Jacqueline Renier: Difference between revisions

From Mistipedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
← Older edit
Gonzoron (talk | contribs)
11,308 edits
No edit summary
No edit summary
 
(67 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{canon}}


Jacqueline Renier is a fictional [[nonplayer character]] and [[villain]] in the [[Ravenloft]] [[campaign setting]]. As one of the "[[darklord]]s", she is [[imprisoned]] inside her own [[domain]], that of [[Richemulot]]. Debuting in the [[Realm of Terror]] ([[Black Box]]ed set), Jacqueline has appeared in every version of the campaign setting to date as well as [[Ravenloft Gazetteer III]]. Jacqueline is also featured in the short story [[Tales of Ravenloft: Nocturne]] and the novel [[Scholar of Decay]].


A scion of the [[wererat]] branch of the [[Renier family]], '''Jacqueline''' became [[darklord]] of [[Richemulot]] after murdering her grandfather [[Claude Renier]].  Jacqueline is the child of Claude's [[daughter]] [[Marie Renier|Marie]] and the human nobleman [[Simon Audaire]] (Marie [[killed]] her [[husband]] and gave her children her maiden name, a family tradition in which Jacqueline has followed suit). Jacqueline resides in [[Chateau Delanuit]] with her [[twin]] [[sister]] [[Louise Renier|Louise]].


'''WIKISEED FROM CATALOGUE :''' [[Wererat]]''(Please edit freely, then remove this note and WIKISEED label)''
==History==
===Family Information===
Jacqueline Renier is the daughter of [[Marie Renier]] (a wererat) and [[Simon Audaire]]) (not a wererat); the granddaughter of [[Claude Renier]] and [[Isabelle Museau]] (both wererats); and the sister of [[Antoinette Renier]], [[Louise Renier]], and [[Raul Renier]] (all wererats). She [[married]] [[Dominic Soufel]] (not a wererat, deceased as of [[732 BC]]) and had four children with him, one named [[Jacques Renier (Son of Jacqueline)|Jacques Renier]] (born [[725 BC]]) and four others (born [[727 BC]], [[729 BC]], and [[732 BC]]) All of Jacqueline's children are wererats.<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref>


'''WIKISEED FROM CATALOGUE :''' Darklord of [[Richemulot]]''(Please edit freely, then remove this note and WIKISEED label)''
Although the Renier family tree in the Realm of Terror boxed set erroneously puts her year of birth at [[703 BC]]<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref> (well after her family fled a [[Prime Material]] world in the year [[691 BC]] of Ravenloft canon), Jacqueline Renier has been consistently described in various game products as an [[outlander]] along with much of the older Renier family members. As a [[child]], Jacqueline and the wererat branch of her family were the target of wererat hunts<ref name=RoTp.110-111>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110-111</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p. 80-81">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] (Red Boxed Set)</ref><ref name="Domains of Dread p. 48-49">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 48-49</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref> on their homeworld on the Prime Material Plane, the same world where the [[domain]] of [[Mordent]] originally came from.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 89">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 89</ref> Driven beneath the [[sewers]] of their hometown with their pursuers hot on their heels, the Reniers fled into a [[portal]] of [[mist]] that took them to the [[Falkovnian]] [[city]] of [[Silbervas]].<ref name=RoTp.110-111>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110-111</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p. 80-81">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] (Red Boxed Set)</ref><ref name="Domains of Dread p. 48-49">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 48-49</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref> The year was [[691 BC]].


'''WIKISEED FROM CATALOGUE :''' Daughter of [[Marie Renier]] and [[Simon Audaire]]''(Please edit freely, then remove this note and WIKISEED label)''
In Silbervas, the family thrived for a time under the leadership of Claude, then family [[patriarch]].<ref name=RoTp.110-111>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110-111</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p. 80-81">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] (Red Boxed Set)</ref><ref name="Domains of Dread p. 48-49">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 48-49</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref> Claude took control over the city's wererats and established his own thieves' guild. Yet under his leadership, the wererats grew emboldened and soon drew the ire of [[Vlad Drakov]] and his minions.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 89">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 89</ref> After three years of conflict known as the [[Years of Impaled Rats]]<ref name="Gazetteer II p. 93">[[Gazetteer II]] p. 93</ref>, the Reniers were expelled from Silbervas and forced to flee.<ref name=RoTp.110-111>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110-111</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p. 80-81">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] (Red Boxed Set)</ref><ref name="Domains of Dread p. 48-49">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 48-49</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref> Claude led them once more into [[the Misty Border]], and they arrived in a new land, this time the domain of [[Richemulot]]. Claude took up control of that domain as both its [[darklord]] and its [[temporal leader]].<ref name=RoTp.110-111>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110-111</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p. 80-81">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] (Red Boxed Set)</ref><ref name="Domains of Dread p. 48-49">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 48-49</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref> The year was [[694 BC]].


