manufacturing===

====Ships====

===[[Trade]]===

===[[Taxation]]===

===Black Market===

==[[Authority]]==

===[[Darklord]]===
[[Malken]]

===Temporal Rule===

====[[Legends | Legendary]]====

*[[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] (“Highly Seated” or “Well Mounted”) – The Conqueror-King, The Unifier of the [[Vaasi nation]], Empire Builder of [[The Lawgiver]] and commander of his hordes from the [[Hell of Slaves]], <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22, 30</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] – Breaker of the False Religions, Breaker of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], self-proclaimed and recognised leader of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”), leader of the unsuccessful [[Wars of Conversion]] <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 21-22</ref>

*[[Sainted Prince Jokum Rivtoff the Pacifier]] – Restorer of the [[Cycle of Stewards]], 10 year prince and 25 year regent <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

====[[The Five Families]] and [[their Territorial Holdings]]====

Five Families are the leading noble families [[Nova Vaasa]] that have divided and shared the rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] between themselves so long as the [[Cycle of Stewards]] has remained unbroken. At present the cycle is broken, the work of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] who has undisguised ambitions for himself and his line. The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] has so far supported his royal pretentions.

*The [[Bolshnik family]] has as its patriarch [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]]. He rules over the [[Heartland Duchy]] located in north-central and northeastern Nova Vaasa. [[Kantora]] and [[Egertus]] fall under the sway of the Bolshniks.

*The [[Hiregaard family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tristen Hiregaard]]. He rules over the [[Borchava Duchy]] in north-western Nova Vaasa. [[Liara]] falls under the sway of the Hiregaards.

*The [[Vistin family]] is governed by a regent, [[Lady Lara Vistin]]. She rules over the [[Altid Duchy]] located in the corner of Nova Vaasa formed by [[Barovia]] and the [[Shadow Rift]]. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Rivtoff family]].

*The [[Rivtoff family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]]. He rules over the [[Ivlis Duchy]] located in central-southern Nova Vaasa. Control over [[Bergovitsa]] is disputed with the [[Vistin family]].

*The [[Chekiv family]] has as its patriarch [[Duke Tunch Chekiv]]. He rules over the [[Pommel Duchy]] located in southern most Nova Vaasa. [[Arbora]] falls under the sway of the Chekivs.

====[[The Cycle of Stewards]]====

The perpetual temporal rule of the [[Vaasi nation]] by a royal family ended before it began. The [[Conqueror-King Zaanji Højplads]] was named the Eternal King and his seat left empty awaiting his return, which is to say that the role of king was replaced by that of prince and steward. The patriarchs of the [[Five Families]] each enjoy a four year term as temporal leader of the [[Vaasi nation]] according to a rotating schedule named the [[Cycle of Stewards]]. The choice of the title of "prince" and even more so of that of "steward" anticipates the return of a king who would reincarnate the glorious past of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]] if not be the reincarnation of the Eternal King himself. Othmar Bolshnik seeks for himself Højplads's title of king at least. To this end he has broken the Cycle of Stewards, something that has been done before, although never for a complete cycle. As of yet there is no indication that he can win for himself and his nation glories worth speaking of and so hope to be the title's undisputed bearer. And even if he could, the [[Bolshnik family]] would be unwise to imagine that the other four of the [[Five Families]] would lie quiescent for long.

BC

*[[664 BC|664]]-[[668 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Vistin family]] [Deduction]

*[[669 BC|669]]-[[671 BC]] - [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]] ( - [[671 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*671-[[673 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] -) / Regent [[Sergei Hiregaard]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[674 BC|674]]-[[678 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]]

*[[679 BC|679]]-[[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] (- [[683 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*683 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[684 BC|684]]-[[688 BC]] - [[Prince Rivtoff]] [MT]

*[[689 BC|689]]-[[693 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[699 BC|699]]-[[703 BC]] - Patriarch of the [[Chekiv family]] [Deduction]

*[[704 BC|704]]-[[708 BC]] - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) [Deduction]

*[[709 BC|709]]-[[713 BC]] - [[Prince Søren Rivtoff]] / Regent [[Lord Adal Keirin]] <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[714 BC|714]]-[[718 BC]] - [[Prince Bevis Vistin]] ( - [[756 BC]]) <ref name="Probable Speculation based onRavenloft Gazetteer V p.34">Probable speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

*[[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Prince Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

*[[724 BC|724]]-[[728 BC]] - Deceased father of [[Tunch Chekiv]] <ref>Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

*728-729 BC - [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] ([[671 BC|671]] - [[729 BC]]) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

*729-[[733 BC]] - [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] ([[708 BC]] - ) / Regent [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] ([[660 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32, 33, 149-151</ref>

*733 BC-present [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]] - Breaker of the Cycle of Stewards ([[708 BC]] - ) <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 33, 149-151]</ref>

===Spiritual Rule===

The [[Church of the Law Giver]] has ruled the spirtual life of the Vaasi nation for as long as history recounts.

====Legendary====

*[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] united in his person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]]. He instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) and was the first to bear it. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 22</ref>

*Three princes subsequent to [[Gorkyn]] have been recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] as [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>, reuniting in their person the temporal authority of the [[Vaasi nation]] and the spiritual authority of the [[Iron Faith]].

====Contempory====

BC?-present [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] commands the [[Iron Faith]] across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]]. He is a priest of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]] who by his spiritual prowess climbed its ranks and succeed becoming its [[Himmelsk Naeve]] ("Divine Fist").

===Church and State===

The rule of Vaasi temporal leaders, in temporal affairs, is recognised by the [[Church of the Lawgiver]]. Likewise, the rule of Vaasi spiritual leaders, in spiritual affairs, is enforced by the princes of the Vaasi nation.

Temporal authority and spiritual authority have been incarnated in a single individual on four occasions. This was first done by [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] who instituted the title of [[Himmelsk Naeve]] (“Divine Fist”). Only the most ambitious and worthy of temporal or spiritual leaders make much progress towards achieving this coincidence of temporal and spiritual authority.

The ambitions of [[Prince Othmar Bolshnik]], by comparison, run in the direction of breaking the fetters placed by the other noble families on his own so as to elevate himself and his line to a position of perpetual temporal rule. This is not something that the [[Iron Faith]] in principle opposes. And indeed it is at present giving every indication of supporting Othmar in his royal pretensions.

===[[Government]]===

By the Prince of Nova Vaasa and his officials, under the guidance of the [[Council of Lords]]. The annual meeting of the council has been reduced to a mostly pointless formality by [[Prince Othmar]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p33</ref>

===[[Law]]===

Pronounced ''in the name of the Eternal King, by the will of the Lawgiver." <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p30</ref>

===Law-Enforcement===

By the militias of each of the Five Families within its duchy.

By the city, town or village guard where one exists.

====[[Extra-Judicial]]====

===Intelligence Gathering===

===Military Footing===

===''Casus belli''===

====Present====
*Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through [[Tepest]] into [[Keening]] and on to the [[Strigos Road]] in [[Darkon]]. There is discussion of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

====Future====
* {{Spec|Any of [[Hazlik]] banning religion in his land, declaring the independence of the [[Hazlani Church]] of [[the Lawgiver]], being implicated in the death or disappearance of members of the [[Iron Faith]], imposing a [[pave]] of his own choice upon the Hazlani Church, or ensorcelling the pave or other church leaders. Why would [[Hazlik]] do any of these things? Because the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") has ordered that a hardline be taken by the [[Pave of Hazlan]] on the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the possible consequences. Whether the [[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has failed to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.}}

* {{Spec|Growing threat of piracy on the [[Nocturnal Sea]] with [[Liffe | Liffe's]] status as a "failed state" being given as its cause.}}

* {{Spec|[[Colonialism | Colonial]] ambitions in respect to one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|Similarly, a determination to monopolise trade on the [[Nocturnal Sea]].}}

* {{Spec|A crusade against arcane magic in [[Hazlan]], on one or more of the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]], or every it is found. In the last case perhaps it could begin with simulateous assasination attempts across the Core and its seas. You know, the usual suspects: [[Azalin]], [[Strahd]], [[Hazlik]], [[Meredoth]], [[The Lady of Ravens]], [[Gabrielle Aderre]], . . .}}

* {{Spec|A crusade to lay the undead to rest in [[Barovia]].}}

==Language & Culture==

===Vassi===
[[Vaasi]] is the official language of [[Nova Vaasa]]. The use of any other language in legal proclaimations and historical records is proscribed. And it is likewise with the rites and the records of the [[Church of the Lawgiver]].

While Vaasi is spoken in [[Hazlan]], [[Kartakass]], and [[Valachan]], the dialects in use there are deemed to be degenerate in comparison with the the right and true Vaasi of Nova Vaasa.

===Special Days===

*The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]
*The [[Day of Penance]]
*The [[Night of Bright Truth]]
*The [[Night of Dark Deeds]]

==Gods and Religions ==

===Gods===

*[[The Lawgiver]]

*[[Mytteri]]

* {{Spec|[[Bubahkaa]] - Cats - Animals, Trickery}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Sehkmaa]] - Cats - Animals, Luck, Liberation}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

*[[The Cat Lord]] - [[Paka]] - Chaos, Evil, Trickery <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{Spec|[[Tygas]] - Horses, Animals, Travel}} <ref name="Speculation based on Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">Speculation based on [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] p23</ref>

===Hero Cult===
*[[Fjodor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

*[[Fyldor]] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

==Inns & Taverns==
===Arbora===
*[[The World’s End Inn]]

===Bergovitsa===
*[[The Clever Gray Mouser]] (formerly [[The Clever Gray Malken]])
*[[The Inn at Bergovitsa]]

===Kantora===
*[[The Hungry Tyger]]
*[[The Maiden’s Scarf]]

===Egertus===
*[[The Sailor’s Hearth]]

===Liara===
*[[The Staggering Stallion]]
*[[The Green Grail Inn]]

===The Barovian frontier===
*[[The Weary Horse Inn]]

==NPC==

===[[Bandits]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>===

*[[Chezna the Blood-Cat]] who laired in the [[Briarweed Forest]] for a time before being driven out and commencing an unprecedented reign of terror.

*[[Dagfinn the Burner]] who infamously torches both farmers and their fields.

*[[The Tatters Man]] who decorates his lances and bardings with strips of clothing taken from his victims.

==Chronology==
* Kingdom of Vaasa: Centuries ago [[Persarval Hiregaard]] seizes the [[Cat’s Paw]] (a minor [[artifact]]) from cat cultists who had themselves acquired it following its loss by the [[Paka]]. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* [[660 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Tristen Hiregaard is born. [The given date of [[664 BC]] is inconsistent with him being 11 when his father commits suicide in [[671 BC]] and with the 11 years between his first love and the formation of Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 154-155</ref>

* [[670 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: [[Prince Romir Hiregaard]], father of Tristen, kills his wife in an unjustified fit of jealous rage and is [[cursed]] by her to kill any woman he loves. (Tristen is ten.) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[671 BC]] - Kingdom of Vaasa: Prince Romir Hiregaard commits [[suicide]], his son Tristen Hiregaard becomes prince at the age of 11, Sergei Hiregaard is regent, and the [[curse]] jumps to Tristen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[674 BC]] - Tristen Hiregaard and Sergei Hiregaard step down and the Patriarch of the Chekiv family becomes prince. [Deduction]

* [[676 BC]] - The [[curse]] lays dormant for five years until Lord Tristen Hiregaard falls in love with a peasant girl, kisses her, and kills her. The crime is covered up, Tristen is remorseful, but enjoyed the deed in the moment. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[677 BC|677]]-[[682 BC]] - Lord Tristen Hiregaard kills a total of nine women over the next six years, doubts his sanity, and decides to commit [[suicide]], but the [[Mists]] intervene. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* [[682 BC]] - In the Second Judgement of the Lawgiver, the Vaasans are wrenched from the Faldverden (“Fallen World”) into the Falskverden (“False World”). Nova Vaasa emerges from the Mists. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 125-126</ref>

* 682 BC - Prince Ingemar Bolshnik describes the appearance of [[Barovia]], [[Arak]], the [[Nightmare Lands]], and the Mists upon the frontiers of his land with the words: “howling fear to the west, stone death to the north, shapeless nightmares to the east, and nothing but ominous swirling to the south”. (Winter) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* 682 BC - The [[Clever Gray Malken]] tavern hosts the first murder of the [[Signature Killer]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* 682 or [[683 BC]] - [[Prince Ingemar Bolshnik]] dies in office and is replaced by his son [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]]. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23</ref>

* {{potential-canon-small}}682-[[700 BC]] - A man lures nearly a score of his neighbors into his home to see his arcane fireplace which burns without wood. It explodes consuming them all and the house too. The dangerous arcane essence that lingers afterwards in the ashes is extinguished by a priest of the Lawgiver. This story is recounted frequently by clergy of the Lawgiver in Nova Vaasa and its time and place varies. It may be but a cautionary tale devised to slander arcane magic and promote its betrayal to the authorities before something bad happens. <ref>[[VRGttM]] pg. 61</ref>

* 683 BC - Tristen Hiregaard is knighted by [[Prince Kethmar Bolshnik]] and the men become friends. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 683 BC - Sir Tristen Hiregaard becomes an officer of the Kantora City Guard and begins the hunt for the [[Signature Killer]]. He will rise to be the [[Constable of the Kantora City Guard]] by [[717 BC]] at the latest. [[Malken]] will murder his first wife, [[Ailsa]], and child, Ivaar. The tortured spirt of Ivaar may survive as a [[ghost]] in a haunted Kantora orphanage. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23, 155</ref> <ref>[[VRGttM]] - Authors' notes</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Armand Ironhand (Sir Armand Rivtoff) confronts and is put to flight by the Black Duke, the fiendish leader of a cult (The Brotherhood of the Whip) responsible for the destruction of the village of Drataan in the Ehrendton. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 685-700 BC - [[The Tapestry of Dark Souls]] is woven by [[Welse]] in [[Arbora]] using silk supplied by an [[Abber Nomad]]. It brings doom to his family and in short order passes out of Nova Vaasa. [This cannot happen before trading relations are well established with the Abber Nomads and must occur well before 700 BC according to Mangrum] <ref>[[Tales of Ravenloft]] pg. 252</ref>

* [[691 BC]] - [[Tepest]] emerges from the Mists. The event is marked in that land by deformity and crop failure. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* 691-[[692 BC]] - Tepestani famine is relieved by assistance from Sir Tristen Hiregaard in particular. (Winter - Spring) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 54</ref>

* [[694 BC|694]]-[[698 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince.

