The Fair Folk

Discussing all things Ravenloft
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Post by Ornum »

Of course there are people still reading. There's only so many times that someone can say "love it" or "great work" before it just gets repetative (and yeah, great work so far).

I'm pondering some ideas on the subject and actually plan to contribute at some point. I can't say it will b good, but it will be something.
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Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

NeoTiamat wrote:As far as titles.... You'll probably get 13 entries (That's my aim right now), though I fear that unless someone else decides to pipe up and help out, there will be no adventures beside my DMing notes.

That said, main reason for the CotN name would be to connect it to the "collection of unique monsters" tradition, though I'm open to alternative suggestions.
Well, your other prototype of unique monsters without adventures is RLMCII.... which is also subtitled Children of the Night. :/

Well, you've already got people talking about making up stats in the crunch thread. Maybe some folk will submit short adventures too. Hmm... that would be a nice final project if it all came together. But I suppose even with just some DM notes/adventure hooks, it might qualify for the name, since there's not much other precedent name-wise, and if you get the all-important 13. ;)

Let's see:
Red Jack, Brum, the Market (count all of them as 1 entry), False Knight, Elegist, Linnorm, King of flowing blood, goblinholm, teacher of great lessons, Cecil, Lucas Silver...

only two more to go! :) (assuming you're including Kaitou's as well.)
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Post by Joël of the FoS »

Yes of course we are reading :)

Yes of course we'd be delighted to host this :) If it's not too big, I suggest QtR, if it's quite large in the end (30+ pages?) a separate netbook.

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Post by NeoTiamat »

Hum. Well this response is gratifying.
Joel of the FoS wrote:Yes of course we'd be delighted to host this If it's not too big, I suggest QtR, if it's quite large in the end (30+ pages?) a separate netbook.
*discreet cough* :oops: Just copied the stuff I have to date into a Word Doc. and put it all into Times New Roman size 12. Came out to 46 pages. Considering there's two more Faerie to go, probably a few more mini-essays, and whatever other incidentals come up (such as the Elegist's little portrait), I will be surprised if the final product comes below 50 pages, and likely quite a bit more.

I fear that I am not quite at the "Concise" stage in my writing ability.
Gonzoron wrote:Well, you've already got people talking about making up stats in the crunch thread. Maybe some folk will submit short adventures too. Hmm... that would be a nice final project if it all came together.
Ornum wrote:I'm pondering some ideas on the subject and actually plan to contribute at some point. I can't say it will b good, but it will be something.
Well, the last two Faerie slots I already have ideas for (as does Kage). That said, if we end up with more possibilities than we have space, I may organize a poll of some sort to see which get kept and which get cut.

That said, there are a few places where help would be welcome:

-The big one is an editor. As is, it's looking like I'll be doing all the editing and organization, but if anyone with more experience in compiling and editing netbooks cares to volunteer, I'll probably jump on you like a starving dog.

-Midnight Market denizens. From the looks of it, the Market is going to be the 'flagship' entry, so if you have an idea for some merchants or what-not, pray, submit!

-Art. Kage is only one man, after all, so if anyone else good at drawing cares to get involved, that'd be useful, I think.

-Headers. In some cases such as Red Jack or the Minister, I've written the 'IC' bits myself. Elsewhere I've poached them whole-sale from existing artists and writers. I'd like to replace those with all-original stuff, but my poetic talents are.... lacking.

All that said, if you guys have some cracker-jack idea for a Faerie, or an eloquent essay, by all means, post it! It may not get in, but then again it may.
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Post by EO »

If you need help with editing or formating this, I'd be more than willing to help you out with that. I'm a fairly lousy writer myself, but quite good at compiling and editing.
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Post by Kaitou Kage »

I'm working on one more idea -- I've got a creature I've worked on for Planewalker that I believe I can adapt nicely for this project. It's a little bit lazy of me but the idea works :)
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Post by A G Thing »

So far everything I have read is awsome... I can draw and where I currently am there is a scanner so it is possible that I can send you an image of some of your fey that inspired me to draw them...

As for suggestions the scissor lady from modern japanise folk lore is a possible murder fey.

If you have a place I can send my drawings to post it here please.

Anyway thank you and keep up the good work? :D :)
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Post by NeoTiamat »

Heh, thank you AG, thank you EO. Lovely to have you aboard.

(I've not added some more Faerie just recently because my PCs have entered Ry'leh, and I need to keep them busy for a bit, more will come soonish).

If you have something, just send it to my email. There's also something called an 'Appearance Brief' which I can send you (it's basically a more detailed description of what a character looks like I can send you)
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Post by NeoTiamat »

Hrm... I've just finished reading Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist, which rather fails (for me) as a horror novel, but has a few interesting ideas which I'm currently processing for a Faerie Court. That said, I think I'll lay out a few ideas on Faerie Courts and Faerie Wars. In preperation for all that.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faerie Society: What sets the Fair Folk apart from most of the dangers that threaten humanity in the Land of the Mists is that they are social creatures, intensely so, and on a scale equaled nowhere else. The Faerie are individuals, and have their share of hermits and outcasts, but most of the Fair Folk gather together in troops and courts.