'''WIKISEED FROM CATALOGUE :''' Sister of [[Louise Renier]]''(Please edit freely, then remove this note and WIKISEED label)''
===Life Under Claude Renier===
Claude Renier ruled the Reniers through [[fear]] and [[manipulation]], and he pitted factions within the family against one another in order to prevent insurrections against his own leadership. By motivating family members to constantly compete for affections that he never gave out, Claude kept them constantly seeking his good graces. The strategy worked, at least for a while. Yet, it would eventually prove his downfall.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref>
 
The rivalry of the [[twin]] sisters Louise and Jacqueline was one of the disputes he encouraged. Jacqueline learned her grandfather's lessons of intrigue well; she used guile and deception in killing [[the Pied Piper of Hamelin]] when he came to rid [[Ste. Ronges]] of its rats in [[722 BC]].<ref name="DoD, Nocturne">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17, as told in [[Tales of Ravenloft: Nocturne]]</ref> Although Jacqueline constantly outperformed her sister, Claude never rewarded her for her efforts. Wearied and [[bitter|embittered]] by the endless games her grandfather put them through, Jacqueline enlisted the aid of Louise in a [[conspiracy]] to kill their grandfather. At the last moment, Louise chickened out. Without  her sister<ref name="Legacy of the Blood p. 106">[[Legacy of the Blood]] p. 106</ref>, Jacqueline [[murdered]] Claude in [[726 BC]].<ref name=RoTp.110-111>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110-111</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p. 80-81">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] (Red Boxed Set)</ref><ref name="Domains of Dread p. 48-49">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 48-49</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref>
 
To end Claude's life, Jacqueline exploited his lycanthropic [[allergen]], that of common [[W:Lye|lye]]. She called a [[servant]] to deliver a [[poisoned]] [[drink]], though Jacqueline was there to ensure his demise. After the [[allergic reaction]] began to overtake him, Jacqueline coyly revealed her betrayal to her Claude and thanked him for "teaching" her before she pushed him out the window of their residence. He perished even before he even hit the ground. With her grandfather's death, Jacqueline became both darklord and [[ruler]] of Richemulot.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 89">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 89</ref>
 
===As Darklord===
As ruler of Richemulot, Jacqueline has proved a shrewd and effective leader. Since Claude's demise, there has been no public questioning of her as the legitimate [[heir]] to Claude's rule. In diplomacy, her balance of cooperation and intimidation has been the glue that cemented Richemulot's power.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 100">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 100</ref> In [[729 BC]], she enriched Richemulot's prestige by being the last one to sign the [[Treaty of Four Towers]], thus sealing the pact that would make a united defense against Falkovnian aggression.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 88">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 88</ref> In [[743 BC]], she defused a potential coup by the [[traitor]] [[Girard Cavaillon]], who would have conspired with Drakov, by offering Drakov an unknown counteroffer that included Cavaillon's mistress as Drakov's personal concubine.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 100">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 100</ref> At home, she has instilled in the Richemuloise a new sense of love and common identity for and in their culture.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 98">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 98</ref> Unlike her grandfather, who carried the old familial grudges, Jacqueline has decided to take advantage of the [[Darkonian Reniers]]. She invited them to stay in Richemulot with the secret hopes to exploit them as resources to cement her power even further.<ref name="Legacy of the Blood p. 107">[[Legacy of the Blood]] p. 107</ref> [[Javier Renier]] is one such Renier to come to Richemulot.<ref name="Legacy of the Blood p. 146">[[Legacy of the Blood]] p. 146</ref>
 
Despite her public victories, Jacqueline Renier has has had more difficulty in private relationships. Jacqueline came to love the Richemuloise nobleman [[Henri Dubois]]. She attempted (and failed) to infect him with [[lycanthropy]]<ref name=RoTp.110-111>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110-111</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p. 80-81">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] (Red Boxed Set)</ref><ref name="Domains of Dread p. 48-49">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 48-49</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref> The year was [[691 BC]], after she had succumbed to her [[curse]] to transform into a rat in the presence of any person she romantically [[love|loves]].<ref name="Legacy of the Blood p. 108">[[Legacy of the Blood]] p. 108</ref> In the chaos of the moment, Henri [[disappeared]], and his ultimate fate remains unknown.<ref name=RoTp.110-111>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110-111</ref><ref name="Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p. 80-81">[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] (Red Boxed Set)</ref><ref name="Domains of Dread p. 48-49">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 48-49</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136</ref> The year was [[691 BC]].
 