* [[695 BC]] - [[Sir Armand Rivtoff]] publishes The Beast of Ehrendton. It is widely acclaimed, although as fiction and (by some) as political commentary.. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.42">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 42</ref>

* 698 BC - Markovia is born and the Dyskov forest is effectively put off limits for four decades. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.14">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14</ref>

* [[702 BC]] - [[G’Henna]] appears. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 17</ref>

* [[703 BC|703]]-[[721 BC]] - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, gives birth to three sons some time within this period. The oldest is Yorgi, next is Sasha, and the youngest is Myar. All three are middle-aged in [[756 BC]]. <ref>Middle-aged is assumed to be not younger than 35 and not older than 53. It is best to assume that Katya was very young, say 15, when she gave birth to her first son. This way she is not older than 60 but not younger than 43 when she dies giving birth to her fourth son in [[748 BC]]; see [[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, [[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref>

* [[705 BC]] - A band of wererats devastates the population and provokes the abandonment of a village in Northern Nova Vaasa named [[Mel Fira]]. [The event happens several decades before the publication of Van Ritchen’s Guide to Werebeasts in 735] <ref>[[VRGtW]]</ref>

* [[708 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik is born the second son of Kethmar Bolshnik. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.149">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149</ref>

* [[713 BC]] - The council elders of Briggdarrow in Tepest convince Falkovian investors to fund the construction of [[The Spider House]] inn to profit from and to bolster burgeoning traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 77, 79</ref>

* [[714 BC]] - Hazlan appears and is converted rapidly the faith of the Lawgiver. The relatively benign reputation of the Skyggeskov forest is retained. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 14, 17</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 126</ref>

* [[717 BC]] - The cult of the [[Claws of Sehkmaa]] sees the light of day. It is led by the high priest Malken and its message of easing poverty and reversing disenfranshisement proves popular. The Church of the Lawgiver is strangely disarmed before the threat. Sir Tristen Hiregaard unmasks the new religion as a criminal organisation, breaks its back, and is widely thought to have slain its high priest. He pays for his meddling with the life of his son Ivaar. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.23-24">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 23-24</ref>

* [[719 BC|719]]-[[723 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] serves as prince. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.33">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33</ref>

* [[720 BC]] - Trade tops out along the Old Timori Road joining the Eastern and Western Core across Tepest and G’Henna. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55</ref>

* 720-[[726 BC]] - Talgaard Bolshnik, older brother of Othmar and victim of a long-standing mental illness, begins his six year reign of terror as the [[Kantora Strangler]]. It is ended with his institutionalisation in the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside Egertus as the first patient of alienist Dr. Gregorian Illhousen. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref>

* 720-[[743 BC]] - [[Yorgi Hiregaard]] discovers the [[Cat's Paw]] in a secret compartment of a wardrobe and makes use of it during his youthful adventures until attacked by paka. [The youthful adventures can begin anywhere between [[720 BC|720]] and [[738 BC]]depending on when Yorgi is deemed to have been born] <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.83">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[722 BC]] - A [[diseased]], [[maimed]] [[foreigner]] is found dead within sight of [[Arbora]] and the Nocturnal Sea. Behind him, stretching back to the frontier with Barovia, he leaves a half-dozen people miraculously cured of their aliments. [Any date from [[700 BC]] is possible] <ref>[[The Book of Sorrows]] pg. 55-57</ref>

* [[728 BC]] - Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, opens the Hawk’s Haven Inn in Kellee to profit from and to bolster traffic between Nova Vaasa and Falkovnia along the Old Timori Road. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55, 72</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - Lukas Durmke is born in a hamlet in the Ehrendton north of Egertus. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 728 BC - A cell of the Order of Twilight, dedicated to the study of dreams, is established in Nova Vaasa. [This can be anytime after [[725 BC]] and probably best before [[740 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 86-88</ref>

* [[729 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik conspires with [[Chezna]] (a [[darkling]] and leader of a ruthless band of thieves known as the [[Briarweed Forest Bandits]]) and slowly poisons his father, [[Kethmar Bolshnik]]. Because Othmar’s older brother is a [[mad]] [[serial killer]] kept in the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, Othmar becomes Prince, but Sir [[Tristen Hiregaard]] is made his regent (per Kethmaar’s final request). <ref>[[Domains of Dread]] pg. 69; [[The Enemy Within]]; [[The Nightmare Lands]]; [[The Awakening]]</ref>

* 729 BC - Prince Kethmar Bolshnik dies in office, but not before consulting with the other great families and devising a regency for his 21 year old son. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32-33, 149-151</ref>

* 729-[[733 BC]] - Othmar Bolshnik becomes prince, Tristen Hiregaard becomes regent, the latter runs the government and the former prepares his revenge. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 149-151</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[730 BC]] - A vampire slays the best friend of a man known only as [[Turk Mader]]. Mader pursues the creature out of Nova Vaasa to Levkarest where it is slain with the help of Ronald Kranston. The pair subsequently found the society of the Huntsmen in [[733 BC]]. <ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 79</ref>

* 733 BC - Regent Tristen Hiregaard steps down. Prince Othmar Bolshnik breaks the Cycle of Stewarts by refusing to do the same. He defends his cause by insisting that he has been cheated out of his turn. Normally regency is for children and ends at age 16. Bribes to the Kantora City Guard and especially to the Church of the Lawgiver (its Himmelsk Naeve issues a supportive decree) prove decisive. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 33, 149-151</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar reaches secret understandings with Malken and with the bandits, offering them a measure of protection from legal authorities in return for gold. Malken contacts the bandits, including Chezna the Blood-cat, to compile evidence that might be used to blackmail Othmar should the need ever arise. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.150">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 150</ref>

* 733 BC - Prince Othmar begins the formation of a personal police force called the Straffers with extrajudicial powers. At the insistence of the other great families, they are limited to Bolshnik territory and Kantora. They have the curious effect of reducing random attacks by creatures of the night but increasing the number of attacks with political undertones by these same creatures. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 32</ref><ref>[[VRGttM]] - Author's Notes</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[737 BC]] - Prince Othmar appoints the uncorruptible Sturm Androv, endorsed by Tristen Hiregaard, Constable of the Kantora City Guard. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 111-112</ref>

* 738 BC - Prince Othmar commissions paintings and sculptures of himself bearing the [[Whip of Right]] and the [[Rod of Might]] (devices of the [[Eternal King Højplads]]) eliminating all doubt as to his pretensions. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* 738 BC - Sulo Boristi, brother of Ivana Boristi, relocates his family from Borca to Bergovista shortly before the Great Upheaval and continues the expansion of the Boristi Trading Company. The appearance of the Nocturnal Sea will prove a particular boon to him and a Boristi trade ship will eventually ply its waters. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 12</ref>

*738 BC - [[Abu al Mir]] flees from the [[wrath]] of [[Ankhtepot]] in [[Har'Akir]]. [[The Mists]] transport him to [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Children of the Night: Werebeasts p. 49">[[Children of the Night: Werebeasts]], p. 49</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}}[[739 BC]] - [[The Kantora Strangler]] begins [[murdering]] people out on the [[Kantoran]]n streets during storming nights.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 17">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17</ref><ref name="TNL Book 3 p. 33">[[The Nightmare Lands]] Book 3, p. 33</ref>

*739 BC - Shortly prior to [[the Grand Conjunction]], [[Count Sulo Boritsi]] takes most of his family to [[Bergovitsa]]. He establishes the [[Boritsi Trading Company]] in Nova Vaasa and, through it, expands the business out into the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Soon thereafter, he finances the creation of trading company offices in [[Armeikos]].<ref name=LotBp.12>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.12</ref>

* [[740 BC]] - The Great Upheaval, ending with the first [[full moon]] in August, shakes the foundations of known existence. The Lawgiver goes silent, spawning the heresy that he died. The official account is that he was preoccupied with saving the world from Mytteri, god of rebellion, nihilism, self-interest, self-gratification and magic. The Nightmare Lands, Markovia and G’Henna disappear and are replaced by the Shadow Rift and the Nocturnal Sea. The rift severs the trade route to the West and the mist shrouded sea proves to be nigh unnavigable. A thin corridor of land between the Mountains of Misery and the new coast permits the development of overland trade with Darkon however. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 14, 55, 36-37, 126-128</ref>

* [[741 BC]] - Disappearances and madness plague the workers of the quarries in the Koshka Bluffs after the discovery of ancient tombs. Sir Tristen Hiregaard forbids the removal of treasures and scales back the quarrying. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.16">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 16</ref>

* 741 BC - The first trial of the Tepestani Inquisition is organised by Wyan of Viktal. Foreigners are accused of consorting with the Fey and what little trade remains pretty much dries up West of Kellee. In Kellee Gerald Ferrier succeeds in maintaining a degree of calm. He seeks the assistance of the Church of the Lawgiver to fight back the superstition of the masses. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.55-56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 55-56</ref>

* 741 BC - Narana Hiregaard is born. She is the youngest, by over 10 years, of 5 (or more) children (at least 3 girls and at least 2 boys) of Sasha Hiregaard. If Sasha has only 5 children he is not more than 33 and not less than 21 at the time. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.155">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155</ref><ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] pg. 46</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 741 BC - Lumbering in the Dyskov forest resumes but tales of the sortvingebute (“black fairies”) and of the Centaur soon enter into circulation. Disappearances are attributed to the former and half-eaten corpses to the latter. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.15">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]] p. 15</ref>

* 741 BC - Othmar tries and fails to have Chezna the Blood-cat silenced for all eternity by band of foreign adventurers. The Vistani outcast and bandit leader replies with a reign of terror. She is, however, driven out of her base in Briarweed Forest and obliged to roam the land. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 15, 150</ref>

* [[743 BC]] - Prince Othmar dispenses with the seals of the five great families and mints money in his own image. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 743 BC - Lukas Durmke is driven from a temple of the Lawgiver and subsequently from the city of Egertus for spouting heresy. <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref>

* [[745 BC]] - [[The Illuminated Man]] joins [[Carnival]] as it passes through [[Arbora]].<ref name="Carnival p. 15">[[Carnival]] p. 15</ref>

* {{questionably-canon-small}} 745 BC - Following the capture of the Kantora Strangler, [[Talgaard Othmar]]. His noble status allows admittance into the [[Clinic for the Mentally Distressed]].