Why do they do this? No one is quite certain, for the Faerie have no need for goods or an economy, nor do they breed, not with one another, at least. The few scholars who study such things suspect that the Faerie band together for reasons of territoriality, even if what the Faerie consider territory is strange to mortals.

Their society, then, is designed to regulate territory. The Faerie Courts exist in a Feudal society, with lesser Faerie offering fealty to their Lords and Ladies in exchange for a measure of safety and the promise of territory equitably distributed. The Faerie Troops are groups of Faerie banding together to protect their territory from interlopers.

Of course, the Fair Folk being what they are, such societies tend to be more than passing strange. An elf-knight may be granted dominion over the roads of a forest in exchange for a single black rose, gifted to his Queen each full moon. The society of the Good People is recognizeable to humanity... but as if through a warped mirror.

Faerie Courts: The Fair Folk organize themselves into Faerie Courts and into Faerie Troops, though the differences between them tend to blur. Most Faerie acknowledge the might of the two Great Courts, the Summer Court of the Seelie Faerie, ruled by the Queen, Maeve, and the Winter Court of the Unseelie Faerie, ruled by the Prince, Loht.

Likewise, a troop of Faeries is nothing more or less than a group of the Fair Folk banding together for mutual benefit. Most troops are small, and connected closely either through narrative or concept (so a group of goblins may dwell together, even if they are variously earth fey, work fey, murder fey, and fear fey, as could a group of Despair fey, even if they take the forms of boggarts, banshees, and gnomes).

Between them though, the definitions blur. Larger Faerie groupings call themselves Courts, often-times ruled by one or two powerful Faerie, while some of comparable size and power (the Wild Hunt being the greatest of these) are but troops.

In truth, the difference between a Court and a Troop seems to be based more on how formal the leader's power is, and on the ego of that leader (and few of the Fair Folk lack for ego).

Regardless, there is often an implicit agreement of mutual protection amongst the Faerie, though such things are crafted carefully, as all contracts amongst the Fair Folk are. And if one side can find a loophole, well... The Good People will view the losing party as deserving it, for not paying closer attention.

[DM Notes: Basically, a Faerie Troop or Court can let you get more Faerie involved after the PCs have dealings with one. The redcap might be in a troop with something equally nasty, but more powerful, and might call on it for protection. A Faerie Court works the same way, only... on a bigger scale, and with shades of noble society.]

Faerie Conflict and Faerie Wars: The Law of Arak states that none of the Fair Folk may slay another...

It is rather amazing what you can live through.

This is especially the case with the Fair Folk, who are functionally immortal unless powerful magics are involved, or if they are not starved of narrative or their concept is destroyed. The Faerie compete, and quite viciously at that. They squabble with one another constantly, over power, over prestige, over mortals, over territory.

Most times, these conflicts take the form of contests, usually of wits or influence, and their consequences can be... unpleasant. The losing Faerie may be banished from their old territory (and narrative), they may be cursed with some debilitating wound, they may be bound to service, they may be forced to take the form of a stone for thrice a hundred years. In the worst case scenario, a Faerie may starve to death from lack of narrative, quietly fading away. The other Faerie didn't kill it themselves, and so the Law of Arak is observed.

In the worst situations, entire Courts and Troops of Faerie may declare war upon one another. These wars take the form of strange competitions, contests of skill with dreadful consequences for the losers. To the mortals, it seems as if the world goes asunder, and the bizarre Faerie logic bleeds into reality. Seasons grow strange, weather becomes peculiar, crops may cease to grow, or grow with such fecundity as to become dangerous.

Faerie contests and Faerie Wars can be strange, but one of the most common forms is through the means of proxies. One side swears to accomplish a task, and another seeks to stop it at any costs. Neither is allowed to negatively affect the others or their movements, but only through intermediaries... such as particularly unlucky mortals.

[DM Notes: You should get an example of a Faerie Court later, but it the possible uses of Faerie Wars & Contests are obvious. The PCs can become the avatars of one group of the Fair Folk, and they might need to stop other avatars (who might be just about any entity under the sun). Or they might need to stop two sets of proxies from causing some incredible damage in their conflict. Could be fun if the PCs are heavily involved in Faerie affairs.]
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Post by Kaitou Kage »

A G Thing wrote:So far everything I have read is awsome... I can draw and where I currently am there is a scanner so it is possible that I can send you an image of some of your fey that inspired me to draw them...

As for suggestions the scissor lady from modern japanise folk lore is a possible murder fey.

