Fleshing out Sanguinia

Discussing all things Ravenloft
User avatar
brilliantlight
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1003
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:02 pm

Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by brilliantlight »

CL:6
MR:2


Description: Sanguinia is a pretty domain that resembles Renascence Germany. It has temperate forests covering the nearby mountains. Although cooler than most domains it is by far the warmest region in the Frozen Reaches and can get hot in mid-summer hitting 30C in the hottest days of a particularly warm year. OOC: In real life Moscow can get that hot in summer. In winter it can -35C and less . The main city is Mirceaovnia which is named after the prince's father and is a city of 15,000. The city thrives on the fur trade, trading fur for food. There is also the surrounding farms that do well during the long summer days and fishing. The inhabitants are unusually resistant to diseases with +2 to their saves. This does not apply when fed upon by the dark lord, indeed they automatically fail in that case.

They are also slightly prone to madness with a -1 to their madness saves. They are normally an outwardly cheerful lot, particularly when approaching the 30th of the month. During the last week of every month is the great fair where people drink, carouse and gamble after work. During the daytime during that week the upper class sees plays, listens to music and feasts. The fair starts out restrained but gets more and more wild during that week until the last day which is really wild. The reason is a superstition where it is belived that it is the riotous living on the 30th that prevents more than one person being killed on the "day of dread".

The domain has a hard time affording it as it has fallen on hard times after the plague but the fear of the plague spreading again without the festival is too strong to stop it. . However the domain is slowly recovering as children are born and people are moving in from Vorostokov as it is warmer and more prosperous than Vorostokov.

Darklord Prince Ladislav Mircea

10th level human aristocrat (On the 30th of the month he changes into a Vrykolaka Vampire and adds its template)

AC 11 HP 92

St12
Int 16
Wis 8
Dex 12
Con 16
Chr 18

SD: Undying, immune to aging, poison, disease, level and ability drain even in human form.
Feats: Skill focus: Diplomacy, Bluff, Gather Info and Hide

Bluff 18
Diplomacy 18
Gather Info 18
Hide 17
Move Silently 20 (Boots of elvenkind included)


He appears to be a very handsome man in his mid 20s and is quite charming except for once a month when he changes into a Vrykolaka Vampire. He has a very good reputation with the locals as a result and is a hit with the ladies. He is far more upset about his ugliness once a month than the murders.

On the 30th of every month which is the same day of the month as the day he died he turns into a Vrykolaka Vampire and has to drain one person that day and pass on his disease. The natural resistance that the locals have to disease and the fact that they put the victim in quarantine right away prevents the disease from spreading. He always attacks the first person he sees alone and out of sight. He sticks to shadows and wears his boots of elvenkind. Due to his curse there will always be one or more people out alone. The town has not figured out that there is a vampire out there, they think the town is cursed.
Last edited by brilliantlight on Wed Mar 15, 2017 2:39 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Mistmaster
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1139
Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2016 5:27 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by Mistmaster »

There was a thread about Sanguinia started by CarrionCeown, in which Mircea was cursed with the need to care for his subjects, because he can feed only from them; I added the fact that he can feed only from happy and healthy people, but the kingdom is infested by wolves and werewolves who bring about death and terrors; the problem is that Mircea is Lychophobic (fears wolves) to thepoint of paralysis, and so, he need to rely on others to fight them.
User avatar
brilliantlight
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1003
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by brilliantlight »

Mistmaster wrote:There was a thread about Sanguinia started by CarrionCeown, in which Mircea was cursed with the need to care for his subjects, because he can feed only from them; I added the fact that he can feed only from happy and healthy people, but the kingdom is infested by wolves and werewolves who bring about death and terrors; the problem is that Mircea is Lychophobic (fears wolves) to thepoint of paralysis, and so, he need to rely on others to fight them.
I didn't read it. This is another version. In this one he is horrified of his condition. He can't really enjoy the 29 days he is a normal human as he is in complete dread of that one day. He also has nightmares about it. It isn't so much the killing as the fact he is now hideous on that day. He totally dreads that.

I see him as an extremely vain man as Prince Prosparo in Masque of the Red Death seems totally unconcerned with the people dying outside the castle. Only he and his upper class cronies count. I gave him a very high charisma as it said he went into the castle with a thousand cronies. That is alot even for a prince.

