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Domain of the Month

Dominia

Adventure Hooks

 

Third edition info: RL3E / RLPH

Second edition: Red Box (RL Campaign Setting), Domains of Dread, Feast of Goblyns, Bleak House

Appeared during the Grand Conjunction (year 740). Current status: Island located in the Sea of Sorrows.

Darklord: Dominiani, Dr. (Daclaud Heinfroth)

 

Creepy Old Woman :

Interesting domain, but I keep thinking HP Lovecraft whenever the whole cerebral/psychosis aspect of the domain and its darklord comes up. If I have my way, I would place this domain with Bluetspur in a madness-themed cluster, so that the labyrinthine tunnels that hold the cells underneath the asylum will eventually lead to the subterranean slave pits and brine pools of the illithids.
 

Gonzoron :

Haven't used Dominia myself yet, but I just wanted to mention an idea I read somewhere that I plan on using when I do. If your PCs have faced (and possibly slain) Dominiani in Feast of Goblyns and then meet him again on Dominia, whether during Bleak House or in your own adventure, there's a big problem of trust. You can't easily play the "good doctor" again once it's known that you feed on your patients' cerebrospinal fluid.

So I read a good solution once, I believe on the old RL mailing list. The key is that cerebral vampires are immune to sunlight. So you have Dr. D first meet the heroes in the full light of day, and if necessary, have him thank them for "slaying" him, because it allowed him to be "reborn" as a human again (a gift from Ezra or maybe the Morninglord, he claims), and continue the good work he did before undeath made him a monster. Hopefully, this "proof" will get the PCs to play along long enough to pull the rug out from them again and reveal that he's just a different kind of monster now.

 

Zettaijin :

Here's something of an adventure hook: Dr. Dominiani's henchmen recently found and, accidentally, killed a very peculiar interloper. A strange creature looking not unlike a man with rubbery flesh and a squid-like head.

Since his discovery, the good doctor has found himself the object of assassination attempts which have so far failed seeing as the responsible party is unaware of his true nature. However, he feels as if the creature may have more of his kin somewhere in the asylum and may need the help of outsiders to deal with this hostile takeover.

In truth, the illithids are looking for a particularly potent psion whose mind snapped after unwillingly conjuring a fiendish larvae. By the time they found out about the man, he had already been sent away by family members to Heinfroth's asylum with hopes of waking him from his despondent state.

In the same vein, the Nightmare Court could be substituted for the illithid, with Dominiani losing his source of sustenance to the Court.

Archedius :

Alternatively, the Illithid could be courting Dominiani for some inscrutable purpose : they could be trading surgical knowledge between each other; Illithid could be sent to learn more on human psychology and ways to 'break down' mental resistances more easily from the Doctor. This could be in exchange for making sure that Domiani has a steady influx of mental patients; or perhaps the Godbrain has taken an interest in the Doctors work and how it might relate to it's struggle for a mobile existence.
 

DeepShadow of FoS :

Dr. Dominiani has two assistants in Bleak House, named Dr. White and Dr. Black. Who are these people? Where do they come from?

Dr. Black was once a member of the Fraternity of Shadows, assigned to stay close to Dominiani and report to his masters on the fledgeling Darklord's development. When the GC ripped Dominiani off and cast him into the Mists, Black was cut off from his associates and fell into the Darklord's clutches. Later, when the DP's granted the power to make cerebral vampires, Dr. Black was among the first. Now he languishes at his master's side, but what might happen if he were to recontact his superiors?

I'll leave Dr. White to someone else.