* {{netbook-small}} [[746 BC|746]]-[[747 BC]] - Malken is credited with the murders of men in Kantora is followed by the murders of men on the eve of their weddings in Egertus. The true culprit is Emily, a patient of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen who is murdering in her dreams.<ref>[[The Book of Shadows]] pg. 69</ref>

* [[748 BC]] - [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] discovers to his horror that he is Malken. During his fits of madness, when he has himself locked away in a tower, he transforms into his nemesis and sets out to sow evil and chaos across the land. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.156">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 156</ref>

* 748 BC - Katya Chekiv, the unloved second wife of Tristen Hiregaard, dies giving birth to their fourth son Mikhail. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 155, SoDR pg. 46</ref>

* 748 BC - [[Lord Adal Keirin]]. former regent and [[adviser]] to [[Duke Søren Rivtoff]] dies.<ref name="Gazetteer V p. 34">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 34</ref>

* [[749 BC]] - The patients, including [[Talgaard Bolshnik]], and the staff, including Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of the Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus vanish without a trace. <ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref>

* [[750 BC]] - The Mists roll back from the Nocturnal Sea opening it to navigation and revealing its islands. Commerce begins in earnest. <ref>[[RCS]] pg. 18</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 750 BC - Babetta l’Jeunese, an explorer from Dementlieu, alone lives to tell the tale of an encounter with the sorceress of the Isle of Ravens but at the price of being sent back to Egertus in a skiff bearing a sentient sword that is the stuff of nightmare. It passes out of her possession within hours of her reaching Nova Vaasa. <ref>[[The Book of Sacrifices]] pg. 155-156</ref>

* [[751 BC]] - The Tepestani Inquisition falters as the daughter of Wyan of Viktal is revealed to have fallen under the influence of the Fey who were manipulating her to orchestrate the burning at the stake of an innocent girl. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.56">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 56</ref>

* [[752 BC]] - Kiev Hiregaard, son of Sasha Hiregaard, goes to Falkovnia to assist the struggle against its military dictatorship. [Geographically this would make more sense before the Great Upheaval. But in terms of age that is unlikely, hence just after Vlad Drakov’s fourth futile and ruinous invasion of Darkon; <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78</ref>

* [[753 BC]] - Sasha Hiregaard and his daughter Naranna visit Egertus and see the newly expanded port. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.142">[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 142</ref>

* 753 BC - Prince Othmar begins sitting in the Great Blackstone Throne (reserved to the Eternal King Højplads) nearly provoking a revolt by the Rivtoff and Vistin families and necessitating the intervention of the Himmelsk Naeve to legitimise the act. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.30">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 30</ref>

* [[754 BC]] - [[Paka]], and not for the first time, attempt to steal the [[Cat’s Paw]] from [[Castle Faerhaven]] in the days immediately following its use. [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] captures and questions one, but learns nothing, and his conditional offer to surrender the item goes unanswered. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 85</ref>

* 754 BC - [[Lukas Durmke]] settles in Arbora and leads a movement within the church of the Lawgiver that would have the spiritual and temporal authorities assist rather than oppress the masses. [The Aerkebiskop of the Pommel appears to be fragrantly shirking his duty and may have to be replaced by someone with more iron in the belly] <ref>[[The Book of Secrets]] pg. 112</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 38</ref>

* {{Spec|[[755 BC]] - The Avener’s Distinct of Bergovitsa becomes the haunt of a creature of mud.}}<ref>speculation based on [[VRGttM]] pg. 60, 156, [[VRGttM]] Author's notes</ref>

* 755 BC - Illyana Hiregaard, daughter of Sasha Hiregaard, marries a Darkonese merchant living in Kantora. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 755 BC - The seaside hamlet of Mavalga is driven mad by the Bad Wind. The scope of the attack is somewhat blunted by the efforts of a Borcan aristocrat named Josef Zhitoff who captains the Bulwark and who has been hunting the Bad Wind for the last year. There are unconfirmed rumours of subsequent attacks along the coast of the Nocturnal Sea. [Unless there is a way for a ship to pass from the Sea of Sorrows to the Nocturnal Sea this should not happen before 751 and probably somewhat later; <ref>[[CoTN:D]] pg. 24-29</ref>

* {{netbook-small}} 755 BC - By this year, the Black Duke has quietly taken power over a good portion of southwestern Nova Vaasa. He begins extending his reach into neighboring [[Hazlan]] and [[Barovia]]..<ref name="CotND p. 15">[[Children of the Night: Demons]] p.15</ref>

* [[756 BC]] - Bevis Vistin dies leaving his two year old son Grigor duke and his wife Lady Lara regent. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.34">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 34</ref>

* 756 BC - Repeated Nova Vaasan attempts to cut a road North through Tepest to ultimately join the Strigos road in Darkon fail. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* [[757 BC]] - Stepan Ivan Hiregaard, eldest grandson of Tristen Hiregaard, replaces Sturm Androv and becomes chief constable of Kantora. He begins to investigate quietly rumours that Malken is the half-brother of his grandfather and was responsible for the deaths in mysterious circumstances of his great grandfather and great grandmother. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 75-76, 78, 86</ref>

* [[758 BC]] - A build up of royal forces within easy reach of the Tepestani border is interpreted variously as a warning to the Tepestani to stop sabotaging the road or as a prelude to an invasion to civilise the domain by force. <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.37">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 37</ref>

* 758 BC - Illyana Hiregaard is institutionalised at the recently reopened Clinic of the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus and kills an orderly. There are rumours that she is Malken. [If one ascribes to the Dread Possibility that the clinic serves once a month as a Mistway to the Nightmare Lands, then the doctors and the patients vanish once more; <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.41">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 41</ref><ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 86</ref>

* 758 BC - Naranna Hiregaard is to lead the crew of the Waveprowler, an effort sponsored by her family to fight the growing piracy on the Nocturnal Sea. The ship is to be captained by Onid Rhelarian. <ref>[[Legacy of the Blood]] pg. 78, 143</ref>

* 758 BC - An agent of [[Azalin]] known as [[S]] interviews [[Sir Tristen Hiregaard]] and finds him to be “smug and self-satisfied” and unforthcoming about his struggle with Malken. (Fall) <ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p.43">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]] pg. 43</ref>

{{ref}}
{{MCS}}

[[Category:Canon Domain]]
[[Category:domain]][[Category:The Core]][[Category:Vaasi]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_domain.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[The Awakening]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp7,44-47 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,20,133-135 
''[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium]]'' - pp156-157 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp69-70 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - pp6-7 
''[[Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts]]'' - pp57-58 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens]]'' - pp25-26 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - p78 
''[[House of Strahd]]'' - p16 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p10-43
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_map.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - pp8-9 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - inside cover 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p43 
''[[The Awakening]]'' - inside front cover 
''[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting]]'' - poster map 
''[[Realm of Terror]]'' - poster map 
''[[Servants of Darkness]]'' - poster map 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' - p12
|-valign="top"
|}




[[category:CL 7 Domain]]
[[category:Aristocracy]]
[[category:Temperate Climate]]
[[category:Principality]]

Bindings Domain

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Cure: Redirected page to Category:Bindings Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Bindings_Domain]]

Category:Bindings Domain

2023-10-10T21:37:23Z

Cure:

The [[Bindings Domain]] is open only to priests of [[The Lawgiver]].<ref>[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p133.</ref>
{{ref}}

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Law Domain

2023-10-10T21:35:46Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Law Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Law_Domain]]

Category:Law Domain

2023-10-10T21:35:11Z

Cure:

{{canon}}
The Law Domain is a domain open to a priest of [[Ezra]], [[Ra]] or [[The Lawgiver]].<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>

==References==

<references />

[[Category: Spell-domain]]
[[category:Lawful Magic]]
[[Category:Law]]

Category:Cult of Erlin

2023-10-10T21:31:29Z

Cure:

The '''Cult of Erlin''' is a bastardized revival of the ancient [[Gundarakite]] worship of the [[death god]] [[Erlin]]. The [[religion]] has sprung up in the territory divided between [[Barovia]] and [[Invidia]] which was the [[former domain]] of [[Gundarak]]. The movement is led by [[Emanuel Maryszkas]].

==Symbol==

[[Sickle]] crossed with a hog slaughtering [[knife]]

==Alignment==
[[Chaotic Evil]]

==Clergy==

===Favoured Weapon===

[[Battleaxe]]

===[[Spell-domains]]===
* [[Chaos]]
* [[:category:Death|Death]]
* [[Evil]]
* [[Trickery]]

===[[Cleric]] [[Alignment|Alignments]]===
*[[Chaotic Evil]]
*[[Chaotic Neutral]]
*[[Neutral Evil]]

[[Category:religion]]
[[Category:Gundarakite]]
[[Category:Chaotic Evil]]
[[Category:Chaos_Domain]]
[[Category:Death_Domain]]
[[Category:Evil_Domain]]
[[Category:Trickery_Domain]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_society.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_stats.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' - p26
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' - p26
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_alias.gif]]
|

Cult of Erlin, The
Cult of Erlin
|-valign="top"
|}

Category:The Eternal Order

2023-10-10T21:30:27Z

Cure:

{{canon}}
'''The Eternal Order''' is the [[state religion]] of [[Darkon]]. It is a [[neutral evil]] [[religion]] that from its inception has served the interests of [[Azalin Rex]]. The [[Requiem]] badly damaged the [[reputation]] of the Eternal Order.<ref name="R3E p.51">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p.51</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 65">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.65</ref> In the east, it is rapidly losing ground to the [[Nevuchar Springs Sect]] of the [[Church of Ezra]].

==Symbol==
Hooded human [[skull]]<ref name="R3E p.51">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p.51</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 65">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.65</ref>

==Services==
Services are held daily at dusk. In principle, attendance is mandatory, but in practice this remains the case in only a few communities.

Services include [[paean|paeans]] to the [[The Dead|dead]], the collection of [[tithe|tithes]], and [[sacrifice|animal sacrifices]].

==Clergy==

===Alignment===
* [[Neutral Evil]]
* [[Chaotic Evil]]
* [[Lawful Evil]]
* [[Neutral]]

[[Clerics]] receive their [[spells]] as midnight.

===[[Spell-domains]]===

* [[Death Domain|Death]], [[Evil Domain|Evil]], [[Knowledge Domain|Knowledge]], [[Repose Domain|Repose]]<ref name="R3E p.54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p.54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.69</ref>

{{ref}}
[[Category:State Religion]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Darkonian]]
[[Category:Neutral Evil]]
[[Category:Death_Domain]]
[[Category:Evil_Domain]]
[[Category:Knowledge_Domain]]
[[Category:Repose_Domain]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_society.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Requiem: The Grim Harvest - Death Triumphant]]''
''[[Death Ascendant]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_art.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p51 
''[[Requiem: The Grim Harvest - Death Triumphant]]'' - p58 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II]]'' - p30, 59
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_stats.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p54 
''[[Requiem: The Grim Harvest - Death Triumphant]]'' - p39 
''[[Death Ascendant]]'' - pp29-31 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II]]'' - p30, 59
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p51 
''[[Requiem: The Grim Harvest - Death Triumphant]]'' - pp57-59 
''[[Requiem: The Grim Harvest - Necropolis]]'' - p7 
''[[Death Ascendant]]'' - pp29-31,57-58 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p34 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II]]'' - pp29-30, 58-59
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_alias.gif]]
|

Eternal Order, The
Eternal Order
|-valign="top"
|}

Category:Cult of Set

2023-10-10T21:28:30Z

Cure:

{{canon}}
The '''Cult of Set''' is constituted of [[worshipers]] of the [[lawful evil]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref> [[god]] [[Set]] who is the master of [[deception]] and the destructive forces of nature. The [[religion]] is [[Akiri]] and he belongs to the [[Akiri Pantheon]].<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 50">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 50</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 64">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 64</ref>

The last two [[priestess|priestesses]] of the [[Temple of Muhar]], [[Isu Rehkotep]]<ref>[[Touch of Death]]</ref> and {{Spec|[[Snefru]]}}, were servants of [[Osiris]] who [[converted]] secretly to the service of Set. This is not usual for Set, as his worshipers often infiltrate other [[religion]]s and seek to subvert worshipers from within. Of course, Set's cultists worship him discretely.<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 50">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 50</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 64">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 64</ref>

==Clergy==

===[[Holy Symbol]]===
Coiled [[cobra]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 50">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 50</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 64">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 64</ref>

===[[Favored Weapon]]===
[[Short Sword]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 50">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 50</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 64">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 64</ref>

===[[Spell-domains]]===
* [[Curse Domain]]<ref>[[Champions of Darkness]] p. 23</ref>
* [[Death Domain]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>
* [[Evil Domain]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>
* [[Trickery Domain]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>
{{ref}}
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Lawful Evil]][[Category:Curse_Domain]]
[[Category:Death_Domain]]
[[Category:Evil_Domain]]
[[Category:Trickery_Domain]]
[[Category:Akiri]]

Category:Cult of Ra

2023-10-10T21:27:00Z

Cure:

{{canon}}
The [[Cult of Ra]] is constituted of [[worshipers]] of the [[Lawful Good]] [[sun god]] [[Ra]]. The [[religion]] is [[Akiri]] and he belongs to the [[Akiri Pantheon]].<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 49">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 49</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 64">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 64</ref> Ironically enough, [[Anhktepot]] was a potent [[cleric]] of [[Ra]] prior to his [[blasphemy]] and subsequent fall from grace.

==Clergy==
===[[Holy Symbol]]===
[[Ankh]] superimposed on a [[sun|solar disc]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 50">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 50</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 64">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 64</ref>

===[[Favored Weapon]]===
[[Falchion]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 50">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 50</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 64">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 64</ref>

===[[Spell-domains]]===
*[[Air Domain]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>
* [[Curse Domain]]<ref>[[Champions of Darkness]] p. 23</ref>
* [[Good Domain]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>
* [[Law Domain]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>
* [[Sun Domain]]<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>
{{ref}}
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Lawful Good]]
[[Category:Air_Domain]]
[[Category:Curse_Domain]]
[[Category:Good_Domain]]
[[Category:Law_Domain]]
[[Category:Sun_Domain]]
[[Category:Akiri]]

Category:Church of Ezra

2023-10-10T21:25:38Z

Cure:

[[Image:Ezran_shield.png|thumb|100px|right|The symbol of Ezran faith.]]
{{canon}}
The '''Church of Ezra''' is an institution that follows the messianic figure [[Ezra (Deity)|Ezra]], who may or may not have existed as a [[human]] or a goddess. Its symbol is a [[silver]] [[longsword]] on a kite shield with a sprig of [[belladonna]].<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 134-135">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 134-135</ref><ref name="R3E">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 51</ref><ref name="Gaz II p.31">[[Gazetteer II]] p.31</ref><ref name="Gaz III p.110">[[Gazetteer III]] p.110</ref><ref name="Gazetteer IV p. 26">[[Gazetteer IV]] p. 26</ref> The main headquarters of the faith are in [[Borca]], [[Mordent]], [[Dementlieu]], and [[Darkon]].<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 134-135">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 134-135</ref><ref name="R3E">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 51</ref>

==[[Alignment]]==
Ezra is [[Lawful Neutral]], as is the majority of clergy in the [[Home Faith]]. The majority [[alignment]]s of the clergy in the other sects are [[Lawful Good]] in Mordent, [[True Neutral]] in Dementlieu, and [[Lawful Evil]] in Darkon.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 134-135">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 134-135</ref><ref name="R3E">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 51</ref><ref name="Gaz III p.110">[[Gazetteer III]] p.110</ref> Individual priests are not required to adopt the alignment most prevalent to the sect they come from.<ref name="Gaz III p.110">[[Gazetteer III]] p.110</ref>

==Favored Weapon==
Longsword<ref name="R3E">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 51</ref><ref name="Gaz II p.31">[[Gazetteer II]] p.31</ref><ref name="Gaz III p.110">[[Gazetteer III]] p.110</ref>

==[[Spell-domains]]==
[[Destruction Domain|Destruction]], [[Law Domain|Law]], [[Healing Domain|Healing]], [[Mists Domain|Mists]] (exclusive), [[Protection Domain|Protection]]<ref>Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54</ref><ref name="Gaz II p.31">[[Gazetteer II]] p.31</ref><ref name="Gaz III p.110">[[Gazetteer III]] p.110</ref>

==Associated [[Prestige Class]]es==
*[[Anchorite Inquisitor]]<ref>[[Heroes of Light]] p. 14-16</ref> ([[The Mordentish Sect]] primarily)
*[[Anchorite of the Mists]]<ref>[[Van Richten's Arsenal]] p. 82-84</ref>
*[[Anchorite Wanderer]]<ref>[[Heroes of Light]] p. 17-18</ref>.