I don't know why they stuck it in the Frozen Reaches as the princedom in the story reminded me of Florence, Italy more than anything else. A rich Renaissance city full of art and music.
User avatar
ewancummins
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 28523
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:35 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by ewancummins »

brilliantlight wrote:
Mistmaster wrote:There was a thread about Sanguinia started by CarrionCeown, in which Mircea was cursed with the need to care for his subjects, because he can feed only from them; I added the fact that he can feed only from happy and healthy people, but the kingdom is infested by wolves and werewolves who bring about death and terrors; the problem is that Mircea is Lychophobic (fears wolves) to thepoint of paralysis, and so, he need to rely on others to fight them.
I didn't read it. This is another version. In this one he is horrified of his condition. He can't really enjoy the 29 days he is a normal human as he is in complete dread of that one day. He also has nightmares about it. It isn't so much the killing as the fact he is now hideous on that day. He totally dreads that.

I see him as an extremely vain man as Prince Prosparo in Masque of the Red Death seems totally unconcerned with the people dying outside the castle. Only he and his upper class cronies count. I gave him a very high charisma as it said he went into the castle with a thousand cronies. That is alot even for a prince.

I don't know why they stuck it in the Frozen Reaches as the princedom in the story reminded me of Florence, Italy more than anything else. A rich Renaissance city full of art and music.
The domain appears in the Black Box, as I recall, with limited development.
There's nothing about it in its earlier presentation that suggests any link with Masque of the Red Death. Or maybe there is, and I've forgotten that bit.
Sanguinia was another vaguely Balkans/Capathians/Olde Spooky Europe Horror movie domain ruled by a vampire aristocrat. And it had harsh, cold winters--notably cold.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Poe connection is a fan interpretation of the domain, and not canon. Or is it canon, but only shows up in the D20 Ravenloft materials?

The very cold winters were part of Sanguinia from early on. And I think the domain received an Early Medieval CL classification at the same time CLs were introduced for other domains (Domains of Dread hardback, IIRC). So a fairly primitive domain with cold weather....that was probably enough for the designers to lump it in with Vorostokov. Just a guess.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
User avatar
ewancummins
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 28523
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:35 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by ewancummins »

MORE


I'm sure I have seen fan-made maps that place Sanguinia in the Core, taking over part of what was once Markovia or the Shadow Rift (depending on which version of the setting/history you use).

I rather like that idea.

As far as technology and CL go, the domain could have once been CL 8 or even 9 (the source world, anyway) and have slumped down into a more primitive state after plague depopulated the countryside and towns. Artifacts and ruins adventurers might find could suggest this history.

The Prince's castle might be like a high Renaissance style palace contained within grim medieval fortress walls.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
User avatar
brilliantlight
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1003
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by brilliantlight »

ewancummins wrote:
brilliantlight wrote:
Mistmaster wrote:There was a thread about Sanguinia started by CarrionCeown, in which Mircea was cursed with the need to care for his subjects, because he can feed only from them; I added the fact that he can feed only from happy and healthy people, but the kingdom is infested by wolves and werewolves who bring about death and terrors; the problem is that Mircea is Lychophobic (fears wolves) to thepoint of paralysis, and so, he need to rely on others to fight them.
I didn't read it. This is another version. In this one he is horrified of his condition. He can't really enjoy the 29 days he is a normal human as he is in complete dread of that one day. He also has nightmares about it. It isn't so much the killing as the fact he is now hideous on that day. He totally dreads that.

I see him as an extremely vain man as Prince Prosparo in Masque of the Red Death seems totally unconcerned with the people dying outside the castle. Only he and his upper class cronies count. I gave him a very high charisma as it said he went into the castle with a thousand cronies. That is alot even for a prince.

I don't know why they stuck it in the Frozen Reaches as the princedom in the story reminded me of Florence, Italy more than anything else. A rich Renaissance city full of art and music.
The domain appears in the Black Box, as I recall, with limited development.
There's nothing about it in its earlier presentation that suggests any link with Masque of the Red Death. Or maybe there is, and I've forgotten that bit.
Sanguinia was another vaguely Balkans/Capathians/Olde Spooky Europe Horror movie domain ruled by a vampire aristocrat. And it had harsh, cold winters--notably cold.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Poe connection is a fan interpretation of the domain, and not canon. Or is it canon, but only shows up in the D20 Ravenloft materials?