==Current Sketch==
Jacqueline Renier is something of a paradox. On the one hand, she represents the quintessence of the wererat: cunning, [[sadist|sadistic]], [[cruel]], having taken to heart what lessons she learned from her grandfather and mother. On the other hand, she holds the ability to give, and the desire to receive, true unconditional love, psychological characteristics almost unknown to the wererat population. This ability to give and the desire to receive are ultimately thwarted both by her callous, manipulative ambition and by her aforementioned [[curse]] to transform into rat form when in the presence of those she feels true love for.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136-137">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136-137</ref>
 
Minus an outlet for her unique psychological state, Jacqueline looks to other avenues to quell her suffering. Ironically, the void caused by her longing for love motivates her to inflict suffering upon others. Mixed with the communal wererat nature, Jacqueline's desire for love afflicts her with a strangling monophobia, driving her to ever be in the presence of other people, even those she has no positive feelings toward.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 136-137">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136-137</ref> Her desire to avoid being alone extends to keeping her sister and traditional rival, [[Louise Renier]], from straying too far away and breaking out on her own, despite the latter's best efforts thus far.<ref name="Legacy of the Blood p. 148-149">[[Legacy of the Blood]] p. 148-149</ref>
 
Jacqueline's internal conflict does not leave her a pushover. She is a highly skilled, even habitual, [[exploiter]] of people and circumstances. Her skill at manipulation has made her, in the eyes of the common public, a figure of cultural and patriotic pride and admiration<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 98">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 98</ref> (if one coupled by fear).<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 137">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 137</ref> If anything, Jacqueline's desire for love may make her more dangerous, as she may seek to see this desire fulfilled with [[The Becoming Plague|by unleashing a lycanthropic plague]] in order to make every person in Richemulot her fanatical adulator.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 139">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 139</ref>
 
==Special Abilities==
Although she was already a highly skilled [[blackmailer]] and [[manipulator]], [[the Dark Powers]] have provided Jacqueline Renier a number of special abilities beyond those of a typical wererat. The [[Curse of Lycanthropy]] she inflicts is much harder to resist than other equivalent kinds. In her partial or full rat form, her teeth are unaffected by the hardness of the objects, and her climbing abilities have been greatly enhanced. Most spectacularly, she can turn into [[gaseous form]] like a [[vampire]],
 
==Lair==
Jacqueline Renier resides in [[Chateau Delanuit]] with her family.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 137">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 137</ref>
 
==Chronology==
*[[686 BC]] - Jacqueline Renier]] and Louise Renier are born as [[twin]]s to [[Simon Audaire]] and [[Marie Renier]].<ref name="Gaz III p.136">[[Gazetteer III]] p.136</ref>
 
*[[691 BC]] - Claude Renier and the Renier family enter the [[Land of Mists]] from the world that spawned the [[domain]] of [[Mordent]]. The wererats first turn up in [[Silverbas]], [[Falkovnia]].<ref name="Gaz III p.89">[[Gazetteer III]] p.89</ref>
 
*[[691 BC]]: [[Falkovnia]] faces two threats in Silbervas: a rising [[thieves' guild]] and an infestation of wererats. They are both led by [[Claude Renier|the Clawed]]. The period of [[:category:History of Falkovnia|Falkovnian history]] known as the [[Years of Impaled Rats]] begins.<ref name="Gaz II p. 93">[[Gazetteer II]] p. 93</ref>
 
*694 BC - [[Vlad Drakov]] drives out Claude Renier and the Reniers out of [[Silbervas]] and [[Falkovnia]] altogether. The [[Years of Impaled Rats]] period ends.<ref name="Gaz II p. 93">[[Gazetteer II]] p. 93</ref>
 
*694 BC - The domain of [[Richemulot]] is revealed.<ref name="Gaz III p.83">[[Gazetteer III]] p.83</ref> Claude Renier is its first [[darklord]].<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref>
 