==Hierarchical Terminology==
The Church of Ezra has several special titles of [[:Category:Religious Rank|religious rank]] for its [[priest]]s. [[Anchorite]] is a term for one of the current [[clergy]] of Ezra's church. In [[2nd Edition]], it referred to a specific [[class]] of [[Priest (2E Class Group)]] only occurring in Ezra's church.<ref name="DoD p. 265-266">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 265-266</ref> In [[3rd Edition]], it refers to all priests of Ezra without regard to [[Rank of the Church of Ezra|rank]] or [[class]].<ref name="Gaz III p. 109-110">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 109=110</ref>

The title of [[Warden]] represents an anchorite who is a [[wanderer]] who performs Ezra's will outside of a given [[temple]] hierarchy. The title of [[Toret]] represents an anchorite working at or founding a temple of less renown in a [[community]]. [[Sentire]]s lead temples of major influence, and the four [[Bastion]]s are the four leaders of the major sects of the Church. The [[Praesidius]] is the [[religious leader]] of the entire church.<ref name="Gaz II p.31">[[Gazetteer II]] p.31</ref><ref name="Gaz III p. 109-110">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 109=110</ref>

==History==
The religion originated through the prophecies of one man, [[Yakov Dilisnya]]. At the age of 25 a horseback riding accident left him delirious for five days, at the end of which he recovered and penned the [[First Book of Ezra]]. Over the next few years he displayed increasingly miraculous powers, but gained few followers until he left his native [[Mordent]] for the newly formed [[Borca]]. There he convinced his young half-sister [[Camille Dilisnya|Camille]] to help finance the construction of the [[The Great Cathedral | Great Cathedral]], and set about making many more converts. According to the [[history]] set forth by [["S"]] in the fourth volume of the [[Doomsday Gazetteers]], Yakov cemented Camille's cooperation by depicting the Church as an effective tool for social [[manipulation]].<ref>Gazetteer IV p. 16-17</ref>

When one of Camille's tantrums led to Yakov's death, it led to a schism in the church. Camille's fear of fanatic reprisal led to an apology in the form of a [[statue]] of Yakov for the cathedral, but she privately demanded that the church avoid fomenting rebellion. The question as to whether the Church ought to accept demands from an earthly ruler--and a corrupt one at that--caused [[Felix Wachter]] to separate himself with a small group of like-minded faithful and return to Mordent.<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref> There he penned the [[Second Book of Ezra]]. The controversy and split would later become known as the [[First Schism]].<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref> The [[Rite of Revelation]] was later developed to handle future schisms by separating genuine divine revelations from mere [[heresy]].<ref name="Gaz III p.110">[[Gazetteer III]] p.110</ref>

The rift between the two sects eventually healed<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref>, but when wandering anchorite [[Joan Secousse]] entered the new domain of [[Dementlieu]], another rift occurred, eventually leading to another book. Secousse had discovered [[Ste. Mere des Larmes]], an abandoned cathedral dedicated to Ezra that nevertheless predated the entire church to date. Secousse penned the revelations she received from her study of the cathedral, and a new sect was born.<ref name="Gaz III p.20-21">Gazetteer III p.20-21</ref>

Years later, in the wake of the [[Grand Conjunction]], a [[Darkonian]] [[anchorite]] named [[Bastion Teodorus Raines|Teodorus Raines]] had a series of apocalyptic revelations about a [[Time of Unparallelled Darkness]], and the desperate state of the faithful beset on all sides by the duplicitous [[Legions of the Night]]. Raines penned the [[Fourth Book of Ezra]], passed the Rite of Revelation, and created the fourth sect.<ref name="Gaz II p.30">[[Gazetteer II]] p.30</ref>

===Timeline===

* Approximately [[309 BC]] (Likely [[False History]]) - According to [[The Dementlieuse Sect]]'s teachings, texts from the "original" [[Church of Ezra]] date back to this time or slightly earlier.<ref name="Gaz III p.20-21">Gazetteer III p.20-21</ref>

* [[641 BC]] - [[Yakov Dilisnya]] is born.<ref name=GazIVp.16>[[Gazetteer IV]] p.16</ref>

* [[666 BC]] - Yakov is afflicted with a [[seizure]] while out [[horseback riding]]. From his sickbed, he pens the [[First Book of Ezra]].<ref name=GazIVp.16>[[Gazetteer IV]] p.16</ref>

* [[684 BC]] - Yakov moves to [[Borca]]<ref name=GazIVp.16>[[Gazetteer IV]] p.16</ref>, and convinces [[Camille Dilisnya|Camille]] to support the church, mostly on the basis that the the religion would serve as a useful tool to control the masses. Camille's support includes financial backing for the [[Great Cathedral of Levkarest]]<ref name=GazIVp.17>[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref>

* [[685 BC]] - Construction begins on the Great Cathedral of Levkarest. The Church of Ezra is spreading across Borca.<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref>

* [[687 BC]] - [[Camille Dilisnya]] marries [[Klaus Boritsi]]. [[Praesidius Yakov Dilisnya]] presides over the marriage. 

*{{netbook-small}}[[689 BC]] - [[Franklin Tennyson]], [[Ezrite]] [[missionary]], comes to Souragne.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 57">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 57</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[691 BC]] - The [[Church of Ezra]] is made the official [[state-religion]] of Souragne.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 57">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 57</ref> 

* [[695 BC]] - First services in the unfinished Great Cathedral of Levkarest.<ref name=GazIVp.17>[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref>

* [[697 BC]] - [[Klaus Boritsi]] buys [[Danzig's Icon of Ezra]] and gives it to his daughter [[Ivana Boritsi]].<ref name=LotBp.18>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.18</ref>

*{{netbook-small}}[[697 BC]] - [[Etienne Lefebvre]], son of a [[magistrate]], abandons the legal profession in order to join the [[clergy]] of the [[Church of Ezra]].<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 60">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 60</ref> 

* [[698 BC]] - Camille Dilisnya holds the [[Dinner of Death]].<ref name="RLCS p.17">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p.17</ref><ref name="RLPHB p.19">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p.19</ref> Yakov Dilisnya is among those [[poisoned]] by Camille. Blame upon her for the murder of their leader spreads far and wide among Ezra's faithful. [[Borca]]'s streets erupt in open violence. Under advice, Camille quells the riots by building a monument to Yakov on church grounds and demonstrating great acts of (apparent) mourning.<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref>

*{{netbook-small}}[[698 BC]] - [[Praesidia Donella Borovsky|Donella Borovsky]] becomes [[Praesidius|Praesidia]].<ref name="Book of Secrets p. 26">[[Book of Secrets]] p. 26</ref>

* 698 BC - The construction of a statue of Yakov, a [[prophet]] but still mortal, upon [[Ezran]] [[:category:Hallowed Ground|holy ground]] causes dissidence within the [[Church of Ezra]]. The [[First Schism]] splits the faithful.<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref> After all is said and done, a [[Rite of Revelation]] is created to reveal those truly favored by [[Ezra]].<ref name="Gaz III p.110">[[Gazetteer III]] p.110</ref>

* [[699 BC]] - Spurred on by concerns over the materialism of the Home Faith, [[Felix Wachter]] and his followers take the Church back to Mordent.<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref> There he writes the ''[[Second Book of Ezra]]''<ref name=R3Ep.17>[[Ravenloft Third Edition], p.17</ref>, founding [[the Mordentish Sect]] of the [[Church of Ezra]].<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[699 BC]] - [[Sentire Franklin Tennyson]] embraces the teachings of the [[Second Book of Ezra]]. However, the Souragnien public's reception of these teachings is less than enthusiastic.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 57">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 57</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[700 BC]] '''Early Year''' - Shortly before his death, [[Sentire Franklin Tennyson]] sends [[Etienne Lefebvre]] to [[the Mordentish Sect|the Mordent branch]] of the Churzh of Ezra.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 59">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 59</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[700 BC]] '''Spring''' - [[Sentire Franklin Tennyson]] dies of [[malaria]].<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 57">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 57</ref> His successor is [[Manon Larouche]], who would later become known as the [[infamous]] [[Ti-Maman]].<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 58">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 58</ref> 

* [[701 BC]] - [[Praesidia Donella Borovsky]] passes an edict declaring [[witchcraft]] as a force of [[corruption]] created by [[hag]]s<ref name=GazIVp.27>[[Gazetteer IV]] p.27</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[702 BC]] - Etienne Lefebvre returns to Souragne from Mordent. Ti-Maman names him [[secretary]] of the Souragnien branch of the Church of Ezra.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 60">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 60</ref> 

*[[705 BC]] - [[Borcan]] monk of [[Ezra]] turned [[heretic]] [[Renthon Vorishtok]] writes [[The Revelations of the Prince of Twilight]].<ref>[[Arcane Lore: Tomes of Forbidden Lore]], Dragon Magazine #252, pp87-89</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[705 BC]] - [[Ti-Maman]] shakes things up in the Souragnien Church of Ezra by her inclusion of [[Voodan]] [[loa]]s and practices into the local [[Ezra]] church.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 58">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 58</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}} [[706 BC]] - Following advise from her [[secretary]] Etienne Lefebrve, Ti-Maman relocates from the Church of Ezra in [[Port d'Elhour]] to the one in [[Marais d'Tarascon]].<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 58">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 58</ref> 

* [[706 BC]] - [[Ivana Boritsi]] discovers the powers of [[Danzig's Icon of Ezra]]. She prays in front of it to get a vision of how her love will work out for [[Pieter]].<ref name=LotBp.19>[[Legacy of the Blood]] p.19</ref>

* [[707 BC]] - The Home Faith and the Mordentish Sect bridge the divide caused by the Great Schism and achieve peace with each other.<ref name="Gaz IV p. 17">[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref>

* [[709 BC]] - [[Joan Secousse]] finds [[Ste. Mere des Larmes]] and brings the [[Church of Ezra]] to [[Dementlieu]].<ref name="Gaz III p.20-21">Gazetteer III p.20-21</ref>
*[[709 BC]] - [[Joan Secousse]] pens the [[Third Book of Ezra]]<ref name=R3Ep.17>[[Ravenloft Third Edition], p.17</ref> and [[the Dementlieuse Branch|a new sect]] is started.<ref name="Gaz III p.20-21">Gazetteer III p.20-21</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[709 BC]] - Following the creation of the [[Third Book of Ezra]] in [[Dementlieu]], local attention in Souragne turns to a Book of Ezra Ti-Maman is supposedly writing.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 59">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 59</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[710 BC]] - Ti-Maman is [[assassinated]]. Etienne Lefebvre is her successor.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 58">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 58</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[714 BC]] '''May''' - [[Statue]]s of Ti-Maman begin appearing in personal [[shrine]]s of worship in [[Souragne]].<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 61">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 61</ref>

*{{netbook-small}}[[715 BC]] - Reports of [[miracle]]s attributed to [[statue]]s of [[Ti-Maman]] begin to emerge.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 61">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 61</ref> 

* [[716 BC]] - [[Bastion Felix Wachter]] dies.