The very cold winters were part of Sanguinia from early on. And I think the domain received an Early Medieval CL classification at the same time CLs were introduced for other domains (Domains of Dread hardback, IIRC). So a fairly primitive domain with cold weather....that was probably enough for the designers to lump it in with Vorostokov. Just a guess.
Ravenloft DMG "When a lethal plague ravaged his lands, Mircea
abandoned his subjects, retreating tocastle Guirgiu
with his dearest friends to wait it out in splendor.
When disease penetrated the castle, Mircea had
his infected friends thrown over the wall", except for the throwing his friends over the wall it sounds Masque of the Red Death to me. It is D20 though not the Black Box so if you don't have it that would explain it. I made it Renaissance because Poe's story sounds Renaissance to me, so make it one instead of Early Medieval. However you are correct that it might have reverted back because of the plauge. I will change.
Five
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 859
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:59 am

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by Five »

It appears Sanguinia was a DIY domain back in the black box (part of the beauty of it, imo), got axed from the Red Box and DoD as far as I can see, then made a comeback for 3E/d20. So essentially the only CL given for that particular domain was that given in RLCS.

Either way, keep tinkering...:)
"A very piteous thing it was to see such a quantity of dead bodies, and such an outpouring of blood - that is, if they had not been enemies of the Christian faith."

- Jean Pierre Sarrasin, "The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville"
User avatar
brilliantlight
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1003
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by brilliantlight »

Five wrote:It appears Sanguinia was a DIY domain back in the black box (part of the beauty of it, imo), got axed from the Red Box and DoD as far as I can see, then made a comeback for 3E/d20. So essentially the only CL given for that particular domain was that given in RLCS.

Either way, keep tinkering...:)
I changed Vorostokov a bit http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... f=1&t=9847 in this earlier thread. It doesn't have eternal winter but the regular 6 month winter and then 6 month summer of the Artic. The first winter in RL was unusually long however lasting 9 months.
Five
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 859
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:59 am

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by Five »

I've been doing a bit of tinkering with the Frozen Reaches myself. But I seem to be shredding as much as I'm gelling. Something is never quite right with my narrative-cum-adventure.

I'll post some existing ideas here not to derail your thread or ideas, but just to compare notes so to speak. And I'll try to keep it brief. :)

Vorostokov. My version is based largely on my interpretation of TSR's Wilderness Survival Guide. And for my adventure needs I meshed the video game "The Long Dark" with Zolnik and company (werewolves) replacing the wolves. In other words, it's survival (skill) based with very gritty combat. I kept most of canon Vorostokov intact, but what I did tinker with was its relationship with Sanguinia. And that relationship is that both are the same realm. The domains are split only because of its dark lords. And that came about because I thought it'd be cool for the occasional Zolnik henchman to have a chained vrykolaka, half-starving and wild, act like a bloodhound...:)

Simply put, Sanguinia is the land of nobles and Vorostokov is the land of peasants.

Prince Mircea was always a spoiled, rotten brat. And never could he deal with the filthy peasants. They had to be kept at a distance. Any dealings with the disease-ridden masses were done by proxy and thus the Prince was left to his true desires: being the center of attention at his extravagant, and very much exclusive, parties. Pretty boy through and through (think Hollywood superficial). Someone you just want to punch in the teeth just by looking at him.

The peasants always have resented this little pissant. And it was only a matter of time before they would take advantage of the Prince's ten foot pole policy. Resentment leads to a revolt, and it's a vicious. And a stalemate.

The Prince has always dabbled in alchemy (it's his only memory of his always absent father) and after witnessing a particularly debauched guest die a spectacular death at one of his parties it dawns on him to concoct a surefire way for the peasants to leave him and his guests alone: he would ravage the diseased with a new disease. How amusingly clever.

Did I mention he's a real douchebag?