If you have a place I can send my drawings to post it here please.

Anyway thank you and keep up the good work? :D :)
I think Neo already got in contact with you, but do you have any art up that we can take a look at? It doesn't necessarily have to be fey-related, just want to see what you can do.
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Post by A G Thing »

I have just moved to a relatives and I do not have anything here except some anime esque stuff I have been working on that will not reflect the serious style I am trying to reflect in my drawings for this endeavor.

I will however send you the first picture I can in zipped form to represent my ideas and ability and will totally conciede to you and Neo Tiamats decision on whether to draw more. I am sorry if this is unacceptable but I am working hard and I will do the Linnorm of Ashmore Park for my sample and we will see from there.

I will hurry and I believe you will like it so please be ever so slightly patient with me...

Sincerely A G Thing...
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Post by Kaitou Kage »

No worries, just wondering what you can do! :)

I've figured out what to do for my next idea, so I'm typing now.
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Post by Kaitou Kage »

Another Eastern-themed Fey for you, though this one is much more easily adaptable for any situation.

Onryo-bi

What is fire? Fire is hungry, greedy, angry. It is full of fury and passion. It consumes without remorse, it devours without fear. At its best, fire is motivation, drive, and inspiration. At its worst, it is hunger, greed, and rage.

Onryo-bi is not this fey's actual name. It is the name given to the creature because of its actions and motivations. Onryo are, according to distant legends, spirits of people who were wrongly killed. These onryo remain behind to avenge their deaths, and only then can they pass on. Onryo-bi himself is a creature of revenge, so the name given to him is a bizarre sort of homage to his methods and motivations. In other parts of the world, he may have other names but Revenge by Fire remains the core of his being.

The "bi" (pronounced with an "ee" sound like "bee") part is derived from the word for fire, because to those who saw him first, he seemed a spirit of fiery revenge. In truth, Onyro-bi is no mere ghost, but a malicious, angry Revenge-Fey whose origins lay in distant lands.

Appearance: Onryo-bi spends most of his time as a flame, living in hearths, fireplaces, on candles, and in pits. He feeds on the wood and scraps offered until someone vocalizes a demand for revenge. Then, when the flame is doused and the night falls, Onryo-bi rises from the hearth's ashes and silently makes his way to the target's home.

These nights show Onryo-bi in his "doused" form. He appears as a tall, lean, hairless man with dark grey skin that has bits of ash and coal clinging to it. He wears no clothing, since clothing burns too easily, but the dark pallor of his flesh keeps him from being easily seen in the night. He moves in short, quick, almost jerky bursts, dashing from one place to the next like a thief trying to avoid capture. Unlike the thief, however, Onryo-bi is not trying to avoid being seen or caught. It is just how he moves. As he runs, the ash and charcoal dust clinging to him falls from his body and leaves a trail back to the home he started from. His eyes resemble black coals, but as he gets closer to his victim's abode, his eyes light up with a maniacal flame. It starts as a gentle smolder that turns into a raging inferno when he arrives at his destination.

Once ignited, Onryo-bi finds it difficult to hold his form. His body becomes wreathed in fire and he shifts, sometimes taking the form of a man, other times in the form of a beast. Some say the shapes he assumes while ablaze are forms of men and beasts he incinerated in days past. After the fire dies down, he hides again in ashes nearby, awaiting the next call for revenge.

Nature: Onryo-bi is a Revenge-Fey who is drawn to all sorts of people. He hears the call of the petty and the noble, the wicked and the righteous, the persecuted and the oppressor. Anywhere there is a desire for vengeance, a will to equalize, a cry for justice, Onryo-bi might be found. He wanders the world seeking these pleas, and then answers them with fire and fury.

His arrival in a village is always heralded by a localized meteor storm. On the night he arrives, fire streaks through the heavens, welcoming him to the village. He is instinctively drawn to those with vengeful thoughts, and he finds his way to these bitter people's fireplaces where he lies in wait.

The call for revenge must be spoken aloud before Onryo-bi can take action. It need not be a specific call or an exact request for vengeance or even a justified cry for retribution. All that matters to the Fire-Fey is the drive and motivation behind the spoken words. After revenge is sworn, Onryo-bi goes to work.

The nature of Onryo-bi's burning varies based on the desire for revenge and the offense that sparked the pursuit of retribution. If the offense is small, like an insult or an embarrassment, then Onryo-bi's attack is also small. He may burn valuable papers, a cherished painting, or an armoire with a favorite dress. However, once the furious fires of revenge start, Onryo-bi eagerly fans the blaze of anger and hatred. His presence is infectious. While he lives in a household, he begins subtly imposing his own greedy desires upon the residents. His pushes their minds, encourages them to take offense for any slights, however small or fabricated, urges vows of reprisal upon the perpetrators, and whispers promises that their desire for vengeance will be fulfilled. Of course, it only helps his cause that he leaves a trail of ash and coal from each initiator's house to the crime scene.

