The Scattered Lotus Cluster

[ChrisNichols]

Since the Gothic Asia thread has a lot of material developed in it's own direction, I've decided to (re)post my Rokushima Taiyoo/I'Cath cluster notes in a new thread.

You may note that I have shamelessly ripped off John's suggested name for this cluster. This is beside Mr. Mangrum is a brilliant writer. :)

Much of this material is little more than half-formed musings and some sketched maps. There is more material, but I haven't found the right notebooks yet (I have *dozens* of notebooks full of drawings and notes on everything I'm interested in, plus several boxes of loose pages and print-outs ... and no organization). The ideas presented are open to expansion or amputation, but the idea is to mesh with Ravenloft as a whole up to the end of the 3.0/3.5 run.

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OK, I found some of my notes... not the ones I really wanted on improving Rokushima Taiyoo and some specifics on possible darklords, but at least the general Asiatic cluster notes. Here we go...

The obvious two domains in this cluster are Rokushima Taiyoo and I'Cath. The changes are fairly light to these domains. The domains in this cluster are isolated from each other, with large stretches of dangerous ocean between them.

Rokushima Taiyoo needs some refinement such as cleaning up the silliness of some of the place names and defining the locations and NPCs more. The focus is tightened a bit - instead of throwing *every* facet of Japanese horror and fantasy together in one place, Rokushima would focus on human evils, cruelty and brutality, warfare and class disparity, ninja and yakusa, and also the bonds of family and their dissolution, ancestry and the sins of the past (exemplified by Haki Shinpi). Mostly human horror, with plenty of ghosts and a sprinkling of other monsters.

I'Cath becomes a island in the Poison Sea. It needs to be polished to better reflect Chinese ghost stories and legends, but I'm not terribly familiar with that topic, so it's a blank. A possiblity is that I'Cath actually (or apparently) drifts in the Poison Sea, intercepting unlucky ships.

I'd definitely also add:

The Poison Sea (Dokyuumi) - I split off the Poison Sea (from Rokushima Taiyoo's maps) into a separate domain, much like the Sea of Sorrows and the Nocturnal Sea. In fact, I think every unique ocean should be its own domain. Anyhow, I re-read the description from the Red Box and took it literally. Dokyuumi is a dark and oily sea whose waters are so salinated that they are literally poisonous. Additionally, the Poison Sea is filled with sea monsters; any fish drawn from these waters are not only monstrous and dangerous, but also poisonous (save perhaps for near Rokushima Taiyoo's waterfalls, and even there the fish are ugly, salty-tasting and have to be carefully prepared to eat safely). Further, hundreds of rocky islets dot the waters, making navigation difficult.

The Rokushimans do *not* like sailing the Poison Sea, though the Great Mirror Lake has a long and deep history of seafaring. Their native suspicious of outsiders is exacerbated by suspicion of those who cross the Dokyuumi's waters (who must be in league with the evil sea spirits, in the Rokushimans' eyes). The inhabited islands of the Poison Sea have high cliff faces along their shores instead of beaches, which keeps oceanic horrors from crawling inland to prey on whatever inhabitants they might find.

The darklord of the Poison Sea is a sea serpent called Umibouzu-Ryuu. Somewhere there's a set of notes on its back story, but I haven't found them yet (I suspect they're in a box in my garage from the last time I moved).

After this, my suggestions are a lot vaguer. Here's some basic concepts:

Monastery Domain - A very small domain composed of a monastery for a sect of warrior-philosopher monks in the vein of the Shaolin monks. Once famous for both its martial teachings and its benevolent philosphical teachings, the monastery is now empty save for the darklord, once a monk of the temple who traded away his humanity and the teachings of his masters for mastery of the martial path.