 
Rotipher of the FoS : While most of his research into insanity is conducted at his asylum, Heinfroth also keeps up a correspondance with alienists throughout the Core, and sends agents to investigate cases that capture his interest. PCs might encounter his vampiric assistants outside Dominia, on errands such as:

  • Retrieving the original research notes of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen from the ruins of the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, or (if necessary) its dream-world duplicate.
  • Collecting well-water samples from Chateaufaux, and using them to re-create the hallucinogen used by the devils in Chilling Tales.
  • Documenting the eccentricities of Maykle's inhabitants, and discreetly exposing captives to "miasmal gases" to determine if fumes are really to blame for their behavior.
  • Discreetly capturing a few Vechorites for transport to Dominia, so their capacity to tolerate a wildly-unpredictable environment can be tested to its limits.
 

cure :

I would presume that there is a small but lucrative market in designer gaslighting. For example, an undead pirate has some need of living men to complement his crew of undead grunts but finds that the the living can't handle the stressful situation very well, so he trades plundered supplies at Dominia for sailors gaslighted to be incapable of recognising undead for what they are.

Evidently, nobles, domain lords and such may have more esoteric needs . . . .

 

cure

"Sena gazed upon the blasted place with wide-eyed confusion. Horace had the look of a hunted animal. Which in fact he was, as were we all. I was very much worse for wear, and more than a little concerned that our fate now rested upon the trustworthiness of the Vistani, and, for that matter, of our employer. Lying on the ground between us was a native of the sunless realm, one of the proprietors of the vast butcher shop. The thing, tentacles and all, was bound tight as a drum, or nearly so, and covered with two score of leeches supplied by the doctor. They, or at very least my swift kick to its head, were proving to be effective. Nonetheless, not two feet away from me, the thing's stomach noisily digested Victor's brain. A second kick to its head did my toe little good and less for poor Victor. Repeated kicks to its belly had failed to oblige it to part ways with its breakfast. Minutes seemed to pass as hours. Then a sudden and violent gust of wind threw up a wall of dust. When I could see clearly again, our rescuers and their vardos stood in waiting. We would live to reach the ile of Domina, to deliver the damn thing, to reap our reward."

-Brutus Nostrum retelling himself how he came to be confined in Doctor Daclaud Heinforth's Asylum for the Mentally Disturbed

DeepShadow of FoS :

So do I understand this to mean that they were commissioned by Heinfroth to hunt down an illithid for capture?

cure :

Yes, hired by the good doctor to kidnap an illithid, in furtherence of his research into madness.

Beyond that, I envisioned the adventurers/mercenaries to be Darkonese (hence the Latin names) and, as suggested by the story itself, the good doctor, rather than paying them, locked them away in his asylum where they are beginning to doubt (among other things) the reality of their expedition to Blutspur.

The leeches were evidently psychic leeches, applied to cripple the illithid's psiconic abilities.

DeepShadow of FoS :

That there's a good use of psychic leeches!

Wonder what other stuff Dominiani would do to kidnap people? What other kinds of people or animals around RL would he be interested in?

 

Brothersale :

Somewhere within the Core.

'Come on it will be fun"
"I don't know Hans"
"Look, it only and old skeleton, the old guy was just trying to scare us. I mean ' Behold the curse skeleton of the Duke Gundar, bewared for only this simple shaft of wood holds him in check, and devouring the innocent once more!’ Please, some old fraud tell you some old skeleton he probably dug up himself and stuck a piece of wood in is a vampire’s and you believe him. Look I prove it” and pulls the stake free. “See nothing” Swiftly Hans starts to leave.
“…….Er Hans?”
“Yes what?”
“l-l-look”
“Oh for Ezra’s sake”

“ARRRRRRH”

The ragged and gaunt figure, stood up from the drained husks before him, how long had it been, five years, twenty, since his deceitful toad of a servant had betrayed him. Now he would make him pay, he would make them all pay starting with “DOMINIANI”

Dominina, Private Sanctum of Dr. Daclaud Heinfroth

A chill, passes up the back of a figure writing at a desk, pausing, a smile lingers on his face. “Welcome back master. After all these years, and so many patients I believe I will have to have something special prepared for you when you find me.”

 

Zettaijin :

If we assume that folks from the Athasian domain of Kalidnay also exhibit the same latent psionic abilities or psionic potential as other Athasians, obviously Dominiani could be interested in studying them.

Although slightly difficult to achieve, abducting an Abber nomad would not only be quite the coup for Dr. D but also provide much needed data on how mortals deal with unstable environments. However, this would certainly be a little redundant if the Vechorite idea is also used.