Through it all, though, he can never physically harm the first person in a given area that invokes him. Though he might try, Onryo-bi's flames are powerless against the one that starts his inferno. Of course, this person rarely leaves the mess unscathed or alive. After all, the perpetrator must watch everything around him burn to the ground and know that it started because of one wayward oath he swore on that one fateful day. Sometimes, though, other angry villagers just accuse him of arson and murder and execute him immediately. Unfortunately for the townsfolk, they do not realize they kill one of the keys to their salvation.

Eventually, the blaze goes out of control, as fire does when left unchecked. Town residents, filled with rage for each other over crimes real and imagined, loudly swear heated oaths against each other that draws Onryo-bi into a feeding frenzy that consumes the entire town. If left unchecked, Onryo-bi will quickly reduce an entire village to smoldering embers and leave nothing but a memory and perhaps a few angry ghosts of the people he was invoked against. Once only smoke and ash remains, Onryo-bi sleeps, comfortably sated on the mental and physical fuel he devoured from the village.

But everyone knows fire does not sleep forever, and before long, Onryo-bi awakens and strikes out again, seeking other souls that demand vengeance.

Defeating Onryo-bi: While he sleeps and travels between villages, Onryo-bi cannot be harmed. He is, in essence, both invisible and immortal. He cannot be found and cannot be attacked because another's lust for revenge is needed to give him physical shape. Once he manifests in a town, however, there are several ways of dealing with him.

The most direct way is simply finding his physical form and defeating it. To do this, one must catch him en route to his next target. This is easier said than done, of course, because Onryo-bi moves quickly and blends easily into the night. The easiest way to catch him is to follow the ash trail he leaves and hope you are fast enough to stop him before he can strike. Unfortunately, very few mortals, even with magic, are capable of such a feat.

There are a couple of other ways to handle him, though. These ways may be easier, since Onryo-bi is a difficult creature to catch. In some tales, one must find out the first townsman that invoked Onryo-bi's crusade. This can be very easy or very difficult depending on the size of the town and whether or not anyone has killed this person already. Once this person is found, however, he must be convinced to forswear his original oath of revenge and offer instead genuine forgiveness. The renunciation must be sincere and heartfelt. If the person genuinely rescinds his vow, then Onryo-bi vanishes instantly, and leaves the town in search of a new feeding ground.

Since it can be difficult or impossible to find the instigator alive, there is one more way that may be easier yet. All a person needs to do is gather people together and convince them to make peace. Onryo-bi cannot abide in a place without vengeful oaths and angry thoughts, and he will depart, hungry and unsatisfied, for a new locale. A simple enough solution, right? After all, it can't be too hard to convince several angry villagers to calm down and think things out rationally.

DM Notes: Dealing with the angry villagers is actually easier than it sounds. Onryo-bi is a Fire Fey and the emotions he plants in people's minds are based on quick, knee-jerk reactions. He relies heavily on people speaking and acting before they can think matters out. His efforts can be blocked by rational thought, and if a party of PCs can convince furious, vengeful villagers to listen and can provide a logical explanation of what is happening and why they should calm down, then the Fire Fey should suffer defeat. Of course, once the fire of passion starts burning, it is notoriously difficult to quench. Onryo-bi counts on this, and PCs should not have an easy time convincing incited townsfolk to listen to reason.

If instead the party is to find the one that started the inferno, there are several options. The instigator can be a petty, malicious, chaotic evil sort who really doesn't care what happens because of his vow or because of an angry spirit. It could be a man who believes Onryo-bi's first victim got what he deserved and refuses to admit that the other fires are ultimately his fault. A righteous noble or warrior would be suitable for this role. In this case, the PCs will have their work cut out for them convincing the perpetrator that he needs to renounce himself to stop the blaze. Finally, the originator could be someone who feels bitter remorse, such as a man avenging the murder of his parents. Such a person might feel cheated of his chance to exact revenge even though his own actions caused the offender's death. There are a lot of options to play with for this angle, so see what you can come up with.

There are several important clues that signify an otherworldly influence here. First, most, if not all of the townsfolk will note the meteor shower that marks Onryo-bi's arrival. If the PCs arrived after the first fire, they will not have seen a meteor shower wherever they were before, but to the townspeople, it is a typical meteor storm. Then, the PCs will note the trails of ash leading from one place to another. If this is not enough to get them sniffing around, once they've been in the area a few days, have many of the villagers become especially snippy and defensive about everything. Don't make them outwardly hostile, just a little unpleasant and difficult to deal with. If nothing else, include a chance sighting of the Fire-Fey as he makes his way to his next arson.