Ghost Mines Domain - Based on Hashima Island (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashima_Island) near Nagasaki, this small island was the site of highly productive coal mines. Due to the small size of the island, the miners ghetto was built directly on top of the mines in incredibly cramped and squalid conditions. Governed by cruel imperial overseers, the mines had a massive casualty rate until the mismanagement of the mines lead to a catastrope that killed most of the population and drew the island into Ravenloft. Now the ruins are populated by ghosts that continue the work they did in life, still driven by the spectres of their taskmasters.

The darklord is a caller in darkness composed of the commanders of the mining colony who were responsable for the disaster.

Hyakki Yako Domain - Inspired by the Hyakki Yako (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakki_Yak%C5%8D), this domain represents the more fantastic side of Japanese horror. Here, rather than the Sengoku peroid warfare of Rokushima Taiyoo, we have a stronger imperial government. But the real power is the yokai, the bakemono, the oni, the array of spirits, ghosts, and monsters that haunt this domain. The yokai of this domain grip the domain in as much fear as the most timorous Barovian peasant. Offerings and sacrifices to appease the yokai are frequent and often onerous; particularly bold yokai occasionally act as bandits. And some nights, hundreds of yokai gather to parade, striding or flying under the moon, unafraid of mankind.

The darklord is the yokai's king (or queen) - it's pretty much a big blank slate at the moment.

Beyond the yokai, though, another terror afflicts this domain - a living darkness, a pale hatred, an inexplicable horror. Seemingly at random, places and people become afflicted, becoming antithetical to life, both human and yokai. Reality warps, inexplicable horrors occur, shadows darken and crawl like living things.

The towns of this domain are small farming villages. Even the capital is surprisingly rustic. Temples and shrines are everywhere.

Themes of this domain are the Hyakki Yako tales and other classic Japanese ghost stories, fused with modern J-Horror like The Ring, the Grudge, Uzumaki, and others. This domain might be seen as have some influences from the Shadow Rift. This domain would probably be somewhat larger than Rokushima Taiyoo (RT is fairly small), but widely separated enough that, should Rokushima ever sink, it will prove difficult to reach this safe harbor.

Yellow Peril Domain - Based in pulp horror Oriental themes and real Chinese history, this is the largest domain of the cluster. Before being drawn into Ravenloft, this domain was *much* larger. The Mists border part of this domain, so it is unclear if this domain is merely the largest island in the archipeligo of the domain or is actually part of a "mainland." The larger size gives this domain more variety of terrain that the smaller islands, with drier grasslands that rise into mountains, once one is beyond the coastal plain.

One unusual feature is that a long fortified wall runs along the section of this domain where it touches the Mists. Similar to Darkon's Mistlands, the Mists wash against this feature like a tide, sometimes washing over the wall and at others, retreating a considerable distance, revealing unremarkable fields and hillsides.

The domain has several cities, which are invariably large, crowded, and dirty. The center of culture is the Imperial City, home to the emperor's extensive family and even more extensive court. These individuals live decadently, indulging in exotic pleasures and making byzantine plots to gain power and prestige. The ultimate goal, of course, is to become the heir that suceeds the emperor - either by appointment by the current emperor when he steps down (unlikely) or upon the emperor's death by natural causes or assassination.

The emperor himself is ancient, powerful, cruel, and brilliant, in the finest Fu Manchu tradition. He has dozens of wives and concubines, and even more descendants. Beyond this, its pretty open - whether he is a warrior or a mage, his history, and his crimes are undetailed. His curse is clear - he will never have an heir that satisfies him, no matter how long he lives or how many he sires.

That's all of the material I've found thus far. There's a lot of vagueness and some are just ideas, but it should be good enough to look at and get ideas from.

Chris Nichols

[eidolon]

not being into japanese horror whatsoever I never got my players into Rokushima Tayoo. But this material you've written is very enticing. Could you work it out the way places are presented in the latest Ravenloft core book? That would be absolutely fabolous.

[Joël of the FoS]

Nice proposition. There are so many domains in this, it could be an asian themed plane of dread on its own.