*694 BC - Shortly after Richemulot forms, the [[Darkonian Reniers]] reach out to Claude and ask if they're related. Carrying old grudges from the past, Claude vehemently rebuffs them and launches a campaign of [[assassination]]s against them.<ref name="Legacy of the Blood p. 106">[[Legacy of the Blood]] p. 106</ref>
 
*[[703 BC]] {{questionably-canon-small}} [[Jacqueline Renier]] and [[Louise Renier]] are born as [[twin]]s to Marie Renier and [[Simon Audaire]].<ref name=RoTp.125n1>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125. This date is after [[694 BC]], the year of formation for [[Richemulot]]. Jacqueline's origin story on p.110 and elsewhere describes her as being born before the Reniers entered Richemulot. Therefore, the 703 date of her birth is questionable.</ref>
 
*[[707 BC]] - [[Dominic Soufel]], future husband of Jacqueline Renier, is born.<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref>
 
*[[710 BC]] - Creating a future precedent for Jacqueline, Marie Renier murders Simon Aundaire and gives the Renier surname to their children.<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref> Simon Aundaire is [[buried]] in the [[catacombs]] under [[Ste. Ronges]].<ref name="Dragon 264 p. 53">[[Dragon Magazine #264]] p. 53</ref>
 
*[[722 BC]] - [[The Piper of Hamelyn]] attempts to rid [[Ste. Ronges]] of the massive [[rat]] population plaguing the town. However, he perishes instead thanks to the machinations of Jacqueline Renier.<ref name="DoD, Nocturne">[[Domains of Dread]] p. 17, as told in [[Tales of Ravenloft: Nocturne]]</ref>
 
*[[725 BC]] - Group [[portrait]] created of Marie, Jacqueline, and Louise Renier.<ref>[[Realm of Terror]] Renier family card</ref>
 
*725 BC - Jacqueline Renier and Dominic Soufel have a child named [[Jacques Renier (Son of Jacqueline)|Jacques Renier]]. He is a wererat.<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref>
 
*[[726 BC]] - [[Jacqueline Renier]] has a [[servant]] [[poison]] [[Claude Renier]], her grandfather, before piercing his heart with a silver fork and then rolling him out a high window.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 88-89">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 88-89</ref>
 
*[[727 BC]] - Jacqueline Renier and Dominic Soufel have a wererat child of unspecified name.<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref>
 
*[[729 BC]]: [[Jacqueline Renier]] approves the [[Treaty of the Four Towers]].<ref name="Gaz III p.88">[[Gazetteer III]] p.88</ref>
 
*[[729 BC]] - Jacqueline Renier and Dominic Soufel have a second wererat child of unspecified name.<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref>
 
*[[730 BC]] - [[Raul Renier]] poisons Marie Renier to death and flees to [[Barovia]].<ref>[[Real of Terror]] p. 125, [[Scholar of Decay]]</ref>
 
*[[732 BC]]- Jacqueline Renier and Dominic Soufel have a third wererat child of unspecified name.
 
*[[732 BC]] - Jacqueline Renier murders her husband [[Dominic Soufel]].<ref name=RoTp.125>[[Realm of Terror]] p.125</ref>
 
*[[735 BC]] - [[Pierre Renier]] and [[Gerard Renier]] venture to the [[Renier Catacombs]] beneath [[Ste. Ronges]] and unearth the corpse of Simon Audaire. They make a pact with [[the Withered Rat]], and Simon is [[reanimated]] as one of the [[ancient dead]]. [[The Cult of Simon Audaire]] is formed, and together they begin to conspire for the eradication of the wererats in the Renier family.<ref name="Dragon 264 p. 53">[[Dragon Magazine #264]] p. 53</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p.103">[[Gazetteer III]] p.103</ref>
 
*[[743 BC]] - [[Girard Cavaillon]] tries to make an under-the-table agreement with the [[Falkovnian Army]] to overthrow [[Jacqueline Renier]]. Jacqueline establishes a direct communication with [[Vlad Drakov]] as a counter offer with some unknown incentive plus a favored consort of Cavaillon.<ref name="Gazetteer III p. 100">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 100</ref>
 
*[[750 BC]] [[The Requiem]] occurs, leaving [[Darkon]] in chaos for the next five years. Jacqueline Renier invites many of the [[Darkonian Reniers]] to seek refuge in Richemulot.<ref name="Legacy of the Blood p. 107, 147">[[Legacy of the Blood]] p. 107, 147</ref>
 