Combat: If Onryo-bi gets into combat, remember that he is quick, agile, and full of angry fire. In 4e terms, this makes him a Solo Skirmisher of a level appropriate to the PCs. His attacks should all have the Fire keyword, and he ought to have an ability or two that messes with PCs' heads. In 3e, he has a number of movement-based abilities and feats like Mobility, Spring Attack and possibly Mobile Spellcasting, depending on his HD. He should have a variety of SLAs related to fire and anger, and if he is high enough level, he should have some Quickened SLAs. Most fire spells are appropriate, as are spells that sow discord and anger (charms, confusion, etc.).
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Post by NeoTiamat »

Arson, destruction, revenge, feuds, lynchings, hatred... what's not to like?

I do believe that Onryo-bi makes for ten individual Faerie. Add to that the Midnight Market and Goblinholme, and that's two locations. So here's another one, and we're set with a full Ravenloft Dozen!

===============================================

The Mirror of Unseason, The Court of the Fool
  • "The Good People are a quarrelseom folk, but even amongst them the feud of Bréanainn the Darkling Prince and Fionnlagh the White-Handed Hunter was legendary. Now, some say they had quarreled over a hunt, that Fionnlagh slew a stag which Bréanainn had marked, and they could not decide who deserved the kill. Others, they say the quarreled over a woman, a mortal lass of such beauty as to make even those two stare. Myself, I don't rightly know, but I think that even Bréanainn and Fionnlagh had forgotten the cause of their feud. They fought for they had always fought, and the whys and wherefores didn't trouble them much."

    "Once, the two old foes were walking through the forests together, for an old foe is like an old friend, when they began a-quarreling again."

    "'I am the best hider in the world.' Bréanainn declared. 'For I can hide where ever I please, and never can I be found, not by Folk and not by Man.'"

    "Now, Fionnlagh wasn't about to let such a boast go unmatched, and so he challenged Bréanainn to a contest, then and there, to see who was the best hider in the world. Bréanainn went first, and took the form of a salmon, and hid amongst the thousands and thousands that swam through the streams. But Fionnlagh took the form of a bear, and for a year and a day he fished the streams, till he caught Bréanainn. 'Some hider you are!'"

    "Then it was Fionnlagh's turn, and he took the form of a star, and hid in the sky. But Bréanainn, he took out his bow and he started shooting down the stars, untill he found Fionnlagh. Oh how Bréanainn laughed."

    "Bréanainn took the shape of a bee in the field, but Fionnlagh took the shape of a sparrow to find him. Fionnlagh took the form of a single ear of wheat in a field, but Bréanainn became the farmer and found him. They kept it up for many a year, and though they hid in everything and everywhere, each could find the other, for they were well-matched, Lords of the Fair Folk."

    "But then, Bréanainn thought that if he could not hide in this world, then he'd hide in another. And so the Darkling Prince stepped through the mirror, and in the land of reflections he hid and watched as Fionnlagh searched and searched and searched, for a year and a day. Then when at last the White-Handed Hunter gave up and sat upon a rock in front of the mirror, did Bréanainn come forth, to laugh and jeer at his foe, for he had proven himself, he was the best hider in the world. Better he had not laughed, for Fionnlagh was as proud as he."

    "Well, Fionnlagh, he grew angry, and in his fury he struck the mirror Bréanainn was hidden in, shattering it into a nine shards of glass, and slicing his hand open in the doing. 'Be you so clever at disappearing, let us see you be so clever at the appearing!'"

    "And Bréanainn was stuck, for with the mirror shattered he could not leave his hiding spot. Then Fionnlagh, still furious, took the shards, and threw them away, so hard that each one fell in a different land. Then Fionnlagh the Bloody-Handed Hunter departed, for he had won."

    "As for the Darkling Prince? Well, Bréanainn saw he was a fool, to give his foe a chance to beat him so, and so he declared that he was prince no more, but the Amadan-na-Scathan, the Fool of the Mirror. And Fionnlagh best watch out, for someday the Amadan is going to find all nine shards and reforge the mirror, and then he'll leave his mirror realm with murder in his eye."


    -The Tale of the Amadan-na-Scathan, by the Finn O'Dell, a Tepestani bard.
There is something about mirrors that unnerves the mortal mind. To look into a mirror is to see a world, identical to the real one, but with everything ever so slightly wrong. That which is familiar becomes changed, reversed and twisted in the mirror.

Most of the time, this is nothing more than the interplay of light and space, an optical illusion created by a piece of metal-backed glass. But sometimes, there really is something twisted in the mirror. Something wrong, something unnatural... something hateful.

Nature: Were a scholar of certain arcane subjects to hear the bard Finn O'Dell speaking in a Viktal tavern, they would be struck by the correllation to an old mystery, that of the Eight Mirrors. The Mirror of Summer, the Mirror of Spring, the Mirror of Autumn, and the Mirror of Winter form the first quartet. There are also the Mirror of Day, the Mirror of Dusk, the Mirror of Night, and the Mirror of Dawn are a second quartet.