*{{netbook-small}}[[716 BC]] - [[Praesidia Kristyn Stoyista]] succeeds [[Praesidia Donella Borovsky]].<ref name="Book of Secrets p. 26">[[Book of Secrets]] p. 26</ref>

*{{netbook-small}} [[724 BC]] - [[The Mists]] draw an [[outlander]] [[priest]] named [[Keith de Lalune (NPC)|Keith de Lalune]], into the [[forest]]s of [[Invidia]]. He prays to his [[deity]], but it seems his god has left him. Keith loses his way in the forest for a time, before arriving in [[Karina]]. There [[Father Daltrey]], the local high priest of [[Ezra]], saves him from an angry mob and takes him to the nearby church, [[L'Eglise de Notre Peindre Dame]]. Keith receives shelter and healing there, and he soon converts to Ezra.<ref name="Undead Sea Scrolls 2002 p. 117-118">[[Undead Sea Scrolls 2002]] p.117-118</ref> 

* [[732 BC]] - [[Praesidia Kristyn Stoyista]] reverses the [[701 BC]] edict issued by Praesidia Borovsky.<ref name=GazIVp.27>[[Gazetteer IV]] p.27</ref>

* {{netbook-small}}[[Alexei Raskolka]] succeeds [[Kristyn Stoyista]] as [[Praesidius]].<ref name="Book of Secrets p. 26">[[Book of Secrets]] p. 26</ref>

*[[740 BC]] - [[The Grand Conjunction]] occurs. Future [[bastion Teodorus Raines]] interprets this as a sign of a coming [[apocalypse]] and begins preaching preparation for the end times.<ref name="Gaz II p.30">[[Gazetteer II]] p.30</ref>

*[[745 BC]] - The [[Great Cathedral]] is finished.<ref name=GazIVp.17>[[Gazetteer IV]] p.17</ref>

*{{netbook-canon-small}}[[Praesidius Alexei Raskolka]] dies of a [[mysterious]] wasting [[disease]] and is succeeded by his [[adviser]], [[Praesidius Levin Postoya]].<ref name="Book of Secrets p. 26">[[Book of Secrets]] p. 26</ref>

*[[751 BC]] - [[Bastion Teodorus Raines]] writes the [[Fourth Book of Ezra]].<ref name=R3Ep.18>[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p.18</ref> He passes the [[Rite of Revelation]] and establishes [[:Category:The Nevuchar Springs Sect|a sect of the church in Nevuchar Springs, Darkon]].<ref name="Gaz II p.30">[[Gazetteer II]] p.30</ref> He cleanses and occupies [[the Last Redoubt]] in [[Nevuchar Springs]].<ref name="Gaz II p.39">[[Gazetteer II]] p.39</ref> 

*{{netbook-small}}[[760 BC]] - [[Sentire Etienne Lefebvre]] has gathered a group of [[priest]]s to unveil his version of the [[Fifth Book of Ezra]] on the 50th anniversary of [[Ti-Maman]]'s death.<ref name="Souragne Gazetteer p. 64">[[Souragne Gazetteer]] p. 64</ref> 

==Schisms & Sects==

There are four sects of the Ezran religion, though some followers expect a final fifth.
The four sects are the [[The Home Faith | Home Faith]] in Borca, the [[the Mordentish Sect|Pure Hearts]] in [[Mordentshire]]<ref name="Gaz III p. 66">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 66</ref>, the [[the Dementlieuse Sect|Erudites]] in Dementlieu and the [[the Nevuchar Springs Sect|Zealots]] in Darkon.

==Beliefs and Practices==
As one might expect, Ezra's true nature is a subject of contention among the different sects, congregations, and [[theologian]]s of the Church. However, the general consensus among major traditions is that she was once a mortal woman, whom offered up her life as [[sacrifice]] to [[the Mists]] in order to protect the people in the face of rampant [[evil]] in the world.<ref name="R3E">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 51</ref> Her followers venerate her for her role in [[protection]] and [[healing]] of her people<<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 134-135">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 134-135</ref>, though her followers recognize that she cannot save those who do not accept her in spirit<ref name="R3E">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 51</ref>.

Ezra's church is called upon to help and defend the [[diseased]], the [[injured]], and those in danger<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 134-135">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 134-135</ref>, though Ezra's prerogatives are interpreted differently by the four different sects.<ref name="R3E">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 51</ref> Although proselytizing, the Home Faith tends to its flock while dermarcating and excluding nonbelievers without too much concern for their fate.<ref>[[Gazetteer IV]] p. 26</ref> Both the Mordentish Sect and the Nevuchar Springs Sect belief strongly in conversion, though it is only the latter that believes in conversion by the sword.<ref name="Gaz III p. 66">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 66</ref> Another difference between the Mordentish and Nevuchar Springs sects is of focus. The Mordentish sect focuses the most on promoting [[Good]] in the faith's name<ref name="Gaz III p. 66">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 66</ref>, whereas the Nevuchar Springs Sect places the most emphasis on destroying the Legions of the Night- for all [[tempter]]s and abominations in their ranks must be purged from the world.<ref name="Gaz III p. 32">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 32</ref> The mystically inclined, [[True Neutral]] sect of Dementlieu is more inwardly focused, fulfilling Ezra's wishes by diligently studying esoteric knowledge related to who and what she was.<ref name="R3E">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 51</ref>

Worship services meet every five days<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 134-135">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 134-135</ref><ref name="Gaz II p.31">[[Gazetteer II]] p.31</ref> at noon and contain both hymns and sermons.<ref name="Gaz II p.31">[[Gazetteer II]] p.31</ref> During these services, church goers are required to don white clothing.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 134-135">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 134-135</ref> Beyond these generalizations, church procedures, [[ritual]]s, and practices may vary from sect to sect and even from [[domain]] to domains. Worshipers from one sects are welcome to attend churches of another sect, but differences in church practices may unnerve said visiting worshipers.<ref name="Domains of Dread p. 134-135">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 134-135</ref>

===The Book of Ezra- [[Creation Myth]]===
<blockquote>[[Image:I.png|left|80px]]n the time before, in a land cloaked in [[Mists]], there was a woman, and She was Ezra.

Ezra was a [[healer]] of the sick and protector of the weak. Such was Her lot in life. Such was Her role in the grand scheme. Ezra took pride in the role Fate had given Her. Her duty was Her joy.

For many years, Ezra healed the lame and watched over Her people. Yet as time went on, Ezra began to see the Hollow. From the Mists of Death came horrors of the night. They were the drinker of blood and the stealer of breath and the beast that rends. Many were their legions. Many were the roles played by darkness in the Grand Scheme.

Ezra knew that Death would come for Her, as it comes to all in time. When Ezra entered the Gray Land, there would be no guardian to fill Her role. There would be no one to stand between Her people and the Legions of the Night.

Ezra set forth on a quest to find a guardian for Her people. She sought the One Pure Heart who would assume Her role. Ezra sought for the One Pure Heart in many lands, but ever did She seek in vain.

In time, Her quest brought Ezra to the end of all things. Behind Ezra stretched all the lands of the world. Before Ezra rose only the Mists of Death.

Ezra spoke to the Mists. Asked She, “The world is yours. You set its shape. Why do you allow its people to wander, lost and afraid?” But the Mists did not answer.

Again Ezra spoke. “Why have you filled your world with the Legions of the Night?” Yet the Mists would not answer.

A third time did Ezra speak. “All things have their role in the Grand Scheme. The Legions of the Night have their place, but Guardians and Guides have their roles in turn.” Still the Mists offered no reply.

Ezra spoke once more. “I have searched all the vastness of your lands, but I have found no Guardians for My people. I have found no Guides for the lost.” Again the Mists were silent.

For the last time did Ezra speak. “You have failed the Grand Scheme. You have created a Hollow that must be filled. If you will not watch over your people, then that task falls to me.” Upon the fifth entreaty did the Mists of Death reply.

From the Mists came a Voice, and the Voice spoke, saying, “Turn back, Mortal. You know nothing of the Grand Scheme. You know nothing of the Mists. You have reached the end of Your world. Continue and You shall find only Your destruction, nothing more.”

Yet Ezra held fast against the Mists, saying, “You cannot bid Me enter, yet I cannot turn away. I offer Myself to you so that you may know the suffering of My People. If I must be destroyed for them, then that is what must be.” The Mists of Death fell silent.

Then the Voice spoke once more. “Enter the Mists if You must, Mortal, but not as You are. Your kind has no place here. To enter the Mists, You must become as one with the Mists. Never again shall You leave them. Will You forever sacrifice Yourself to watch over these few mortals?”

Spoke Ezra, “Such is My role in the Grand Scheme. So must it be.” And with these words did Ezra become Our Guardian in the Mists.

-''The Book of Ezra, I:i-xv''<ref>[[Book of Secrets]]</ref></blockquote>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Founded]]
[[Category:Destruction_Domain]]
[[Category:Law_Domain]]
[[Category:Healing_Domain]]
[[Category:Mists_Domain]]
[[Category:Protection_Domain]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Creation of the Mordentish]]

==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_society.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' 
''[[Heroes of Light]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_art.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p51 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II]]'' - p32
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_stats.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p54 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' pp 265-266 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II]]'' - p31
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - pp14,17,51,115 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' pp 134-135, 265-266 
''[[Heroes of Light]]'' - pp52-56 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II]]'' - pp30-32
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_alias.gif]]
|
Our Guardian in the Mists 
The Anchorites
|-valign="top"
|}

Category:Curse Domain

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Cure: Created page with "Category:Spell-domain"

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Category:War Domain

2023-10-10T21:23:06Z

Cure: Created page with "Category:Spell-domain"

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Category:Scrutiny Domain

2023-10-10T21:23:02Z

Cure: Created page with "Category:Spell-domain"

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Category:Law Domain

2023-10-10T21:22:56Z

Cure: Created page with "Category:Spell-domain"

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Category:Bindings Domain

2023-10-10T21:22:47Z

Cure: Created page with "Category:Spell-domain"

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Category:Church of the Lawgiver

2023-10-10T21:22:08Z

Cure:

[[File:Symbol of The Lawgiver.png|thumb|alt=The Symbol of The Lawgiver|The Symbol of The Lawgiver, redrawn by Radaghast Kary]]

'''The Church of the Lawgiver''' is a [[religion]] the followers whereof worship [[The Lawgiver]]. It is the [[state religion]] of [[Nova Vaasa]] where it legitimates and, rarely, delegitimates [[temporal leaders]]. It is also the state religion of [[Hazlan]] where it is widely adhered to by the [[Hazlani]] and is tolerated as useful, for the present at least, by [[Hazlik]].

==[[The Lawgiver]]==

==Identity==

====Vaasicentrism====
The Church of the Lawgiver is Vaasicentric. The use of any language other than Vaasi in its rites and texts is proscribed.<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition, p29">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p29.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition, p52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p52.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p25">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p25.</ref> Its doctrine is barely separable from the history of the [[Vaasi nation]], its mission is nigh inseperable from the advancement of the cause of [[Nova Vaasa]], and its vision of social order is the reproduction of that entrenched in Vaasi culture. Consequently, there are high barriers to its spread across the [[Land of Mists]]. And indeed the Church's efforts at spreading its influence across the [[Core]] from the appearance of [[Nova Vaasa]] up to that of [[Hazlan]] are described as meeting "with no appreciable success".<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>

====The Hazlani Experience====
The remarkable reception of the Iron Faith among the Hazlani was made possible by the absence of barriers in Hazlan. Vaasi is the native tongue. The social order in terms of class and ethnicity was at least as oppressive in [[Hazlan]] as in [[Nova Vaasa]]. And Hazlik had profound reasons for being icily indifferent to the cultural sovereignty of his land: to his eye the vast majority of its inhabitants belonged to an ethnic group and culture inferior to his own ethnic group and culture; and his own ethnic group and culture merit, for the pains that it had caused him, to be wiped from existence in a transplanar genocide. An additional important detail is suggested in the following text: "The Lawgiver is the state religion in Hazlan and Nova Vaasa. In the latter, Prince Othmar uses it to justify his own regime."<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition, p52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p52.</ref> That nothing is then said of the former, clearly invites the conclusion that matters are different in Hazlan.

====The Reception of the Iron Faith Elsewhere====
Clerics of the Lawgiver have a tendency to court trouble for they seek to "enforce the rigid stratifications of Vaasi culture wherever they go."<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition, p52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p52.</ref> Any would-be tyrant can of course turn to the Church of the Lawgiver in search of legitimization. But there is a significant price to be paid to the church in return in terms of, among other things, the adoption of an alien identity and the abandonment of one's own tradition. Consequently, a tyrant who is already well established may well dismiss the benefits as slight and recognise the costs as significant. The expected response then would be to send the flatterers from Kantora packing, with or without [[The Teeth of Uri Grislev|their teeth]]. And indeed the situation of the Church, following up upon its success in [[Hazlan]], is described in these terms: "The Church has enjoyed no comparable success since and has a minimal following outside Hazlan and Nova Vaasa."<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>

==Symbol<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p127">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p127.</ref>==
*Iron spear in bronze coils

==Alignment==

*LE<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I p. 53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p128">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p128.</ref>

*LN<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p128">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p128.</ref>

*Lawful Evil is the proper alignment of the faithful of [[the Lawgiver]]. Lawful Neutral worshippers are accepted within the Church but are deemed "liberal" or "permissive", and as a consequence are usually prevented from ascending the ranks.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p128">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p128.</ref>

*Given that alignment along the good-evil axe is not readily detectable by magic within the [[Land of Mists]], Lawful Good members of the Church are conceivable, with [[Lukas Duremke]] and the [[Duremkites]] generally being the most probable instance. Such individuals risk drawing to themselves the attention of the ''[[Didakti]]'' ("Teachers") or, worse still, that of the ''[[Jernspørgsmålers]]'' ("Iron Inquisitors").

==Portfolio<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref>==
*[[Law]]
*[[Fate]]
*[[Judgement]]
*[[Obedience]]
*[[Order]]
*[[Rulership]]
*[[Tyranny]]

==[[Spell-domains]]<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p128">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p128.</ref>==

*[[Bindings Domain]]
*[[Curse Domain]]
*[[Death Domain]]
*[[Evil Domain]]
*[[Law Domain]]
*[[Scrutiny Domain]]
*[[War Domain]]

*The [[Bindings Domain]] and the [[Law Domain]] are favored by the majority of the [[clerics]] of the [[Iron Faith]].