Anyway, after burning pint upon pint of midnight oil he develops a "plague" and disperses it amongst the ever-agitated peasants. It backfires (nobody has the nerve to checkvalve a guy like him) and spreads back to himself and his guests (but who cares about them; they can be replaced). Hideously disfigured, the once handsome Prince becomes that which he so feared and his initial tantrums are legendary. If only the dead can speak. Now he is a half-mad recluse who is absolutely possessed with finding a cure...

Zolnik seizes upon the power vacuum in the "lower regions" and styles himself "boyar".

Blah blah today.

And that's the basics of what I am currently working on. There's a lot more work ahead of me yet.
"A very piteous thing it was to see such a quantity of dead bodies, and such an outpouring of blood - that is, if they had not been enemies of the Christian faith."

- Jean Pierre Sarrasin, "The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville"
Five
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 859
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:59 am

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by Five »

Oh, and neither Mircea's nor Zolnik's actions brought the Frozen Reaches to RL. They're inheritors. And they're inheritors for the simple reason that no other Dark Lords are, that I can think of right now. :)

Once I solidify those two I plan on going back and working in the "parent evil", which will of course explain the eternal winter.
"A very piteous thing it was to see such a quantity of dead bodies, and such an outpouring of blood - that is, if they had not been enemies of the Christian faith."

- Jean Pierre Sarrasin, "The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville"
User avatar
brilliantlight
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1003
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by brilliantlight »

Five wrote:I've been doing a bit of tinkering with the Frozen Reaches myself. But I seem to be shredding as much as I'm gelling. Something is never quite right with my narrative-cum-adventure.

I'll post some existing ideas here not to derail your thread or ideas, but just to compare notes so to speak. And I'll try to keep it brief. :)

Vorostokov. My version is based largely on my interpretation of TSR's Wilderness Survival Guide. And for my adventure needs I meshed the video game "The Long Dark" with Zolnik and company (werewolves) replacing the wolves. In other words, it's survival (skill) based with very gritty combat. I kept most of canon Vorostokov intact, but what I did tinker with was its relationship with Sanguinia. And that relationship is that both are the same realm. The domains are split only because of its dark lords. And that came about because I thought it'd be cool for the occasional Zolnik henchman to have a chained vrykolaka, half-starving and wild, act like a bloodhound...:)
Interesting, I changed the domain the way I did because, as I said in the thread, a six month summer would explain why they aren't all starving to death. Also that is what the Arctic is like in real life. As a "weekend in Hell" like Ravenloft was origninally designed as the original version works fine but as a long term domain it asks too many questions on why anyone is still alive. About the only thing I could think of with people surviving a perpetual winter is to make it survive on fishing and whaling. But that would turn it into an Inuit domain not a Russian one. However you could go that route too and it would work.
User avatar
brilliantlight
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1003
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by brilliantlight »

Five wrote: I kept most of canon Vorostokov intact, but what I did tinker with was its relationship with Sanguinia. And that relationship is that both are the same realm. The domains are split only because of its dark lords. And that came about because I thought it'd be cool for the occasional Zolnik henchman to have a chained vrykolaka, half-starving and wild, act like a bloodhound...:)

Simply put, Sanguinia is the land of nobles and Vorostokov is the land of peasants.

Prince Mircea was always a spoiled, rotten brat. And never could he deal with the filthy peasants. They had to be kept at a distance. Any dealings with the disease-ridden masses were done by proxy and thus the Prince was left to his true desires: being the center of attention at his extravagant, and very much exclusive, parties. Pretty boy through and through (think Hollywood superficial). Someone you just want to punch in the teeth just by looking at him.

The peasants always have resented this little pissant. And it was only a matter of time before they would take advantage of the Prince's ten foot pole policy. Resentment leads to a revolt, and it's a vicious. And a stalemate.

The Prince has always dabbled in alchemy (it's his only memory of his always absent father) and after witnessing a particularly debauched guest die a spectacular death at one of his parties it dawns on him to concoct a surefire way for the peasants to leave him and his guests alone: he would ravage the diseased with a new disease. How amusingly clever.

Did I mention he's a real douchebag?

Anyway, after burning pint upon pint of midnight oil he develops a "plague" and disperses it amongst the ever-agitated peasants. It backfires (nobody has the nerve to checkvalve a guy like him) and spreads back to himself and his guests (but who cares about them; they can be replaced). Hideously disfigured, the once handsome Prince becomes that which he so feared and his initial tantrums are legendary. If only the dead can speak. Now he is a half-mad recluse who is absolutely possessed with finding a cure...