They are of beautiful craftsmanship, though they vary wildly in style. The Mirror of Summer is a hand-mirror, with a rosewood frame and handle carved to resemble flowers. The Mirror of Night, on the other hand, is a tall wardrobe mirror, backed by black mahogany and resting on two clawed feet. No two are alike, though they tend towards the large side. None are very valuable, and are the sort of thing given to a lesser noble's daughter or located in a merchant's bedroom.

Each one is also a cursed artifact of considerable malevolence. For wherever the Eight Mirrors go, evil follows in their wake. It begins simply. Diseases take longer to run their course. Wounds are more apt to become infected. Something begins to kill the local small animals, gutting cats or dogs.

If the Mirror is allowed to remain, the evil grows. The very neighborhood lies as if under a miasma of gloom, as if the sun shines less brightly. Animals avoid the place if they can, and something begins to pick off at the weakest members of society. Infants die of colic in ever greater numbers, while the deppressed or the lonely begin to commit suicide in despair.

Should the Mirror continue, it will eventually blight the entire area, and worse things will happen. People will fear to go about at night, for something murders them, slaying them with a spear to the back or an arrow to the skull. The corpses are skinned, or simply left hanging from a rooftop. Most mortal children disappear a few days after birth, or are found dead of various causes. A few women have healthy babes, but the infants are strange, and too bright-eyed and clever, and the mothers, one and all, refuse to name the father...

In time, the area around the Mirror becomes an urban wasteland. Only a few stubborn mortals remain, and those more timid than the most cautious Barovian peasant. Other things will move in, creatures in need of safe lairs from which to prey on humanity.

Shattering the Mirror is simple, but it solves nothing in the long term. Some time later, be it months or decades, the Mirror appears once more, and the cycle continues.

What these scholars fail to realize is that the Mirrors aren't actually cursed. Each one is a doorway, to the Ninth Mirror, the Mirror of Unseason, the Court of the Fool.

Appearance: The Court of the Amadan-na-Scathan lies within the Mirror Realm, looking like nothing so much as the interior of an ancient mead hall from the golden days of Tepestani history. It is immense in size, four hundred feet long and a hundred feet wide, with a low, sloping roof and stout walls. There is an alien beauty about it, the walls made of silvery stone, the roof of pale, translucent thatch, and everything glows with a soft blue-white light.

And yet, it is not comfortable. There is something cold about the hall, something impersonal and callous. It has none of the warm comraderie, or even the good-natured brutality that a true mead hall would have had. The Court of the Fool feels sterile and dispassionate, at constant odds with the nature of its ruler.

At the near end of the hall, eight doors stand in the wall, though at any time some are locked and barred. The open ones lead to those Mirrors whos nature has been awakened, and it is through them that the followers of the Fool may travel. Dozens of long tables form a U-shape down the length of the hall, with fire pits flickering with cold flames inside the U. From the rafters hang skins and corpses of those captured in the hunt... some animal, some human, and some which have no earthly analogue.

The Amadan-na-Scathan himself lounges at the head of the table, seated in a great throne atop the skins of bears, and wolves, and men. Though the feast before him is eternal, though his servants carouse and revel in perpetuity, the Fool cares nothing for it. Behind him is the Ninth Mirror, a vast mirror thrice the size of a man, surrounded by a frame of steel and ice, decorated with images of death. It is the Mirror of the Unseason, and both Fool's source of power, and his prison.

The Truth: For an unknown period of time after his imprisonment, Bréanainn despaired. He was alone, he was trapped, and it was in this time that the Darkling Prince grew mad. Starved of the hunt, starved of love of women, he refused to fade away. He declared himself the Amadan-na-Scathan in his madness, claimed the title of Fool of the Mirror with pride. The once proud Faerie soured and grew crueler, colder. Of Bréanainn there remains very little. Only pride and hate.

Fionnlagh had shattered the mirror into nine shards, and scattered them. Eight of the shards he threw about the world, but the ninth he thrust into the very realm of mirrors. But though these shards were fractured, the eight shards cast about were still mirrors, and to mortal eyes they were as such. The Ninth Mirror came to rest in the Amadan's prison, to taunt him eternally.

One day, however, an opening appeared. Drunk and jealous, a man murdered his wife before the Mirror of Dusk. And suddenly, the Amadan-na-Scathan could see outside the Mirror, could influence events. For short periods of time, he could even depart. It took the Fool decades to understand precisely what had occurred, and decades longer to find another of the Mirrors and recreate it. The Eight Mirrors became gateways, portals to the Court of Amadan, but only once they had witnessed a murder of passion. Then the Fool of the Mirror could depart.