*Members of the ''[[Kunduktørs]]'' (“Guardians”), the ''[[Gudkædes]]'' ("God-chains"), the ''[[Jernspørgsmålers]]'' ("Iron Inquisitors"), and the ''[[Didakti]]'' ("Teachers") have a preference for the [[Death Domain]], the [[War Domain]], the [[Scrutiny Domain]] and the [[Evil Domain]] respectively (see the description below of these orders). The [[Curse Domain]] is associated with, but not limited to, those taking the [[Master of Curses]] prestige class.

==Favoured Weapon<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p128">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p128.</ref>==
*Whip
*Light or Heavy Flail for clerics with the War Domain

==Holy Scriptures<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>==

The doctrine of the Church of the Lawgiver is set down in five sacred works:

*[[The Truth of Iron]] lays down principles of government and moral behavior.
*[[The Fetters of Bronze]] exponds upon laws and punishments.
*[[The Black Trials]] is an account of the creation and fall of humanity.
*[[Crimson Faith]] is a work on theology and cosmology.
*[[The Book of Stone]] offers prophecies, proverbs and allegories.

==The Four Judgements of the Lawgiver<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p125-126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p125-126.</ref>==

*The [[First Judgement]] sundered the [[First People]], twisting body and confounding language, such that races were created that bore their sins in their physical form. The human race consisted of those who had sinned least. This event was the passage from the ''[[Torverden]]'' ("Fair World") to the ''[[Faldverden]]'' ("Fallen World"). It was in the ''[[Faldverden]]'' that the [[Vaasi nation]] was born under the leadership of [[Eternal King Zaanji Højplads]].
*The [[Second Judgement]] tore the [[Vaasi nation]] from the ''[[Faldverden]]'' ("Fallen World") and cast it into the ''[[Falskverden]]'' ("False World"), which is to say the [[Land of Mists]]. Still, things could have been worse. For although the Vaasi nation was thereby punished for its license and liberality, it faired better than the rest of the ''Faldverden'' which was unceremoniously dumped into the [[Hell of Slaves]].
*The [[Third Judgement]] has not yet been rendered, although a minority in the Church claim that the [[Great Upheaval]] was in fact this judgement.
*The [[Final Judgement]] will destroy the world and cast all unworthy souls into the [[Hell of Slaves]] for an eternity of torture.

==Creation<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p125-126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p125-126.</ref>==
[[The Lawgiver]] created existence, called ''[[Torverden]]'' ("Fair World"), in the course of three days. Day one saw the creation of earth itself. Day two saw the creation of life, including the first man and woman. Day three saw the creation of Heaven as the seat whereform creation would be overseen. Next the Lawgiver selected a man, distinguised by his superior purposefulness and sense of justice and gave him the name of ''Førstregel'' (“First Ruler”). The Lawgiver then whisphered his own Holy Name into the man's ear causing him to become enlightened and to write ''[[The Truth of Iron]]'' and ''[[The Fetters of Bronze]]''. ''Førstregel'' ruled as king and as head of the Church of the Lawgive over the [[First People]]. The unity and order of ''[[Torverden]]'' was shattered upon ''Førstregel's'' death after 500 years. Thirty-six of his sons rebelled against the legal succession, as set down in ''[[The Truth of Iron]]'', of his eldest son. The eldest son was murdered and offered up in sacrifice to the false god [[Mytteri]]. The First People collapsed into warring parties that indulged in sins without precedent. To this [[The Lawgiver]] replied with his [[First Judgment]]. Equally, he promise two more judgements and an end to existence.

==Dogma==

The dogma of the [[Iron Faith]] may be summed up as "an unswerving dedication to
order and law and to the rightness of the established order".<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>

===The Source of Evil<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>===
''[[Mytteri]]'' (“[[Rebellion]]”) is the source of all evil. This malevolent force is typically lent personification a as false divinity of nihilism and solipsistic malignancy, driven by self-interest and self-gratification, and at war with the natural order. [[The Lawgiver]] then is seen to stand over and against Mytteri in all things.

===Sorcery & wizardry<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126,127">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126,127.</ref>===
*The practice of arcane magic is blasphemous. It is the self-indulgent essence of the rebellion and the nihilism that [[Mytteri]] incarnates in defiance of the natural order. As a rule wielders of arcane magic must be corrected publicly in the strongest possible terms with death.

===The Right of Might===
*Hierarchy is essential and good: those born into wealth or power deserve to rule those beneath them; all is mandated from above and is not to be questioned.<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition,
p52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p52.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref>
*The ruler is the incarnation of divine right: he governs by and with the will of the Lawgiver.<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition, p52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p52.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref>
*The [[Church of the Lawgiver]] can, however, declare that the mandate of heaven has been withdrawn from a given rule in virtue of his failings, with his lawful overthrow serving only to prove his unworthiness.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>
*Authority must be centralised, so that all may be judged.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>
*A ''[[Himmelsk Naeve]]'' who can unite in himself divine and temporal authority in a militant theocracy is the ideal ruler.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p127">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p127.</ref>
*The use of force is right and natural in the maintainence of order the spreading of the Lawgiver's will.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p54.</ref>
*Rulers are to apply the law and keep order.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53-4">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53-4.</ref>
*Anarchy is [[blasphemy]].<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p54">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p54.</ref>

===Obedience is blind===
*Obedience is an iron obligation: disobedience is a sin against divine will.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref>
*Law in its entirety is to be obeyed.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref>
*Rebellion against established authority is a deadly sin: rebels and lawbreakers will be damned to an eternity of [[torture]] in the [[Hell of Slaves]].<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>

===Ordering Society===
*The correction of one's inferiors is an iron obligation: it is the duty of the ruler, indeed of every master, to punish wickedness and encourage righteousness.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>
*To hold to one's station, one ethnicity and one's race, and to obey will of the Lawgiver, is to be rewarded in the life to follow. Marriage outside of one's station, ethnicty or race is prohibited, and consortation outside one's class, ethnicity or race is discouraged. Even clerics of The Lawgiver from different social classes do not mix. <ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition, p52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p52.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref>

===The Fruits of Labour===
*Hard work in the service of one's [[master]] my yield temporal rewards. Those born into poverity deserve only what they can earn through dutiful service to those above them.<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition, p52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p52.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref>

===The Body Reflects the Soul===
*The unrighteous may be [[cursed]] with fitting form: physical degeneracy then is a sign of moral and spiritual degeneracy. Self-harm, including tatooing, is the wilful embrace of degeneracy. [[Shapechanger | Shapechangers]] are the incarnation of supreme wickedness. [[Caliban | Calibans]] are souls twisted with evil from their conception.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>

==Rites, Services, Holy Days==

*Rites are given exclusively in [[Vaasi]].<ref name="Ravenloft Third Edition, p52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]], p52.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p25">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p25.</ref>

*Spells are prayed for at highnoon, in the full-light of day, that the Lawgiver might see and judge all.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p128">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p128.</ref>

*Services are held nightly at the Lawgiver's [[fane | fanes]], after the working day has ended, with twice weekly attendance being expected at a minimum.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p128">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p128.</ref>

*The Church celebrates many holy days. The two most important follow<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p53">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p53.</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p128">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p128.</ref>:

:The [[Day of Penance]] falls on the first day of the New Year. The faithful are expected to undertake an accounting of their failings of the past year and prepare themselves to make a better showing in the year to come.

:The [[Celebration of the Reemergence]] is held in [[August]] upon the first [[full moon]]. It recalls the end of the [[Great Upheaval]] in 740 BC. [[The Lawgiver]] is praised and thanked by members of the [[Iron Faith]] for the breaking of his silence and for his efforts during said silence to restore the world to its proper order. The celebration includes feasts.

==Organisational Structure==

===Hierarchy of the Iron Faith<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p127">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p127.</ref>===

The ''[[Himmelsk Naeve]]'' ("Divine Fist") commands the Iron Faith across the known world. 
The [[Pave of Nova Vaasa]] commands the Iron Faith across [[Nova Vaasa]] and the [[Pave of Hazlan]] commands the Iron Faith across [[Hazlan]]. 
Four [[Aerkebiskop | aerkebiskops]] command the Iron Faith in four [[Nova Vaasan]] regions and four [[Aerkebiskop | aerkebiskops]] command the Iron Faith in four [[Hazlani]] regions. 
One [[Biskop]] commands the Iron Faith in each ''[[dommer]]''. 
One [[Kontor]] commands the Iron Faith in each [[fane]], leading the actual rites of worship.

===Seats of the Iron Faith===

The [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]] is the seat of the ''[[Himmelsk Naeve]]'' from where he rule his charges across the known word.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I p. 58">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p58.</ref>

The [[Crimson Citadel-Fane]] in [[Bergovitsa]] is the seat of the [[Pave of Nova Vaasa]], who rules his charges, under the direction of the ''[[Himmelsk Naeve]]'', throughout [[Nova Vaasa]].<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V p38">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p38.</ref>

The [[Iron Citadel-Fane]] outside of [[Toyalis]] is the seat of the [[Pave of Hazlan]], who rules his charges, under the distant direction of the ''[[Himmelsk Naeve]]'', throughout [[Hazlan]].<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer I, p58">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer I]], p58.</ref>

===Orders of the Iron Faith<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p127-8">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p127-8</ref>===

''[[Kunduktørs]]'' (“Guardians”) are a monastic order who tend to the dead, take vows of silence, and study the nature of death in the search for understanding of universal and eternal law. The [[Death Domain]] is naturally a favourite of ''Kunduktørs''. Hazlani Kunduktørs spawned the heresy that the Great Upheaval marked the destruction of the Lawgiver, draining the faith and its rites of life.

''[[Gudkædes]]'' ("God-chains") are the marshal order sworn to the defence of the Church and the destruction of its enemies. The [[War Domain]] is naturally an overwelming favourite of ''Gudkædes''. They are not quite the force that they once were, for want of occasion to exercise their strength.

''[[Jernspørgsmålers]]'' ("Iron Inquisitors") are the fire fighters of the church, extinguishing the lives of heretics and traitors. They creep into every corner of the institution, often donning the cloth of their prey. The [[Scrutiny Domain]] is naturally common among ''Jernspørgsmålers''.

''[[Didakti]]'' ("Teachers") are the fire inspectors of the church, ever seeking and testing flaws and weaknesses of character or of reasoning that could be the fuel or the spark of heresy or treason. Like the ''Jernspørgsmålers'', they creep too into every corner of the institution, often donning the cloth of their prey. They also work closely with the ''Jernspørgsmålers'', but are far more given to pondering the descent into, and nature of, iniquity. The [[Evil Domain]] is nigh reserved to them.

===Iron Obedience ===
Within the Church proper lower ranks do as they are commaned by higher ranks. Rebellion against the order of one's better is [[treason]].

Orders have their own internal hierarchy. Beyond this, they and their members answer to only to the [[Pave]] of their land and the ''[[Himmelsk Naeve]]'' ("Divine Fist").

===Hierarches===

*The ''[[Himmelsk Naeve]]'' ("Divine Fist") commands the Iron Faith across the known world from the [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in Kantora. ([[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]], male, Clr16)
*The Pave of Nova Vaasa commands the Iron Faith across Nova Vaasa from the [[Crimson Citadel-Fane]] in Bergovitsa. ([[Pave Lod Ragnaar]], male, Clr13)
**The Aerkebiskop of Arbora: [[Aerkebiskop Bearnt Chekiv]], male, Clr7 
**Aerkebiskop of Kantora: [[Aerkebiskop Mathias Bolshnik]], male, Clr 
**Aerkebiskop of ?
**Aerkebiskop of ?
*The Pave of Hazlan commands the Iron Faith across Hazlan from the [[Iron Citadel-Fane]] outside of Toyalis. ([[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]], male, Clr12. Previously [[Pave Haakon Aramsen]], male, Clr15, LE)
**Aerkebiskop of Sly-Var: [[Aerkebiskop Melkior Vadnais]], male, Clr8 
**Aerkebiskop of Toyalis: [[Aerkebiskop Verzin Lols]], male, Clr10 
**Aerkebiskop of ?
**Aerkebiskop of ?