Zolnik seizes upon the power vacuum in the "lower regions" and styles himself "boyar".

Blah blah today.

And that's the basics of what I am currently working on. There's a lot more work ahead of me yet.
That certainly works and he might well be trying to treat Zolnik as a traitor but the Dark Powers are preventing him from crushing Zolink as a traitor .
Five
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 859
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:59 am

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by Five »

brilliantlight wrote:I changed the domain the way I did because, as I said in the thread, a six month summer would explain why they aren't all starving to death. Also that is what the Arctic is like in real life. As a "weekend in Hell" like Ravenloft was origninally designed as the original version works fine but as a long term domain it asks too many questions on why anyone is still alive. About the only thing I could think of with people surviving a perpetual winter is to make it survive on fishing and whaling. But that would turn it into an Inuit domain not a Russian one. However you could go that route too and it would work.
That was one of the things I debated as well, and along a similar line of thinking. However I opted to keep the eternal winter for a few reasons. Even though "eternal winter" can still be viewed as more perception than actual fact, with just enough of a thaw to barebones regulate the ecology of the realm.

Perpetual starvation ties into the theme of survival that I'm going for. And with survival comes some morally-ambiguous situations and choices. Christie Cleek, Sawney Bean, the Donner Party...cannibalism isn't evil in and of itself when you consider self-preservation, but for some it is when it becomes a choice. Now, it (cannibalistic encounters) is of limited use when put to the table, for its shock value degenerates quickly if overused. But an encounter where the PCs are attacked by rabid flesheaters (I would limit it to a single tribe that potentially bloodmarks the PCs personally), what I would call animal cannibal, is too cool to pass up imo. As is the cunning cannibal: Injured, lost, and starving you stumble into, or are found by, a ray of hope. The stranger takes you to his humble dwelling and introduces you to his dirty-faced and obviously starving family. What meager scraps of food the family has available are put in front of you for you to "get your strength back". Objection leads to a clannish smile and a brief speech about walking a mile in the shoes of others/doing the work of their god/goddess, etc. Begrudgingly you eat, yet you notice that none of the others are eating, and that all eyes are on you as you devour the food...

Also, in the adventure "Dark of the Moon" Vorostokov is mentioned as having many frozen lakes and rivers, which tells me there's a lot of attempted ice fishing going on. Small game (rabbits, squirrels, snow quail, etc), elk, caribou, deer, bear...all could potentially sustain a limited (and dropping?) population. Numbers may be down, but the DM can re-arrange things to make it work without going full-blown fantasy. Adaptation; less people hunting due to lack of skill, focus on survival, fighting off neighbors, etc could mean an actual increase in numbers, though the cold still culls depending on how long the winter has lasted. There is said to be only about 1000 people in Vorostokov (1,100 according to RLCS), and 6,300 in Sanguinia (RLCS)...spread out over what, 600 (?) square miles (Vorostokov, DotM), and half that (??) for Sanguinia. That's 7,400 people spread out over a landmass almost twice that of New York City. Not that I'm a slave to canon or numbers.

I think it's a great opportunity to introduce the Frozen Reaches Longhunter class/PrC. The food is there but you have to range to get it type thing. Hard to do when you're A) from a community-based society (more of a factor if the "eternal' winter started within living memory), B) supporting a family/clan/multiple mouths, and the relatively unknown C) the presence of predatory monsters (random vrykolaka in Sanguinia, loup du noir/boyarsky in Vorostokov) in the traditionally populated areas is driving the wildlife further out of the reach of the people...

But again. I like your angle of breaking a literal eternal winter, though the six month summer seems to jive with my personal account. In fact, I like the tweaks that you've been doing with the Frozen Reaches in general. Good to see somebody else shine the light on it. :)
"A very piteous thing it was to see such a quantity of dead bodies, and such an outpouring of blood - that is, if they had not been enemies of the Christian faith."

