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| ==Identity==
| | #REDIRECT[[:Category:Church of the Lawgiver]] |
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| ====Vaasicentrism====
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| The Church of the Lawgiver is Vaasicentric. The use of any language other than Vaasi in its rites and its records is proscribed. Its doctrine is barely separable from the history of the [[Vaasi nation]] and its mission is nigh inseperable from the advancement of the Vaasi cause. Consequently, there are high barriers to its spread across the [[Land of Mists]].
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| ====The Hazlani Experience====
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| The remarkable reception of the Iron Faith among the Hazlani was made possible by the absence of these barriers in Hazlan. Vaasi is the native tongue. And Hazlik was too preoccupied with the annihilation of a race to concern himself with the cultural and spiritual sovereignty of his land.
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| ====The Reception of the Iron Faith Elsewhere====
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| Any would-be tyrant can 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 betrayal of one's own identity. Consequently, a tyrant who is already well established is going to dismiss the benefits as slight and recognise the costs as significant. And the expected response would then be to send the flatterers from Kantora packing, with or without [[Uri Grislev|their teeth]].
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| ==Doctrine==
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| ===Domination===
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| Might is right.
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| Hierarchy is essential and good.
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| Duty to one's superiors is the supreme virtue.
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| The correction of one's inferiors, including one's weaker self, is the supreme duty.
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| ===The body is a reflection of the soul===
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| Physical degeneracy is a sign of moral and spiritual degeneracy.
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| Self-harm (including tatooing) is the wilful embrace of degeneracy.
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| ===Sorcery and wizardry are the instruments of Mytteri===
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| 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 weilders of arcane magic must be corrected publically in the strongest possible terms with death.
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| ===Doctrine of [[Mytteri]]===
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| Rebellion, Hedonism, Nihilism
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| ==Clerical Domains==
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| ===The Lawgiver===
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| Death, Evil, Law, Bindings, Scrutiny
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| ===Presumed of [[Mytteri]]===
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| Destruction, Evil, Chaos, Liberation, Magic
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| ==Rites, Ceremonies, Holy Days==
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| Spells are prayed for at highnoon, in the full-light of day, that the Lawgiver might see and weigh all.
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| Services are held nightly, after the working day has ended, with twice weekly attendance being expected at a minimum.
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| During the Day of Penance, 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.
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| During the Celebration of the Reemergence, which recalls the end of the Great Upheaval and is held in August upon the first full moon, the Lawgiver is thanked for his return and his success in restoring to the world its proper order.
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| ==Organisational Structure==
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| ===Hierarchy of the Iron Faith===
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| The ''[[Himmelsk Naeve]]'' ("Divine Fist") commands the Iron Faith across the known world.<br />
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| The [[Pave for Nova Vaaa]] commands the Iron Faith across Nova Vaasa and the [[Pave for Hazlan]] commands the Iron Faith across Hazlan.<br />
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| Four [[Aerkebiskop]] command the Iron Faith in four Nova Vaasan regions and four [[Aerkebiskop]] command the Iron Faith in four Hazlani regions.<br/>
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| One [[Biskop]] commands the Iron Faith in each ''dommer''.<br />
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| One [[Kontor]] commands the Iron Faith in each fane, leading the actual rites of worship.
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| ===Seats of the Iron Faith===
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| The [[Black Citadel-Fane]] in [[Kantora]] is the seat of the [[Himmelsk Naeve]] from where he rule his charges across the known word.
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| 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]].
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| 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]].
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| ===Orders of the Iron Faith===
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| ''[[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. Hazlani Kunduktørs spawned the heresy that the Great Upheaval marked the destruction of the Lawgiver, draining the faith and its rites of life.
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| ''[[Gudkædes]]'' ("God-chains") are the marshal order sworn to the defence of the Church and the destruction of its enemies. They are not quite the force that they once were, for want of occasion to exercise their strength.
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| ''[[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.
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| ''[[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. They work closely with the ''Jernspørgsmålers'', but are far more given to pondering the descent into, and nature of, iniquity.
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| ===Iron Obedience ===
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| Within the Church proper low ranks do as they are commaned by higher ranks. Rebellion against the order of one's better is treason.
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| 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").
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| ===Hierarches===
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| *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)
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| *The Pave of Nova Vaasa commands the Iron Faith across Nova Vaasa from the [[Crimson Citadel-Fane]] in Bergovitsa. ([[Pave Lod Ragnaar]], male, Clr13)
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| **The Aerkebiskop of Arbora: [[Aerkebiskop Bearnt Chekiv]], male, Clr7<br />
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| **Aerkebiskop of Kantora: [[Aerkebiskop Mathias Bolshnik]], male, ?<br />
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| **Aerkebiskop of ?
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| **Aerkebiskop of ?