The more fanatical followers of Yagno Petrovna might engage in behaviour perceived as unnatural by people living in the core. So unnatural as to be classified as insane. Eccentricity has a long history of attracting negative attention, but when mixed with frothing at the mouth religious fervour, it stands to reason that the more reserved inhabitants of the core would be quick to ship these visitors back home or perhaps to Dr. D's place.

Transpossession may lead to some forms of insanity depending on the fiend type. One can very much imagine a particularly turbulent transpossession victim finding his/her way to Heinfroth's home for the mentally distressed. One can also imagine the trouble said fiend might cause if it completes the process in full.

Seeing as how the Vistani are a little off limit, darklings will have to do. The fragile mind of the darkling is in some ways quite alien and by virtue of a once strong connection to the land itself makes for a fascinating test subject.

Rotipher of the FoS :

Abducting and imprisoning a darkling might just be asking for trouble, IMO. It'd be a great Dread Possibility, however, if the darkling and the doctor get into a mind-game rivalry of some kind.

Great idea about the Abber, BTW. Even if he's also testing Vechorites, an Abber's unusual mindset -- their refusal to believe what's not right in front of them, which Dominiani would likely regard as a coping mechanism -- would make an excellent case-study for Heinfroth ... if, that is, he can even get the captive nomad to respond to his harassments. (Freaky physics and voices in the head? Been there, done that...)

Zettaijin :

The way I see it, the time displaced Zarovan tribe would probably be of great interest to our dear doctor, but he's also smart enough to leave the Visatni alone. But what of a darkling?

It's not as if the Vistani will come rushing in to save one of these twisted creatures and I'm quite certain Heinfroth feels confident enough in his methods to keep the darkling in check.

I don't think it would be completely out of character for the good doctor to take up the challenge. And it also wouldn't be completely out of character for the darkling to perhaps facilitate his capture in order to cause mayhem in the asylum as a measure of revenge for the very idea of attempting to capture him. Life's bad enough as it is without some lunatic trying to jail him and use him as a test subject, so perhaps his would be jailer needs a little lesson in good manners...

DeepShadow of FoS :

A Zarovan darkling? I seem to recall that there was one a long time ago.... Allisandro Tselikov? Wasn't he a Zarovan? Other than him, I don't know if there would be that many Zarovan darklings, if any.

Would be an interesting project to keep one under control, though. Maybe the other Zarovan would drop him off themselves, complete with tools and suggestions for keeping him bound?

The Giamarga :

AFAIK Tselikov is mentioned in canon only in the spell description of "Allisandro's Binding Curse" where he is called the first darkling and is said to have created the spell several hundred years ago. As it is a 9th level spell we can infer that he was a powerful arcane spellcaster. This post on RAVENLOFT-L paints him as a canjar darkling lich necromancer20 with an interesting history.

gonzoron :

I could also see it going the other way. I could see the vistani saying, "he may be a darkling, but he's our darkling. We've passed our judgment and given our punishment, and no one else is going to torture him if we have anything to say about it." (I'm extrapolating this possessiveness based on the vistani custom of retrieving darkling bodies after their death.)

DeepShadow of FoS :

Yeah, that does make more sense. What would Dominiani be able to do against them? Psionic leeches are one thing, but the gypsies get hacked off, next thing you know there 's no one in the cells!

Zettaijin :

Then again, as I was saying, what if the darkling himself decides to "play along" with the plan, allowing for his capture in order to meet his jailer face to face, possibly feeling confident that anyone foolish enough to mess with a former Vistana has it coming to him?

Needlessly convoluted? You bet! I make no attempt to hide nor deny my love of needlessly convoluted plans/stories. And really, who are we to judge the decidedly warped workings of the darkling mind?

As for his former kin, again, how would they react to their former friend willingly being captured by a darklord for the sole purpose of "settling the score" as it were? Who really needs their help? The darkling or Heinfroth?

I'd say this could lead to some very untenable decisions for the Vistani...