Amadan-na-Scathan had his freedom, of a sorts. If the Mirrors were found and 'activated', than he had access to the outside world. Many, many times, the Mirrors were shattered, but they always returned, though they had to witness the crime once again.

And while they were open, the Amadan-na-Scathan and his host roamed free. They became the curse, the dark blight upon the land. Faeries of disease, of despair, of murder and greed and hatred roamed free, an infestation of darkness upon the land. Children were stolen and changelings left, and at the height of his power, the Fool of the Mirror walked abroad.

But it wasn't enough. The Amadan-na-Scathan desires more than just the half-freedom so granted to him. He desires to be free, and to take his vengeance upon Fionnlagh. But there is a difficulty. The Fool cannot be released until all nine mirrors, of Spring and Summer and Autumn and Winter, of Day and Dusk and Night and Dawn, and of the Unseason, until all nine are together. But the Ninth Mirror is within the Mirror Realm. The Court of the Fool is within the other Eight Mirrors, and the Ninth Mirror stands behind the Amadan's throne inside the Court.

This is the conundrum that has occupied the Amadan-na-Scathan for so many centuries.

Denizens: Over the years, the Amadan-na-Scathan has gathered a good-sized Faerie host to his side. The Faerie Lord who was once the Darkling Prince still retains much of his charisma and tactical ability, and if his vassals are now of an altogether viler sort, then so be it. With his foolishness, the Amadan-na-Scathan believes that he has ceded the right to a noble host, and so he contents himself to these dregs.
  • The Amadan-na-Scathan is, of course, the pre-eminent denizen of the Ninth Mirror. Those familiar with him only through his title of the Fool of the Mirror expect a clownish or silly fellow, a jester in motley. In truth, nothing could be further from the truth.

    The Amadan-na-Scathan takes the form of a tall, inhumanly handsome man of Tepestani origins, with fiery red hair and the muscled form of a hero from an epic ballad. He wears an elaborate linen tunic and leather trews, with a brilliantly colored cloak clasped at the shoulder and a stone axe at his side. He is a beautiful figure bedecked in bright and colorful clothing, an ancient warlord.

    And yet, the Amadan-na-Scathan is a fool. He is a brash, reckless sort of rogue, one who dares anything. Inside, the Fool is cold, cold and dead. The Darkling Prince's lust for life has become twisted and decayed during his imprisonment. All that is left of Bréanainn is his pride and his hatred, and the Fool hates everything. He hates his realm, this cold and dismal hall. He hates his followers, considering him the vilest and meanest sort of rabble. And he hates himself, for being made the fool by the White-Handed Hunter so many eons ago.

    So the Fool of the Mirror lashes out. He takes risks no sane man would, cares nothing for danger or destruction, all to spread his anger and hate. His followers think him a shining exemplar, a brave hero to lead them. But the Amadan-na-Scathan is as evil and twisted as they, though he hides it beneath a fair form.

    In truth, only the hunt brings back any memories of happiness and satisfaction. The hunting of beasts, and the hunting of lusts, for the Fool of the Mirror is as much a lord of the bedchamber as of the hunt. Once one of the Eight Mirrors has opened a true pathway to the mortal realm, then the Amadan-na-Scathan hunts. The one results in dark deaths and skinned mortals left hanging from balconies. The other results in something altogether darker, the Fey-Spawn.

    The Beggar is the true mind of the Court of the Fool. A hunched, stick-thin gnome of a man, emaciated and covered in sores, clad in tattered robes, this Disease-Despair-Fey is the seneschal of the Ninth Mirror. Most often found weeping tears of blood in a corner, the Beggar is a creature not to be trifled with.

    It is he who maintains the great Faerie Host that obeys the Amadan-na-Scathan, for though the Fool is a great warleader of the Folk, he cares nothing for their comforts or happiness. It is the Beggar who smooths over insults, who handles the administrative affairs of the Court, who remembers the lore and history of the Court, who manipulates his master's moods to something more congenial when it is required.

    For this work, the Beggar recieves nothing but kicks, curses, and insults from all around. But he is content, for with every opening of a Mirror, the Beggar's Plague of Roses spreads further. This vicious disease, causing weeping sores and hideous deformities, is whispered to be spread by homeless beggars and cripples upon the street. Slowly, charity dries up for fear of the plague, fewer than ever wish to approach these victims of the streets, and the Beggar watches as they die, alone and in agony.

    For this, the Beggar is willing to put up with any number of petty insults.

    Black Andrew is the Fool's Hound. If the Beggar is the Amadan-na-Scathan's right arm, then Black Andrew is his left, his enforcer and most loyal henchman. This great Death-Fey takes the form of a dread hound, a huge black dog with hellfire eyes and noxious breath. To see Black Andrew is death, it is said.