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| *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)
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| **Aerkebiskop of Sly-Var: [[Aerkebiskop Melkior Vadnais]], male, Clr8<br />
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| **Aerkebiskop of Toyalis: [[Aerkebiskop Verzin Lols]], male, Clr10<br />
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| **Aerkebiskop of ?
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| **Aerkebiskop of ?
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| ===The Up & Coming of the Iron Faith===
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| [[Johan Bolshnik]], ''Jernspørgsmåler'' ("Iron Inquisitor"), male, Clr3/Rog1, Kantora
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| ===Aerkebiskopcies===
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| Each Aerkebiskop commands the Iron Faith across a region. The [[Aerkebiskop of Arbora]], a Chekiv, probably commands the Iron Faith across the [[Pommel Duchy]] of the [[Chekiv family]]. Likewise, the [[Aerkebiskop of Kantora]], a Bolishnik, 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 divison 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]], giving the two families all the more reason to fight for control of Begovitsa.
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| 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 Aroba 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 ("Divine Fist").
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| The additional two aerkebiskops in Hazlan and the division of Hazlani territory among them is not clear in the least. There will ''not'' be an Aerkebiskop of [[Ramulai]]. No places in existence has 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 alone ethnic lines would result in an unacceptible overlapping of responsibilities with the Aerkebiskops of Sly-Var and Toyalis. Perhaps 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]].
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| ''Haakon Aramsen is tentatively being deemed to be the former Pave of Hazlan. He is described as being the leader of the Hazlani Church of the Lawgiver (Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I, p53). But Pave Stavroz Vatsisk is described as being the Pave of Hazlan not once but twice: first in ''Authority Figures'' insert for Toyalis (Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I, p60); and second several years later in the ''Hierarchy and Terminology'' section for the Church of the Lawgiver (Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V, p127). This was an editoral error: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6847. Its resolution is being discussed in the thread. His death, from natural causes given his advance age, would tie things up neatly. His disappearance, without a trace, would make for a good hook.''
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| ==Church & State==
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| 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.
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| 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. Slaver 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?
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| [[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.
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| [[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.
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| ==The [[Great Upheaval]]==
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| 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 and with restoring to existence its pre-existing order. 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. A silent minority 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.
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| ==Heresies==
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| *[[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").
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| *[[The Black Duke]] was an avatar of [[The Lawgiver]]. Would-be cult members of the dissolved [[Brotherhood of the Whip]] who spout this heresy are arrested, tortured, and executed.
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| *Leaders have a responsibility to not only correct their followers but to care for their physical well-being. This heresy comes straight from the mouth of [[Lukas Duremke]] and his [[Duremkites]] who been quite enough about espousing it that the Church has not yet set about purging them ruthlessly.
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| ''Heretics''
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| [[Lukas Duremke]], male, Clr6, Arbora, who espouses a lawful good vision of the Iron Faith
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| The [[Duremkites]], based in Arbora and led by [[Lukas Duremke]]
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| ==Schisms==
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| The Iron Faith has not succumb to a schism of consequence in either living memory or recorded history. That said, one is brewing in [[Hazlan]].
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| 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.
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| [[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 Stravroz 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.
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| 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.
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| By attempting to stop a schism before it can start, Himmelsk Naeve Pieter Jergaar may in fact be setting one in motion.
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| <!-- START CATALOGUE IMPORT : Please do not edit below this line. 1 items imported. -->
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| <!-- Catalogue entry last modified: 23-Jan-2003 last import: Sun Dec 27 21:50:34 2009-->
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| {|
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| |-valign="top"
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| |[[Image:rldb_society.jpg]]
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| |[[Image:rldb_primary.gif]]
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| ''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]''<br />
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| ''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]''<br />
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| ''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''
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| |-valign="top"
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| |[[Image:rldb_art.gif]]
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| ''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p52<br />
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| ''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' - p53
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| |-valign="top"
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| |[[Image:rldb_stats.gif]]
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| ''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p54<br />
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| ''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - p70<br />
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| ''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' - p53,58, 59,60<br />
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| ''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]'' -p38,39,40,128-130
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| |-valign="top"
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| |[[Image:rldb_desc.gif]]
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| ''[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]]'' - p46<br />
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| ''[[Ravenloft Third Edition]]'' - p17,2,122,134<br />
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| ''[[Domains of Dread]]'' - pp67,70<br />
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| ''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I]]'' - p52-54<br />
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| ''[[Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V]]''- p25,32,38,125-130
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| |-valign="top"
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| |[[Image:rldb_alias.gif]]
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| The Iron Tyrant<br />
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| The Black Lord<br />
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| The Iron Faith<br />
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| Bane
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| |-valign="top"
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| |}
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| <!-- IMPORTED : Main Headquarters in Nova Vaasa and Hazlan (Domains) -->
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| [[Category:society]]
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| <!-- END CATALOGUE IMPORT : You may edit below freely -->
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| [[Category:religion]]
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