And really, if we're going to discuss Vistani loyalty, what about the aforementioned Illithid? Does the God Brain and the Illithid really want one of their own to be tortured and used as a guinea pig? What if the alien squid man squeals?

Dominiani is probably in over his head no matter what he tries to capture, but somehow that's how I'd like to see Heinfroth portrayed. For all the control and domineering attitude, the cerebral vampire is a bit player in the great scheme of things, taking over because Gundar died not because of anything he did and then being shunted off to an isolated island domain because he's such a minor force.

You get the feeling that darklords like Azalin and Strahd are firmly in the driver's seat, knowing full well the burden they must bear but, for better or worse, making the most out of their unfortunate situation. These men are

leaders:

strong willed, intelligent and resourceful despite their respective obsessions and failings. Then you have the Dominiani, lesser rulers of tiny islands and more often than not unable to truly achieve much of note and instead falling prey time and time again to their obsessions and failings with little to show for it in return.

Sorry about that last part, I just love underdog darklords.

gonzoron :

There's the crux of it, right there. Strahd and Azalin are leaders. Rulers. A Count and a King, respectively. (and Strahd had right to the title King as well, just stuck with count out of respect for his father, IIRC). Dominiani makes no such claim. Like Mordenheim, he's just a mad doctor concerned with his own experiments. One gets the feeling that he didn't want to outright rule Gundarak, just the metaphysical power that came with it. (And perhaps a bit to just get Gundar off his back, so he could get back to work.) I expect that Dominiani-era Gundarak looked a lot like Lamordia without the Von Aubrekers, or Nova Vaasa without Othmar. Except the Gundarakites had lived under despotic rule for so long that with a completely hands-off ruler, it probably fell into chaos.

Dominia is perfect for Dominiani, because it's really all he needs as darklord. He is lord of the asylum, not a country, and that's perfect for a cerebral-fluid drinking mad doctor who tortures and gaslights his patients.

DeepShadow of FoS :

Yeah, I see Dominiani preferring to rule in depth rather than bredth, if at all. That is, he'd rather have total control over an individual or small group, right down to the ability to control their emotions and memories, than partial control over a nation, with the ability to do little more than levy taxes or wage war.

Zettaijin :

Oh I agree on all counts with you, DS and Giamarga. Certainly Dominiani has his interests and they're probably not in ruling a country or even a city.

I guess I just want to see Dominiani attempting elaborate, complex or perhaps insanely over the top plans to further his obsession but ending up well over his head.

I wish to see Dominiani constantly bitting his nails, knowing that there's a million and one fascinating test subject out there but their capture could lead to his own end. He can't help his destructive habit as normal human subjects can only provide him with so much knowledge and joy. He knows better, but can't help himself.

But as the head of the asylum, he tends (and certainly needs) to project that aura of calm rationality and even some paternal domineering. As the head of the asylum he should know better than to play with fire, yet it's just too much temptation for someone like him.

I'm no longer sure how pertinent all of this might be, however it may help in understanding why I seem so intent on Heinfroth adding more dangerous patients to his asylum.

Rotipher of the FoS Hmmm. That begs the question of what did motivate Heinfroth to turn on Gundar at last, despite having endured his subordinate status for so long. Did Gundar make some truly intolerable demand of his pet mad doctor, that brought their enmity to a head? Did Heinfroth make a major scientific breakthrough of some sort, that Gundar wilfully suppressed out of ignorance, or fear it could impinge upon his own power? Could some outside agency have intervened, convincing Heinfroth it was finally time to make a clean break with his master?

cure :

The simplest answer might be a basic incompatibility of temperments and goals. Gundar seems to be very much the brute who revels in carnal passion (slaying and drinking blood as well as ruthlessly crushing the slightest resistance). The good doctor is an entirely more cerebal creature driven by his fear of succumbing to madness, perhaps of the very sort that Gundar symbolises. Gundar is out to dominate for the sake of domination. The good doctor is out to dominate to the end of distilling a cure for himself, not explicitly seeing the domination as an end in itself, however much he actually enjoys it and is addicted to it. The good doctor will happily sit down to dinner with visitors, before perhaps seeking to drive them mad. Gundar will happily have visitors for dinner before even allowing the to get to the table. The latter revels in being a monster. The former does not even consider himself to be a monster.