===The Up & Coming of the Iron Faith===

[[Johan Bolshnik]], ''Jernspørgsmåler'' ("Iron Inquisitor"), male, Clr3/Rog1, Kantora

===Aerkebiskopcies<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p127">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p127.</ref>===
Each of Nova Vaasa's four Aerkebiskop commands the Iron Faith across a region. The Aerkebiskop of Arbora, a Chekiv, {{Spec | probably commands the Iron Faith across the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]]}}. Likewise, the Aerkebiskop of Kantora, a Bolshnik, {{Spec | probably governs the Iron Faith across the [[Heartland Duchy]] of the [[Bolshnik family]]. More speculatively, the other two Nova Vaasan aerkebiskop are probably of [[Liara]] and [[Bergovitsa]]. The division of Nova Vaasan territory between them is even more speculative. The Aerkebiskop of Liara would assuredly command, at a minimum, the Iron Faith across the [[Borchava Duchy]] of the [[Hiregaard family]] and likely be a Hiregaard. The aerkebiskop of Bergovitsa would probably command the Iron Faith across the [[Altid Duchy]] of the [[Vistin family]] and Ivlis Duchy of the the [[Rivtoff family]], giving the two families all the more reason to fight for control of Bergovitsa.}}

Each of Hazlan's four Aerkebiskop commands the Iron Faith across a region. The division of Hazlan among them is far from clear. There is an Aerkebiskop of [[Toyalis]], {{Spec | presumbaly also responsible for the immediately surrounding area,}} and likewise there is an Aerkebiskop of [[Sly-Var]], {{Spec | again presumably also responsible for the immediately surrounding area. There may be an Aerkebiskop of Western Hazlan responsible for all that lies west of the immediate vicinity of the [[Toyalis]] and an Aerkebiskop of Eastern Hazlan responsible for all that lies east of the immediate vicinity of the [[Toyalis]] and outside the vicinity of [[Sly-Var]]. The seat of this last two are not at all evident. There is almost certainly not an Aerkebiskop seated in [[Ramulai]]. Few places in existence have a mission more opposed to the message of the message of [[The Lawgiver]] than a town built to host a school of arcane magic. Aerkebiskops assigned along ethnic lines are unlikely as there would be an unacceptible overlapping of responsibilities with the Aerkebiskops of Sly-Var and Toyalis.}}

{{Spec | Additional responsibility is possibly assigned to aerkebiskops. The Aerkebiskop of Liara might also be in charge of the Iron Faith in [[Tepest]]. The Aerkebiskop of Begovitsa might also be in charge of the Iron Faith in [[Barovia]] or the West. The Aerkebiskop of Arbora or Kantora might also be in charge of the Iron Faith on the islands of the [[Nocturnal Sea]]. Alternatively, these responsibilities may fall to biskops or be retained by the office of the Himmelsk Naeve ("Divine Fist").}}

==Church & State==
The Church of the Lawgiver has a far tighter grip on affairs that matter to it in [[Nova Vaasa]] than the current prince imagines. And it is willing to bolster his authority precisely to the extent that the result is a strengthening of its own authority. In principle the Iron Faith does not oppose the ambitions of Othmar Bolshinik. The leaders of the Church would be threatened in their personal authority by the reincarnation of [[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]]. What they see in Othmar is rather a whelp that can be made into a reliable watchdog with sufficient time and sufficient bones.

The position of the Church in [[Hazlan]] is far more complex and far less acceptable. The reception of the Lawgiver's message among the [[Hazlani]] could hardly have gone better. Master and slave, rich and poor, [[Mulan]] and [[Rashemani]] all found much in the doctrine to take to heart. And perhaps the [[satraps]], appointed by [[Hazlik]] to govern in his sted, benefitted from it most of all. But this bloodless ''coup''has left the Iron Faith in the extraordinarily uncomfortable position of blessing the authority of an individual that it finds contemptible on nigh every level. Worse, just as Hazlik madly tore up the law forbidding the practice (by others) of arcane magic, he could wake up tomorrow and ban religion. But aside from mere whim, what would ever possess him to do so?

[[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has ordered that a hardline be taken by the Pave of Hazlan in respect to the [[blasphemy]] that is the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has not yet seen fit to obey this order, having some appreciation of the consequences. Short of simply proscribing the Iron Faith, Hazlik could declare the independence of the Hazlani church, he could see to the deaths or disappearances of church leaders, he could impose a pave of his own choosing, or he could attempt to ensorcel the pave or other church leaders. Whether the ''Himmelsk Naeve'' ("Divine Fist") fails to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.

[[Sainted Prince Gorkyn]] could be trusted to make the most of any such unlawful reply by Hazlik to the right and proper application of the will of the Lawgiver. Could Prince Othmar? Could it be that the Divine Fist is betting that the prospect of becoming the conqueror-king is the bone that will put iron in the belly of the Bolshnik whelp and make of him a respectable and worthy leader of the Vaasi nation? The Himmelsk Naeve may not be as content as his Pave to count the days until death carries the aged and deranged wizard off to the Hell of Slaves, knowing full well that such powerful individuals rarely go easily or quickly.

==The [[Great Upheaval]]==
The Church of the Lawgiver was severely rattled by the [[Great Upheaval]]. [[The Lawgiver]] fell silent during the event, in particular failing to grant his priests their spells. Officially, this was because he was too preoccupied with saving existence from the chaos of dissolution at the hands of [[Myterri]] and with restoring to existence, to the degree possible, its pre-existing order.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref> The silence then is devoid of negative connotation but may been seen as a test of faith. The majority of the faithful accept this official interpretation of the event and commemorate it with the [[Celebration of the Reemergence]]. A minority quietly suspect that the Lawgiver was himself incapaciated during the Great Upheaval, inviting unpleasant and unwelcome questions as to his actual potency. A tiny minority centred in [[Hazlan]] belief that the Lawgiver did not survive the Great Upheaval, with the direst possible consequences for the [[legitimacy]] of the Church and its clergy.<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p127">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p127.</ref> An unrelated minority view holds that the [[Great Upheaval]] was the [[Third Judgement]] of the [[Lawgiver]].<ref name="Ravenloft Gazetteer V, p126">[[Ravenloft Gazetteer V]], p126.</ref>

==Heresies==
*[[The Great Upheaval]] marked the destruction of [[The Lawgiver]], reducing the Iron Faith to an empty husk. This heresy was spawned among Hazlani Kunduktørs ("Guardians"). The precise breadth of its acceptance within the order and elsewhere in the Church can only be guessed, but that matter remains under investigation by the [[Jernspørgsmålers]] ("Iron Inquisitors") and the [[Didakti]] ("Teachers").

*[[Black Duke Heresy|The Black Duke Heresy]] consists in the contention that the [[The Black Duke|Black Duke]] was an [[avatar]] of [[The Lawgiver]]. Cult members of the dissolved [[Brotherhood of the Whip]], as well as any other incautious individuals, who spout this [[heresy]] are [[arrested]], [[tortured]], and [[executed]].

*[[Duremkite Heresy|The Duremkite Heresy]] consists of the contention that leaders have a responsibility to not only care for the spiritual well-being of their followers by correcting their faults but equally to care for their physical well-being. This heresy comes straight from the mouth of [[Lukas Duremke]] and his [[The Duremkites|Duremkites]] who been quiet enough about espousing it that the Church has not yet set about their ruthless squelching.

''Heretics''

[[Lukas Duremke]], male, Clr6, Arbora, who espouses a [[lawful good]] vision of the Iron Faith

The [[Duremkites]], based in Arbora and led by [[Lukas Duremke]]

==Schisms==
There is no memory or recorded instance of the Church of the Lawgiver succumbing to a schism. It is a poorly kept secret that the silence of [[The Lawgiver]] during the [[Great Upheaval]] in 740 BC has shaken confidence within the Church, but that seed of doubt has not threatened the Church with the possibility of a breakaway faction. Such a threat is, however, on the horizon in [[Hazlan]].

Church doctrine holds that the practice of arcane magic is [[blasphemy]]. So long as the Iron Faith helped secure for Hazlik undisturbed quiet to better pursue his arcane projects, the beliefs of its priests concerning good and evil were of very little import to him. Still, given the wizard's reputation for ruthlessness, some restraint might be expected of the Hazlani church on the matter and its like, and indeed it was forthcoming. A combination of fear, cultaral chauvenism, and ambition among members of the Hazlani church have even pushed some to argue that the doctrine forbidding arcane magic be struck from the Iron Faith. There is not a hope in Hell of either the Nova Vaasn church or the head of the Iron Faith as a whole countenancing this. The ban greatly fortifies the authority of the church by giving it a monopoly on spellcasting. And it is intimately wound up with the mythology of [[Mytteri]] over and against whom [[the Lawgiver]] stands in all things. But what was a standoff without solution, has evolved into something entirely more explosive.

[[Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar]] has ordered that the hardline of the Iron Faith be maintained in [[Hazlan]] in respect to the [[blasphemy]] that is the practice of arcane magic. [[Pave Stavroz Vatsisk]] has failed so far to obey this order, having some appreciation of the consequences. Short of simply proscribing the Iron Faith, [[Hazlik]] could declare the independence of the Hazlani church, he could see to the deaths or disappearances of church leaders, he could impose a pave of his own choosing, or he could ensorcel the pave or other church leaders. Whether the Himmelsk Naeve himself fails to appreciate the consequences or appreciates them all too well is the question.

Whatever the answer, the Pave of Hazlan has a momentous decision before him: to obey the head of his church, and risk his life and that of his church, or to offer Hazlik a reformed Hazlani church loyal and obedient to the Red Wizard. And from a strategic prospective, the only grounds for not having already chosen and acted upon the former, would be the choice of, and secret negotiations toward, the latter.

By attempting to stop a schism before it can start, Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar may in fact be setting one in motion.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:State Religion]][[Category:religion]]
[[Category:Bindings_Domain]]
[[Category:Curse_Domain]]
[[Category:Death_Domain]]
[[Category:Evil_Domain]]
[[Category:Law_Domain]]
[[Category:Scrutiny_Domain]]
[[Category:War_Domain]]
[[Category:Nova Vaasan]][[Category:Vaasi]][[Category:Nova Vaasan]]
[[Category:Hazlani]]
[[category:oppressor]]
==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==



{|
|-valign="top"
|[[Image:rldb_society.jpg]]
|[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_art.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p52 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' - p53
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_stats.gif]]
|
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p54 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p70 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' - p53,58, 59,60 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' -p38,39,40,128-130
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
|
''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - p46 
''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p17,2,122,134 
''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp67,70 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' - p52-54 
''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''- p25,32,38,125-130
|-valign="top"
|
|[[Image:rldb_alias.gif]]
|
The Iron Faith 
|-valign="top"
|}

Illusion Domain

2023-10-10T21:18:46Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Illusion Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Illusion_Domain]]

Mystra

2023-10-10T21:17:44Z

Cure: /* Spell Domains */

{{Canon}}
'''Mystra''' is the main goddess of [[magic]] on the world of [[Toril]] in the '''Forgotten Realms''' campaign setting[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms?rdfrom=http%3A%2F%2Ffraternityofshadows.com%2Fw%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DForgotten_Realms%26redirect%3Dno]. Three incarnations of Mystra have been known to exist.
*First was the [[Chaotic Neutral]] '''Mystryl'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystryl], who was born due to a violent blending of the essences of the sister goddesses '''Selûne'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Sel%C3%BBne] and '''Shar'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shar].
*After Mystryl was forced to sacrifice her existence to safeguard the '''Weave''' of magic, her portfolio was taken up by the second incarnation: the [[Lawful Neutral]] '''Mystra''' [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystra]. This version of the goddess died in defiance of the commands of the overgod Ao [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ao] during the Time of Troubles[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Time_of_Troubles].
*After the Time of Troubles had ended, Ao offered the portfolio of goddess of magic to the third and so far final incarnation, the [[Neutral Good]] '''Midnight'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystra_(Midnight)], who renamed herself Mystra to preserve continuity with the faithful.

==Portfolio==
At the heart of Mystra's portfolio lie [[magic]] and the Weave which allows creatures to use it. Mystryl was also goddess of time, which she used to curtail the possibilities of time travel using magic. The second incarnation and first Mystra further limited the level of [[spell|spells]] that mortals might access. All incarnations of Mystra have treated magic and the Weave with complete seriousness, working in many ways to preserve the latter and expand the use and knowledge of the former throughout the world of [[Toril]]. It may indeed be said that unless a matter involves the propagation and love of magic and the preservation of the Weave in some fashion, Mystra would be unlikely to involve herself with it.

==Alignment==
Currently [[Neutral Good]].

{{Spec|(If the third incarnation's plans of absorbing the '''Shadow Weave'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Weave] of Shar had gone through, it might have changed to [[True Neutral]]. Since the '''Spellplague'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Spellplague] occurred before Mystra could put such plans into motion and the Shadow Weave was destroyed along with the old Weave, we can never be certain.)}}

===Cleric Alignments===
[[Chaotic Good]], [[Lawful Evil]], [[Lawful Good]], [[Lawful Neutral]], [[Neutral Good]]

(The third incarnation chose to honour the commitment of [[Cleric|priests]] who had been devoted to her precedessor, regardless whether their alignment clashed with her own.)

==Holy Symbol==
*Mystryl: A blue, four-pointed star.
*Mystra: A blue-white star.
*Midnight: Circle of seven blue-white stars with red mist flowing from the center.

==Favoured Weapon==
Midnight: [[shuriken]].

==Spell Domains==
Midnight: [[Good Domain|Good]], [[Illusion_Domain|Illusion]], [[Knowledge Domain|Knowledge]], [[Magic Domain|Magic]], [[Rune Domain|Rune]], [[Spell_Domain|Spell]]

==Trivia==
{{netbook-small}}The Red-Robed, [[Krynn|Krinnish]] [[Wizard]] [[Wick (Chibiloft)|Wick]] of the [[Heroes of Chibiloft]] is an apostate worshipper of Mystra, having rejected her offer of becoming one of her '''Chosen'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Chosen_of_Mystra?so=search], and having cursed both her and [[Lunitari]] for their influence on his life before he came to the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. While he still worships her (or claims to), he does not wish to face her until he has come to the end of his natural, mortal span. As such, Mystra is at least ''associated'' with [[Chibiloft]] -- in the Netbooks, anyway.