Joël

[Algaris]

Or prehaps a second Core.

[eidolon]

ooh yes, second core, or a massive cluster.
make it a cluster, I like clusters

[ChrisNichols]

ooh yes, second core, or a massive cluster.
make it a cluster, I like clusters :)

It's really just supposed to be a largish cluster combining the current Oriental domains with a few new ones.

I did have a set of notes on a "second core." "Core" is probably overblown - it was just a cluster of European/D&D-type domains (like the culture of the real Core) that hadn't been detailed that I lumped together (Kislova, Daglan, Estrangia, and Donskoy's domain).

Chris Nichols

[Charney]

I did have a set of notes on a "second core." "Core" is probably overblown - it was just a cluster of European/D&D-type domains (like the culture of the real Core) that hadn't been detailed that I lumped together (Kislova, Daglan, Estrangia, and Donskoy's domain).

Chris Nichols

Daglan as in the domain in Feast of Goblyns?

[ChrisNichols]

Daglan as in the domain in Feast of Goblyns?

Yep. I always felt Daglan deserves a second chance, using Daglan Daegon as the lord. I had a back-story I worked on tieing the Order of the Guardians into the domain and its lord.

Anymore comments on the Scattered Lotus though?

Chris Nichols

[Dion of the Fraternity]

Are there Southeast-Asian-culture-based domains in the Scattered Lotus?

[ChrisNichols]

Are there Southeast-Asian-culture-based domains in the Scattered Lotus?

Sadly, no. I don't really know enough about Southeast Asian cultures to propose ideas based on them. I do think a SE Asian themed cluster would be a good idea. I'd make it a new cluster with Mistway to the Scattered Lotus and Verderous Lands clusters (to prevent clusters from getting too large).

Chris Nichols

[Dion of the Fraternity]

I do think a SE Asian themed cluster would be a good idea.
Chris Nichols

I'm on it.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

I do think a SE Asian themed cluster would be a good idea.
Chris Nichols

I'm on it.

Memory's a touch off, but I believe the Midway Haven had something on this subject a while back.

Oh, and strictly speaking, isn't the core just a really large cluster?

[Lord_Pruitt]

Has anyone had time to do any other work on the scattered islands? I know I sound like a leech, but I find that spare time for me to do original work is fleeting at best. That is why I love to read posts here - a cornicopia of fresh and twisted ideas.

[nothri]

I always thought that vampire from the Children of the Night book (the oriental one) would make a good darklord. A small domain in where he trains an endless series of warriors in a varierty of martial disciplines....all with the hope that one of his students will kill him one day.

Some other ideas- perhaps the yokai 'king' could be a werefox, since the shapeshift fox maiden is so iconic in Japanese and Korean folklore, such that lycanthropy (as in the mental disorder that causes you to believe you turn into a wolf or werewolf, not the magical affliction of folklore) in those countries involves believing oneself to be a fox, not a wolf.

I always pictured the "Chinese" domain with an ancient dead darklord. Aside from Egypt, China is one of the two places in the world famed for its preservation of the dead (mummies, in other words). I think the Emperor is a good idea, and I have nothing of my own to 'replace' him with aside from a vague notion....but his curse sounds somewhat similar to Shnipi to my ears.

[HuManBing]

The Ancient Dead motif would indeed be a good one for China. (And the Asianloft materials proposes one such character.) Consider the historical First Emperor's obsession with eternal life, and the curse almost writes itself. Qin Shi Huang was said to have spent a fortune sending explorers around the newly-united empire looking for elements of a potion of eternal life.

What if he actually found one? He could have extended his despotic reign for all time. Maybe one of his courtiers or even his trusted son recognized this for a travesty against nature, and poisoned the brew. Qin Shi Huang then drank it, apparently died, and was interred.

...

Only to wake up in the distant Imperial mausoleum, sealed in as a prisoner surrounded by riches for the afterlife...