Rotipher of the FoS :

That gives them reason to despise each other, but it doesn't explain why Heinfroth chose that particular time to try to usurp control of Gundarak -- an objective which, IMO, Ron's perfectly right to say is out-of-character for this guy -- when he'd been able to put up with his master for so many decades, up to then. You'd think that if a mere personality-clash was enough to set them at each others' throats, it would have come to a head shortly after they met, and Gundar would've simply destroyed Heinfroth once and for all! (Gundar doesn't seem the sort to give unruly minions a second chance to betray him.) Yet Heinfroth's not only tolerated his superior's atrocious behavior without complaint for over a century, at the time of Feast of Goblyns, but he's actually played the part of a loyal servant long enough to be entrusted with a fair amount of authority and freedom of action.

So it still leaves me wondering why, if Heinfroth has stoically put up with his boss's bad attitude for a century and a half already, he'd suddenly opt to risk a potentially-fatal act of betrayal. Would a man as methodical and purpose-driven as Heinfroth really do something that reckless, for so little reward, just because some wolfwere with patricidal ambitions of her own is goading him to?

Nathan of the FoS :

That depends...is he really in love with her, or manipulating her to his own ends? When he and Akriel learned about the Crown of Souls might make a difference, too--access to an artifact that powerful might change one's attitude toward an overbearing boss quite a bit.

Rotipher of the FoS :

See? That's just the kind of thing I'm wondering about: his immediate motive, that caused him to suddeenly change tactics after a hundred-plus years. Nathan's ideas are two interesting possibilities.

Incidentally, do we actually know what happened to Akriel? I don't recall if her name has ever come up, in the wake of FoG, aside from that brief mention in Gaz I's recent history of Kartakass. If she's still out there looking for her old boyfriend (whether to hook up again, or to kick his butt for screwing up their plans), then that's a potential Dominia plot-hook in itself!

cure :

As I recall, Lukas had her memory wiped and he dispatched her off into the wide wicked world. A board member, of a prior message board or two, then stuck her in an asylum, perhaps in Darkon or perhaps that of Dr. I. in Nova Vassa (prior to its theft by the Nightmare Court). So no official canon conclusion to her. But one could image the good doctor taking a renewed interest in her and having her transferred to his asylum would not be overly difficult.

Gonzoron :

Gaz I does mention her by name, but says only that the popular version of the story has her and Dominiani fleeing into exile after their assassination of Harkon fails.

I seem to recall something in FoG about Dominiani planning to betray Akriel and/or vice versa, but I can't find it now. All I find is a trap laid for her: in his reading room is a book entitled Life or Death? a History of the Crown of Souls, but it's trapped with explosive runes and is blank, except for a note saying "you didn't think I would leave such an important document here did you?" So there's definitely something going on other than pure love.

In my campaign, I had Dominiani corresponding with Baron Metus during the time of FoG (setting up their future collaboration in Bleak House). I said that Dr. D was the one who revealed to the Baron the secret of how to perform the Dark Kiss to make a vampire bride/groom. The PCs found an incomplete note from Dr. D to Metus asking if the technique was a success, since he would soon have need of it. (hinting that he planned to make Akriel his Bride.)

cure :

That 'fact' was by memory. Further research establishes it as non-canon; here it is, by Mark Graydon:

http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0010c&L=ravenloft-l&D=1&F=P&P=339

" Annabelle was found wandering the lands of Darkon in 626 B.C. She was not taken in by those who found her, but took her to the newly completed Clangor Asylum in Maykle. She was taken in as a patient by Arthur and Fennigan, but they were both unable to help her, as every other doctor has been unable to help her since. Everytime a breakthrough is near, her mind shuts down under some mental block and no more progress can be made for months at a time. Add to the fact that Annabelle does not seem to age, and she becomes one of the strangest cases at Clangor.

