Phantasmagora of Griffon Hill

[Undead Cabbage]

Hey everyone,

I was re-reading the Mordent section of Gaz III, particularily the 'sites of interest' section on the House on Griffon Hill. It then hit me, could the house of Griffon Hill actually have a Phantasmagora?

I was already going to do this IMC any way as a diversion from the canon material. But reading over the canon text, the house is treated as if it has it's own personality. It is also already a rank 5 sink hole of evil, with Karmic Resonance being added to it regularily as Godefroy collects more souls.

What I'm wondering is, was it likely intended by the writers that Griffon Hill have it's own Phantasmagora, or was this just hinted for speculation?

Also, would it be possible for a Phantasmagora to merge with a ghost of a high enough rank? For instance, say the Phantasmagora merged with the souls of Godefroy's wife and daughter?

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I'd say so.
Consider the Shining, undoubtably the inspiration for phantasmagoria. In the book, the ghost of the Hotel Manager and the old Caretaker (Gradey?) served the interests of the Overlook.
It could easily be that the ghosts of Gryphon Hill are in a symbiotic relation with the House since it feeds their existance on the mortal plane.

[The Giamarga]

What's a Phantasmagora again? (It's from VRGttM right?)

[Malus Black]

What's a Phantasmagora again? (It's from VRGttM right?)

It's from the RLDMG. Basically a sentient sinkhole of evil.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

The evil that infests the Gryphon Hill manor seems to have predated Lord Godefroy's crime, by generations. Perhaps the original homeworld from which Mordent was derived had an Ethereal Plane that was similar to that of Ravenloft? The HoGH could have actually been phantasmagoric, even before the place became part of a domain! That would mean that Lord Godefroy, himself, might actually be a co-darklord with the House itself, if you care to interpret things that way IYC.

(Among other things, this might explain why it was Mordentshire, and not some other Material Plane location, that Azalin's and Strahd's experiment linked to in 579. If the ethereal fabric of the Mordentish world-of-origin was similar to Ravenloft's, that might have made it easier to link with that particular world than with Oerth or the unnamed world Strahd came from.)

Conversely, one might argue that Richten Haus is actually a benign version of a phantasmagoria, embodying the good doctor's successful renunciation of vengeance and the spirit of determination and resistance to evil which his lifelong crusade brought into the world. Initially, the VR estate was imbued with the happiness of Van Richten's childhood, until the tragic deaths of the "Bleak House" servants made it both more powerful and unpleasant (perhaps a rank-3 sinkhole of evil). The death of the old sage's wife and the takeover of the house by the Radanavich undead made its malignant resonance progressively more and more powerful, over the years, until it was on the brink of sentience. However, when the doctor's heroic nature triumphed over Madame Radanavich's best efforts to break him, Richten Haus's nascent phantasmagoria became re-attuned to that same heroic spirit ... and began drawing power not only from Van Richten's own emotions, but from the gratitude and respect of everyone in Ravenloft who's ever been aided by him or his books, or drawn strength from his example! Hence, the house itself became a full-fledged, sentient rank-5 bastion of good, and it turned on the evil Vistani undead and sided with Van Richten at the climax of that adventure.

Weird idea ... but it would certainly explain why the Dark Powers had to hide it away in an oubliette! Leaving such a focal-point for heroic emotion in the Core would've been so disruptive of the Land's carefully-wrought menace, it makes outsiders' reality-wrinkles look trivial.

[Undead Cabbage]

Thank you for replying guys, I know this is a bit of an obscure topic.

Roti, it's definately cool to see that I'm not the only one who can see some Co-Darklordship between Godefroy and the House on Griffon Hill.

And you do have a great point about the house already being fairly Sentient before Godefroy murdered any one. Although I would also argue that it was much tamer before Godefroy killed his wife and child.

On this note, I was kind of thinking of making the Phantasmagoria sort of like this character




And by this character, it's really kind of the same character just done in different movies/video games (you'll note, each picture is from a different source). Hence, a Phantasmagoria that has merged with both Estelle Godefroy as well as Lilia.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Not impossible, but remember, the ghosts of Godefrey's wife and children are not the phantasmagoria, per se. They are rather aspects of the Phantasmagoria.
The spirits of the murdered mother and daughter may have moved on - but these dark splinters of their souls are trapped and incorporated into the house. They exist, not as true ghosts seeking rest, but as hopelessly insane shades, hungering only for revenge.
I think this is an important distinction, since this means the PCs will have to deal with these two as well if they wish to destroy Godefrey.