    Most often, the great Fey-Hound lies at its master's feet, a silent reminder of the Amadan's power. It is a simple creature, drawn to those mortals who have not yet passed, a living omen of death. And about the Fool there are many, many who will die soon.

    The Fey-Spawn are the results of the Amadan-na-Scathan's trysts with the mortal women, and they are creatures of horror indeed, as well as the Fool's personal troops. They are born as mortal children, though their eyes are too bright and all are born with srong, sharp teeth. They grow tall and strong, healthy and clever children that would be a joy to any mother, save for the fact that not a one of them possesses a soul.

    Somehow, the Fey-Spawn are less than the sum of their parts. They possess no mortal soul, but no sense of the compacts and bonds of the Fair Folk. They are sociopathic and murderous, but without the propriety and reserve of the Faerie. By their sixteenth birthday, most have committed a murder, often of their own mothers.

    The Fey-Spawn possess powers as well. They possess senses too keen to be natural, and they possess the power to travel past locked doors and stone walls, to escape from any bonds. Once one of the Fey-Spawn has decided upon a murder, no force in the Land may prevent them from finding and reaching their target...

    Eventually, the Amadan-na-Scathan comes for his children. He takes them to the Court of the Fool, and there, they become his loyal troops, obedient, subtle, and murderous.
Defeating the Amadan-na-Scathan: Like all of the Lords of Faerie, fighting the Amadan-na-Scathan is... difficult. He is a great warrior, a hunter skilled with bow and axe, and with an aura of command that is difficult to overwhelm. He fights like a berserker, taking any risks to defeat his foe. Added to this is a host of Faerie vassals, and a small army of Fey-Spawn children.

To defeat the Amadan-na-Scathan is to free him. The Fool of the Mirror is immortal as long as he is within the mirror realm. But what the Amadan fails to realize, what he has failed to realize for an eternity, is that the shard of the original mirror, the one that creates the Ninth Mirror, the Mirror of Unseason, is not inside the mirror itself, as with all the others. It is within the Amadan's heart, piercing it. So long as it is there, the Amadan is cold and cruel and dead. And one cannot kill what is dead.

One seeking to slay the Amadan-na-Scathan must then find all Eight Mirrors, and find the shard of broken glass hidden behind each Mirror. One must then retrieve the shard of the Ninth Mirror from the heart of the Amadan-na-Scathan, and place it by its fellows. Let only the light of day touch upon this mirror, and the Amadan-na-Scathan is free of his prison.

Perhaps the removal of the shard will bring back the Darkling Prince, Bréanainn, in which case the vile host is disbanded and Fionnlagh the Bloody-Handed Hunter had best be wary. Or perhaps it simply gives the mad Fool a greater venue for his destruction, but at the cost of his immortality. No one is quite sure...

DM Notes: The Amadan-na-Scathan is a tragic foe for the PCs, a dangerous entity that needs to be stopped because he blights whatever he touches, but one that is evil through his madness and unjust imprisonment. He is a symbol of the corruption possible in Ravenloft, where even the Lords of Faerie are not immune.

There are a few campaign types present here. The first is to find and destroy one of the Eight Mirrors that is blighting an area. All manner of nasty little Faerie might be causing the trouble, and the PCs need to fight them off, figure out what's going on, and shatter the mirror before the blight extends far enough for the Amadan-na-Scathan to pass through.

A second type involves using the Fey-Spawn as stalkers or serial killers in a campaign, the result of a Mirror that has long since passed on, but one the PCs need to stop. After the second or third killer the PCs face with a similar suite of abilities, this ought to prompt the PCs to investigate.

The ultimate, epic campaign, however, is one that begins with one of the previous, or as a favor (of a very major sort) for another Faerie, and that is to destroy/free the Amadan-na-Scathan. Collecting eight cursed mirrors from around the Demiplane is liable to be... difficult, even if they are quiescent. The Guardians may have a few, or perhaps a Mirror lies in the attic of a haunted house in a neighborhood far gone in the cursed blight. Collecting all eight shards and cutting the Ninth from the Amadan-na-Scathan is liable to be a quest of incredible proportions. Will it save Bréanainn, or merely let the PCs destroy the Fool of the Mirror?

Well, some questions must be answered by the DM.

Combat Notes: The Amadan-na-Scathan is a very high level foe, in 4E terms a Solo Soldier (Leader) with excellent melee and ranged attacks, and a balanced suite of powers focusing towards powers appropriate in an classic Gaelic hero, subtly twisted.

The Fey-Spawn, for their part, are creatures with high stealth and an innate ability to track foes and escape from bonds or prisons. In 4E terms, they're Lurkers, using mortal tactics and weapons combined with superhuman abilities. A few fear powers may also be appropriate.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
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Post by Heretic »

This is amazing stuff.

All my props.

Thanks for sharing.
[b]Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mist - Persistent World for Neverwinter Nights[/b]
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