Annabelle spends her time in her room, humming and practicing her hobbies which include drawing, singing, and dancing. Although the majority of the time she is calm and practical, when anything reminds her of her memory loss she becomes distraught and distant, and often refuses any sort of contact with anyone for a good day or so.

One thing has been found to terrify Annabelle, and that is wolves. Whenever the wolves howl Annabelle starts to shake with fear and has in the past gone into shock and siezures from the panic. The doctors are at a loss to say why this is, but theorize that it is connected to her past somehow.

Annabelle is actually Akriel Lukas, Harkon Lukas' rebellious daughter. After she attempted to take control of the land of Kartakass from him in 635, he devoted a small amount of time to making sure that she would *never* bother him or reveal his secrets to anyone again. Using a pack of wolfweres and a local mage that he knew (the same man who created Harkon's Ring of Imitation, see Feast of Goblyns) they drove Akriel out into the wilderness towards the caves on the edge of Kartakass and at what the time was Bluetspur. There a large patch of wolfsbane grew, and they cruelly forced her into the flowering mass. The scent itself nearly drove her mad, and she clawed and scratched at herself trying to remove the skin that had been tainted by the plants. It was then that the mage with Harkon cast a powerful mind-affecting spell upon her, erasing her memory. Then, satisfied with the results Harkon and his pack left and he began to further pursue his plans that his daughter had left off.

Akriel Lukas, Wolfwere female, B3: AC 6; MV 15; HD 5+1; hp 32; THAC0 14; #AT 1; Dmg 1d2+2; SA Singing; SD Iron or +1 or better to hit; MR 10%; SZ M (5'6"); ML Unreliable (7); Str 18, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 18; AL CN. - Can sing a song of lethargy; victims must save vs. spell or be affected by a Slow spell for 1d4+4 rounds. She can only be hit by iron or +1 or better magical weapons.

Akriel has forgotten many of her powers, and indeed even that she is a Wolfwere. If she were shown the truth of things she would probably fail an immediate horror check as her nature becomes apparent to her.

Although she cannot remember many of her abilities, her subconscious still knows how to preform them, thus she has the following chances to succeed at these bardic abilities"

Rotipher of the FoS :

Considering Akriel is neither a humanoid nor a monstrous humanoid, she shouldn't be able to add a vampire template, via Dark Kiss or otherwise. Perhaps Heinfroth could be searching for a means to turn her, assuming he does have such designs on the wolf-girl? Previous post to the contrary, she's probably not ageless like her sire -- darklordship-based traits shouldn't be hereditary, IMO, and there's nothing in the wolfwere's base description to suggest they're immortal -- so if he wants to keep her around for the long haul (be it for love or just entertainment), he'd need to find a way to prolong Akriel's wolfwere lifespan.

Gonzoron :

Agreed. Since he never got as far as implementing the plan IMC, I leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine if he knew it was impossible and was looking for some alternate method, or if he simply didn't know wolfweres would be immune. (Or if you want him to be really oblivious, he might not even have known she was a wolfwere! Though this is pretty unlikely, since he knew enough about Harkon to know he's a darklord. The minor fact of his species should probably be easier to obtain.)

Then there's also the question of whether he can even perform the Dark Kiss, with his unusual diet. Would Akriel have to drink his cerebral fluid?

Rotipher of the FoS :

Considering Heinfroth's fondness for wolves, he almost certainly knew what she was. Heck, he might prefer it that way: he doesn't demonstrate much interest in human women IIRC, save as experiments and/or snacks, but Akriel's lupine aspects might've intrigued him.

For the Dark Kiss? Good question. Maybe that's why he keeps so many vampire servants, despite the difficulty of feeding them all: he's testing out different means of conferring cerebral vampirism, looking for a technique that's the equivalent of the Kiss. If not for Akriel, then for somebody else he might hypothetically choose to turn one day.

Gonzoron :

Ah, found the confirmation: They were both going to betray each other. It's right in their bio text in FoG, p12-13.