I do like the idea of the House on Gryphon Hill having been more tame before the murders. In many tales about "Bad Houses", the House is dormant until blood is spilt. With the act of murder, the House may have been given the spirits of Godefrey's victims - and thus given a sentience.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

I do like the idea of the House on Gryphon Hill having been more tame before the murders. In many tales about "Bad Houses", the House is dormant until blood is spilt. With the act of murder, the House may have been given the spirits of Godefrey's victims - and thus given a sentience.

For some reason, this phrase catches my attention. I get an image of a vast and powerful entity, but one that is initially mindless, situated somewhere between the living world and wherever the dead go. Suppose that when certain souls pass through, the dominant emotion or desire sort...well, the best word that comes to mind is congeals, forming the core of the beings newly emerging personality. And now it's sentience creates a barrier, preventing any other dead souls from passing through...

Meh, just a thought, and likely not even a very good one. I just needed to get that written down to sort it out somewhat.

[Gemathustra]

It's not so much as a "barrier" as more of a big hairball in the spiritual drain into the After Life.

[The Giamarga]

So how about putting together a statblock for the House?

The House on Gryphon Hill
Sinkhole Rank 5 (Phantasmagorum)
Taint: ??? not sure on this one: Agony? Despair? definitely Rage! ???
Description: ...from Gaz III p.132.
Historical Notes: ...
Special Effects: Acts as a big hairball in the spiritual drain into the afterlife , more ???,
Phantasmagorum powers: Detect thoughts, mind games, phantom shift, suggestion (as though cast by a 20th level sorcerer, save DC 25)
Residents: Lord Wilfred Godefroy (male human rank 4 ghost Ari12, CE), his family (spectres?) and numerous rank 1 geists..

As a co-darklord it hould perhaps also get other powers from its darklordship..
Is the Apparatus perhaps still in the house?
How did the evil of the House come into being? It was a sinkhole of evil long before Godefroy moved in!
Is Godefroy really CE?

BTW make sure to reread the story about the house in Tales of Ravenloft.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I'd say that despair would be part of the taint - from the hundreds and hundreds of souls trapped in the House, never to depart for the afterlife.

As for its origins, there's a few different ways.
Bad histories have always been a good start. Or perhaps Gryphon Hill was originally a cemetary mound.
But you know, I'm always partial to the idea of the Bad Place.
No history, no story, no reason - that place was always wrong.

[Gemathustra]

But you know, I'm always partial to the idea of the Bad Place.
No history, no story, no reason - that place was always wrong.

In otherwords, it has the dreaded condition fangshih (practioners of Feng Shui) refer to as "Bad Feng Shui."

[Undead Cabbage]

In otherwords, it has the dreaded condition fangshih (practioners of Feng Shui) refer to as "Bad Feng Shui."

This kind of goes hand in hand with my tie in to The Grudge. However as a movie it was somewhat of a one timer, it present what could be a neat interpretation of a Phantasmagoria.

Despair would be a good form of taint. But the key aspect would be Rage. This is because the centered action behind the Phantasmagoria would likely be Godefroy's passionate murder of his wife and daughter.

I'll go ahead and admit that when I envision Godefroy's descent, I kind of picture the husband in the Grudge.

[Jester of the FoS]

An interesting idea, but Phantasmagoria always seemed more like the House of Lament, a non-specific haunting where the entire house is tainted from foundation to attic.

The House of Gryphon Hill always struck me as a more traditional haunted house simply with a massive amount of ghosts. Still, the idea of a Phantasmagoria controlled or influenced by a darklord (Godefroy's pet) is pretty darn scary.

[Nathan of the FoS]

The House of Gryphon Hill always struck me as a more traditional haunted house simply with a massive amount of ghosts. Still, the idea of a Phantasmagoria controlled or influenced by a darklord (Godefroy's pet) is pretty darn scary.

I'd say that it's more likely that Godefroy is the House's "pet"; after all, the house was cursed long before he arrived on the scene.

What exactly it means for Godefroy to be the House's pet is a point I haven't developed, but I think it offers some really interesting possibilities.