- Jean Pierre Sarrasin, "The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville"
Five
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 859
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:59 am

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by Five »

brilliantlight wrote:CL:6
MR:2


Description: Sanguinia is a pretty domain that resembles Renascence Germany. It has temperate forests covering the nearby mountains. Although cooler than most domains it is by far the warmest region in the Frozen Reaches and can get hot in mid-summer hitting 30C in the hottest days of a particularly warm year. OOC: In real life Moscow can get that hot in summer. In winter it can -35C and less . The main city is Mirceaovnia which is named after the prince's father and is a city of 15,000. The city thrives on the fur trade, trading fur for food. There is also the surrounding farms that do well during the long summer days and fishing. The inhabitants are unusually resistant to diseases with +2 to their saves. This does not apply when fed upon by the dark lord, indeed they automatically fail in that case.
Taking this thread back to YOU...

This resistance to disease, does that apply year-round or only during the winter months?

I ask because you've inspired me. Despite our differences when it comes to keeping eternal winter or doing away with it we both seem to be running parallel when it comes to recognizing disease (plague) in the Frozen Reaches, Sanguinia in particular. And during hot months disease is more likely to spread, so this fits in with your version (which leads to my question above). And with me keeping eternal winter in Sanguinia/Vorostokov the constant and brutal cold would actually be keeping it somewhat in check, leading to a sort of containment of the initial breakout that ravaged the land, which has led me to the new idea of the unnatural winter being one that is induced. Perhaps by some (well-intentioned) volkhvy-based magic...

Anyway, how active is the plague in your Sanguinia, and what was its source (or does that even matter)? Have the people/survivors developed a natural resistance in general? Do their offspring carry this resistance as well?
"A very piteous thing it was to see such a quantity of dead bodies, and such an outpouring of blood - that is, if they had not been enemies of the Christian faith."

- Jean Pierre Sarrasin, "The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville"
User avatar
brilliantlight
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1003
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: Fleshing out Sanguinia

Post by brilliantlight »

Five wrote:
brilliantlight wrote:CL:6
MR:2


Description: Sanguinia is a pretty domain that resembles Renascence Germany. It has temperate forests covering the nearby mountains. Although cooler than most domains it is by far the warmest region in the Frozen Reaches and can get hot in mid-summer hitting 30C in the hottest days of a particularly warm year. OOC: In real life Moscow can get that hot in summer. In winter it can -35C and less . The main city is Mirceaovnia which is named after the prince's father and is a city of 15,000. The city thrives on the fur trade, trading fur for food. There is also the surrounding farms that do well during the long summer days and fishing. The inhabitants are unusually resistant to diseases with +2 to their saves. This does not apply when fed upon by the dark lord, indeed they automatically fail in that case.
Taking this thread back to YOU...

This resistance to disease, does that apply year-round or only during the winter months?

I ask because you've inspired me. Despite our differences when it comes to keeping eternal winter or doing away with it we both seem to be running parallel when it comes to recognizing disease (plague) in the Frozen Reaches, Sanguinia in particular. And during hot months disease is more likely to spread, so this fits in with your version (which leads to my question above). And with me keeping eternal winter in Sanguinia/Vorostokov the constant and brutal cold would actually be keeping it somewhat in check, leading to a sort of containment of the initial breakout that ravaged the land, which has led me to the new idea of the unnatural winter being one that is induced. Perhaps by some (well-intentioned) volkhvy-based magic...

Anyway, how active is the plague in your Sanguinia, and what was its source (or does that even matter)? Have the people/survivors developed a natural resistance in general? Do their offspring carry this resistance as well?
Year round, their prior exposure to the plauge built up their immune system. Those that survived it had to have a pretty strong one in the first place.

The plague wiped out around 80% of the population but it is now more or less under control. Around 1-3% have it . More carry it however. Anyone outside of the domain coming in has to make a DR19 fort check every week. Magic can remove it but unlike natural immunity you have to recheck it every week if you use magic. You are totally immune if you survive it naturally. It does 1-4 Con
temp damage a day until you make the DR19 fort check, which is going to get harder and harder as your Con drops. It is the fear of it returning that keeps the tradition of monthly fairs going not its continued existence.

The source of the plague was simply a new strain of virus evolving in the original world. Nothing supernatural was involved there. Their offspring carry this resistance as well.
Post Reply