[[Evanar]] is the secret ''Mother of Champions'' to Mystra; condemned to immortality so she can give birth to champions Mystra requires to preserve the balance of magic and the Weave. Their relationship has become adversarial, as Evanar wishes no part of childbirth, yet grieves deeply for each of her children to have died for the sake of prophecy, and longs for death as a reprieve.

[[Category:Arcane Loremaster]]
[[Category:Arcane Researcher]]
[[Category:Archmage]]
[[Category:Chaotic Neutral]]
[[Category: Character]]
[[Category: Character Without Game Statistics]]
[[Category:Chibiloft]]
[[Category:Good_Domain]]
[[Category:Illusion_Domain]]
[[Category:Knowledge_Domain]]
[[Category:Magic_Domain]]
[[Category:Rune_Domain]]
[[Category:Spell_Domain]]
[[Category:Deity]]
[[Category:Female]]
[[Category:Lawful Neutral]]
[[Category:Loremaster]]
[[Category:Manipulator]]
[[Category:Neutral Good]]
[[Category:NPC]]
[[Category:Outlander]]
[[Category:Outsider]]
[[Category:Wizard]]

Spell Domain

2023-10-10T21:15:59Z

Cure: Changed redirect target from Category:Spell-domain to Category:Spell Domain

#REDIRECT [[:category:Spell_Domain]]

Mystra

2023-10-10T21:15:03Z

Cure:

{{Canon}}
'''Mystra''' is the main goddess of [[magic]] on the world of [[Toril]] in the '''Forgotten Realms''' campaign setting[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms?rdfrom=http%3A%2F%2Ffraternityofshadows.com%2Fw%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DForgotten_Realms%26redirect%3Dno]. Three incarnations of Mystra have been known to exist.
*First was the [[Chaotic Neutral]] '''Mystryl'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystryl], who was born due to a violent blending of the essences of the sister goddesses '''Selûne'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Sel%C3%BBne] and '''Shar'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shar].
*After Mystryl was forced to sacrifice her existence to safeguard the '''Weave''' of magic, her portfolio was taken up by the second incarnation: the [[Lawful Neutral]] '''Mystra''' [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystra]. This version of the goddess died in defiance of the commands of the overgod Ao [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ao] during the Time of Troubles[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Time_of_Troubles].
*After the Time of Troubles had ended, Ao offered the portfolio of goddess of magic to the third and so far final incarnation, the [[Neutral Good]] '''Midnight'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystra_(Midnight)], who renamed herself Mystra to preserve continuity with the faithful.

==Portfolio==
At the heart of Mystra's portfolio lie [[magic]] and the Weave which allows creatures to use it. Mystryl was also goddess of time, which she used to curtail the possibilities of time travel using magic. The second incarnation and first Mystra further limited the level of [[spell|spells]] that mortals might access. All incarnations of Mystra have treated magic and the Weave with complete seriousness, working in many ways to preserve the latter and expand the use and knowledge of the former throughout the world of [[Toril]]. It may indeed be said that unless a matter involves the propagation and love of magic and the preservation of the Weave in some fashion, Mystra would be unlikely to involve herself with it.

==Alignment==
Currently [[Neutral Good]].

{{Spec|(If the third incarnation's plans of absorbing the '''Shadow Weave'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Weave] of Shar had gone through, it might have changed to [[True Neutral]]. Since the '''Spellplague'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Spellplague] occurred before Mystra could put such plans into motion and the Shadow Weave was destroyed along with the old Weave, we can never be certain.)}}

===Cleric Alignments===
[[Chaotic Good]], [[Lawful Evil]], [[Lawful Good]], [[Lawful Neutral]], [[Neutral Good]]

(The third incarnation chose to honour the commitment of [[Cleric|priests]] who had been devoted to her precedessor, regardless whether their alignment clashed with her own.)

==Holy Symbol==
*Mystryl: A blue, four-pointed star.
*Mystra: A blue-white star.
*Midnight: Circle of seven blue-white stars with red mist flowing from the center.

==Favoured Weapon==
Midnight: [[shuriken]].

==Spell Domains==
Midnight: [[Good Domain|Good]], [[Illusion Domain|Illusion]], [[Knowledge Domain|Knowledge]], [[Magic Domain|Magic]], [[Rune Domain|Rune]], [[Spell_Domain|Spell]]

==Trivia==
{{netbook-small}}The Red-Robed, [[Krynn|Krinnish]] [[Wizard]] [[Wick (Chibiloft)|Wick]] of the [[Heroes of Chibiloft]] is an apostate worshipper of Mystra, having rejected her offer of becoming one of her '''Chosen'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Chosen_of_Mystra?so=search], and having cursed both her and [[Lunitari]] for their influence on his life before he came to the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. While he still worships her (or claims to), he does not wish to face her until he has come to the end of his natural, mortal span. As such, Mystra is at least ''associated'' with [[Chibiloft]] -- in the Netbooks, anyway.

[[Evanar]] is the secret ''Mother of Champions'' to Mystra; condemned to immortality so she can give birth to champions Mystra requires to preserve the balance of magic and the Weave. Their relationship has become adversarial, as Evanar wishes no part of childbirth, yet grieves deeply for each of her children to have died for the sake of prophecy, and longs for death as a reprieve.

[[Category:Arcane Loremaster]]
[[Category:Arcane Researcher]]
[[Category:Archmage]]
[[Category:Chaotic Neutral]]
[[Category: Character]]
[[Category: Character Without Game Statistics]]
[[Category:Chibiloft]]
[[Category:Good_Domain]]
[[Category:Illusion_Domain]]
[[Category:Knowledge_Domain]]
[[Category:Magic_Domain]]
[[Category:Rune_Domain]]
[[Category:Spell_Domain]]
[[Category:Deity]]
[[Category:Female]]
[[Category:Lawful Neutral]]
[[Category:Loremaster]]
[[Category:Manipulator]]
[[Category:Neutral Good]]
[[Category:NPC]]
[[Category:Outlander]]
[[Category:Outsider]]
[[Category:Wizard]]

Category:Spell Domain

2023-10-10T21:14:18Z

Cure: Removed redirect to Category:Spell Domain

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Category:Spell Domain

2023-10-10T21:13:28Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Spell Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Spell_Domain]]

Category:Spell Domain

2023-10-10T21:13:06Z

Cure: Created page with "Category:Spell-domain"

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Mystra

2023-10-10T21:11:29Z

Cure:

{{Canon}}
'''Mystra''' is the main goddess of [[magic]] on the world of [[Toril]] in the '''Forgotten Realms''' campaign setting[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms?rdfrom=http%3A%2F%2Ffraternityofshadows.com%2Fw%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DForgotten_Realms%26redirect%3Dno]. Three incarnations of Mystra have been known to exist.
*First was the [[Chaotic Neutral]] '''Mystryl'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystryl], who was born due to a violent blending of the essences of the sister goddesses '''Selûne'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Sel%C3%BBne] and '''Shar'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shar].
*After Mystryl was forced to sacrifice her existence to safeguard the '''Weave''' of magic, her portfolio was taken up by the second incarnation: the [[Lawful Neutral]] '''Mystra''' [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystra]. This version of the goddess died in defiance of the commands of the overgod Ao [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ao] during the Time of Troubles[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Time_of_Troubles].
*After the Time of Troubles had ended, Ao offered the portfolio of goddess of magic to the third and so far final incarnation, the [[Neutral Good]] '''Midnight'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystra_(Midnight)], who renamed herself Mystra to preserve continuity with the faithful.

==Portfolio==
At the heart of Mystra's portfolio lie [[magic]] and the Weave which allows creatures to use it. Mystryl was also goddess of time, which she used to curtail the possibilities of time travel using magic. The second incarnation and first Mystra further limited the level of [[spell|spells]] that mortals might access. All incarnations of Mystra have treated magic and the Weave with complete seriousness, working in many ways to preserve the latter and expand the use and knowledge of the former throughout the world of [[Toril]]. It may indeed be said that unless a matter involves the propagation and love of magic and the preservation of the Weave in some fashion, Mystra would be unlikely to involve herself with it.

==Alignment==
Currently [[Neutral Good]].

{{Spec|(If the third incarnation's plans of absorbing the '''Shadow Weave'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Weave] of Shar had gone through, it might have changed to [[True Neutral]]. Since the '''Spellplague'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Spellplague] occurred before Mystra could put such plans into motion and the Shadow Weave was destroyed along with the old Weave, we can never be certain.)}}

===Cleric Alignments===
[[Chaotic Good]], [[Lawful Evil]], [[Lawful Good]], [[Lawful Neutral]], [[Neutral Good]]

(The third incarnation chose to honour the commitment of [[Cleric|priests]] who had been devoted to her precedessor, regardless whether their alignment clashed with her own.)

==Holy Symbol==
*Mystryl: A blue, four-pointed star.
*Mystra: A blue-white star.
*Midnight: Circle of seven blue-white stars with red mist flowing from the center.

==Favoured Weapon==
Midnight: [[shuriken]].

==Spell Domains==
Midnight: [[Good Domain|Good]], [[Illusion Domain|Illusion]], [[Knowledge Domain|Knowledge]], [[Magic Domain|Magic]], [[Rune Domain|Rune]], [[Spell Domain|Spell]]

==Trivia==
{{netbook-small}}The Red-Robed, [[Krynn|Krinnish]] [[Wizard]] [[Wick (Chibiloft)|Wick]] of the [[Heroes of Chibiloft]] is an apostate worshipper of Mystra, having rejected her offer of becoming one of her '''Chosen'''[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Chosen_of_Mystra?so=search], and having cursed both her and [[Lunitari]] for their influence on his life before he came to the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. While he still worships her (or claims to), he does not wish to face her until he has come to the end of his natural, mortal span. As such, Mystra is at least ''associated'' with [[Chibiloft]] -- in the Netbooks, anyway.

[[Evanar]] is the secret ''Mother of Champions'' to Mystra; condemned to immortality so she can give birth to champions Mystra requires to preserve the balance of magic and the Weave. Their relationship has become adversarial, as Evanar wishes no part of childbirth, yet grieves deeply for each of her children to have died for the sake of prophecy, and longs for death as a reprieve.

[[Category:Arcane Loremaster]]
[[Category:Arcane Researcher]]
[[Category:Archmage]]
[[Category:Chaotic Neutral]]
[[Category: Character]]
[[Category: Character Without Game Statistics]]
[[Category:Chibiloft]]
[[Category:Good_Domain]]
[[Category:Illusion_Domain]]
[[Category:Knowledge_Domain]]
[[Category:Magic_Domain]]
[[Category:Rune_Domain]]
[[Category:Spell_Domain]]
[[Category:Deity]]
[[Category:Female]]
[[Category:Lawful Neutral]]
[[Category:Loremaster]]
[[Category:Manipulator]]
[[Category:Neutral Good]]
[[Category:NPC]]
[[Category:Outlander]]
[[Category:Outsider]]
[[Category:Wizard]]

Strength Domain

2023-10-10T21:10:22Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Strength Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Strength_Domain]]

Luck Domain

2023-10-10T21:09:21Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Luck Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Luck_Domain]]

Category:Death Domain

2023-10-10T21:07:34Z

Cure: Created page with "Category:Spell-domain"

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Category:Luck Domain

2023-10-10T20:14:21Z

Cure: Created page with "Category:Spell-domain"

[[Category:Spell-domain]]

Travel Domain

2023-10-10T20:13:31Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Travel Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Travel_Domain]]

Rune Domain

2023-10-10T20:13:06Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Rune Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Rune_Domain]]

Plant Domain

2023-10-10T20:12:12Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Plant Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Plant_Domain]]

Knowledge Domain

2023-10-10T20:11:02Z

Cure: Changed redirect target from Category:Knowledge (Ravenloft) to Category:Knowledge Domain

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Knowledge_Domain]]

Math Mathownwy

2023-10-10T20:09:55Z

Cure:

{{canon}}
[[Math Mathownwy]] is the [[Lawful Evil]] [[deity]] of [[magic]] in the [[Forfarian Pantheon]]. He is primarily venerated by the [[ApMorten family]] of [[Forfarmax]].<ref name=Gaz1p78>[[Gazetteer I]] p. 78</ref> He is also part of the [[Tepestani Pantheon]], though he is usually ignored save for one circumstance. His name is invoked in [[funeral]] rites for [[Outlander]]s, as the [[Tepestani]] assume outlanders by default to be [[evil]].<ref>[[Gazetteer V]] p. 61-62</ref>

==[[Alignment]]==
[[Lawful Evil]]<ref name=Gaz1p78>[[Gazetteer I]] p. 78</ref><ref name="Gaz V p. 61">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 61</ref>

==[[Favored Weapon]]==
[[Quarterstaff]]<ref name=Gaz1p78>[[Gazetteer I]] p. 78</ref><ref name="Gaz V p. 61">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 61</ref>

==[[:category:Spell-domain|Domains]]==
[[Knowledge Domain|Knowledge]], [[Magic Domain|Magic]]<ref name="Gaz V p. 61">[[Gazetteer V]] p. 61</ref>

{{ref}}

[[category:deity]][[category:male]][[Category:Knowledge_Domain]][[category:Magic_Domain]][[category:Forfarian Pantheon]]
[[category:Lawful Evil]][[category:character]]
[[category:Tepestani Pantheon]]

Knowledge Domain

2023-10-10T20:09:00Z

Cure: Redirected page to Category:Knowledge (Ravenloft)

#REDIRECT[[:Category:Knowledge (Ravenloft)]]