Rather than taking control of Gundarak, Dr. D plans to off Akriel after she helps him kill Harkon, thus taking control of Kartakass, not Gundarak. Gundar is in on this part of the plan and approves, hoping to have Dr. D as a friendly neighbor.

Akriel, for her part plans to either kill Dominiani or make him her slave once she rules Kartakass.

His later plot to kill Gundar must've been hatched after this initial plan was foiled by the destruction of the Crown.

cure :

As neighbours go, Harkon doesn't seem particularly unfriendly. OK, we can say that he is territorial, for whatever that is worth, but practically what does a friendly doctor get you over and above the status quo? We can understand what is in it for the doctor. But what is 'really' in it for the baron?

As to the betrayal, involving, as I recall, the baron putting himself in a compromising position only to have the doctor not save him as planned, it speaks first of all to the supreme and misplaced confidence of the baron and second to a possible Oscar Wilde like ability of the doctor to resist everything but temptation. Betrayal then by intellectual curiosity and a sense of drama.

Rotipher of the FoS :

Good question. We know the Duke was a temperamental, violent ruler, and not terribly bright. Maybe Lukas was jealous of Gundar's authority as the iron-fisted tyrant of a more-populous and more civilized domain, and so had made a hobby out of heckling the guy? A few snide songs at Gundar's expense might've done a lot to rile the Duke up, if they became popular enough.

cure :

I have always imagined northern Kartakass to be a significant base for the Gundarkan resistence to Strahd. Perhaps it was previously a significant base for the the (slight) Gundarkan resistence to Gundar himself, with Lukas (rightly or wrongly) being suspected by Gundar of being behind it.

 

Cure :

Brains in vats, and the Brain in particular, might be an object of fascination for the good doctor. Plus this might be the grounds for something of a relationship with his near neighbour Mordenheim.
 

Kessler :

Some insane persons from Heinfroth's Asylum…
  • guy with Haunted feat
  • monomaniacal rope entwiner
  • homicidal guy who sneaks behind other people and cuts their throats with imaginary knife. Imaginary as long as he hasn't hot some kind of weapon.
  • guy who stares the PCs ALL the time
  • guy who "shots" a person and starts lamenting for being murderer
  • somebody who thinks that everything she touches melts
  • bird phobic (and left outside)
  • calculator - calculates everything, his steps, his breaths, grass etc., then averaging
  • guy who claims he does'n exists, we are all simply a dream of somebody
  • somebody who's thinks all his thoughts are heard aloud or by doctors
  • megalomaniac - thinks he is Vlad Drakov and shouts occasionally: "This man - on the stake!" - like Queen in Alice in Wonderland
  • pyromaniac
  • kleptomaniac - very good pickpocket
  • eater - she needs to eat everything, flies, spiders etc.
  • guy from Shadowdale Forgotten Realms, not so mad yet, but considered as such due to his talks about
  • guy with Ghostsight feat
  • maniacal cleaner
  • guy who thinks he is a baby
 

DeepShadow of FoS :

Considering the financial backers of Dominia, one wonders how many skeletons it holds from the collective closets of Ravenloft. Noble lines that give birth to calibans or halfbreeds might find it a convenient place to put their loved ones out of sight.

cure :

Think Soviet style gulag for the Darklord or other power that be who want to put someone on ice at a safe distance, perhaps with a little bonus gaslighting thrown in.
 

cure :

It would be nice if the good doctor's island had some native or transplanted pest that at least bothers and perhaps actually endangers the doctor, the staff and/or the patients, to say nothing of 'heroes.' It could be flora or fauna. Probably not bloodroses, but something that removes or at least curtails the possibility of a pleasant walk about. Fearweed would have potential as would an anergen.
 

cure :

I would be in favour of Dominia not having a closable domain. It is small, so it is not like you can go to ground, and just getting out of the asylum and onto the sea should be plenty challenging, without having a door slammed in one's face.

If it is closable, something involving madness/delusions is obvious enough. A failed madness check, or at least madness checks for all, the idea being that one needs to come back just to get cured.

Of course, the border closing could be left to the DM as a Dread Possibility.

 

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