==Game Statistics==
 
===[[2nd Edition]]===
[[female]] [[human]] [[:Category:Natural Wererat|natural wererat]], Hit Dice:3+1 [[Chaotic Evil]]<ref>[[Realm of Terror]] p.110</ref><ref>[[Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens]] p.80</ref><ref>[[Domains of Dread]] p.47</ref>
 
===[[3rd Edition]]===
[[aristocrat]] 6/[[Rogue]] 5<ref>[[Secrets of the Dread Realms]] p.47</ref><ref name="Gazetteer III p. 135-136">[[Gazetteer III]] p. 136-136</ref>
 
 
===[[Pathfinder]]===
{{netbook-small}}[[Rogue]] (charlatan) 6/[[Courtier Prestige Class|Courter]] 5<ref>[[Pathfinder in the Mists]] p.45</ref>
 
 
{{ref}}
[[category:2nd Edition Character]]
[[category:3rd Edition Character]]
[[category:Ambitious]]
[[category:Aristocrat]]
[[category:Betrayer]]
[[category:Births in 703 BC]]
[[category:Blackmailer]]
[[category:Bully]]
[[category:Chaotic Evil]]
[[category:Character]]
[[category:Commander]]
[[category:Concealer]]
[[category:Conspiracy Leader]]
[[category:Conspirator]]
[[category:Controller]]
[[category:courtier]]
[[category:Courtier Prestige Class]]
[[category:Cruel]]
[[category:Cult Leader]]
[[Category:Darklord]]
[[category:Darklord (Domain Lord Magnitude of Evil)]]
[[Category:Daughter]]
[[category:Deceiver]]
[[category:Diplomat]]
[[category:Former Inhabitants of the Prime Material Plane]]
[[Category:human]]
[[category:female]]
[[category:False Deity]]
[[category:Immortal]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of Pont-a-Museau]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of Richemulot]]
[[category:Jealous]]
[[Category:lycanthrope]]
[[category:Killer]]
[[category:Leader]]
[[category:Liar]]
[[category:Manipulator]]
[[category:Mariticide]]
[[category:Mastermind]]
[[category:Matriarch]]
[[category:Monophobic]]
[[category:Murderer]]
[[Category:Natural Lycanthrope]]
[[category:Natural Wererat]]
[[category:Neutral Evil]]
[[Category:Noble of Richemulot]]
[[category:NPC]]
[[category:outlander]]
[[Category:Parricide]]
[[Category:Pathfinder 1st Edition Character]]
[[category:Personality of Richemulot]]
[[category:Patriot]]
[[category:Phobic]]
[[category:Professional Killer]]
[[category:Professional Murderer]]
[[category:Regicide]]
[[Category:Renier Family]]
[[category:Rogue]]
[[Category:Richemuloise]]
[[category:Ruler]]
[[Category:shapechanger]]
[[Category:Sister]]
[[category:Temporal Leader]]
[[Category:Twin]]
[[category:Twins in the Renier Family]]
[[Category:Tyrannicide]]
[[category:Tyrant]]
[[category:Usurper]]
[[category:Villain]]
[[Category:Wererat]]
[[Category:Widow]]


'''WIKISEED FROM CATALOGUE :''' Resides in [[Chateau Delanuit]]''(Please edit freely, then remove this note and WIKISEED label)''
==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==
==Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue==


Line 62: Line 220:
<!-- IMPORTED : Sister of Louise Renier (NPC) -->
<!-- IMPORTED : Sister of Louise Renier (NPC) -->
<!-- IMPORTED : Resides in Chateau Delanuit (Location) -->
<!-- IMPORTED : Resides in Chateau Delanuit (Location) -->
[[Category:npc]]
<!-- END CATALOGUE IMPORT :  You may edit below freely -->
<!-- END CATALOGUE IMPORT :  You may edit below freely -->
[[Category:Darklord]]

Latest revision as of 12:53, 13 January 2026

Jacqueline Renier is a fictional nonplayer character and villain in the Ravenloft campaign setting. As one of the "darklords", she is imprisoned inside her own domain, that of Richemulot. Debuting in the Realm of Terror (Black Boxed set), Jacqueline has appeared in every version of the campaign setting to date as well as Ravenloft Gazetteer III. Jacqueline is also featured in the short story Tales of Ravenloft: Nocturne and the novel Scholar of Decay.

A scion of the wererat branch of the Renier family, Jacqueline became darklord of Richemulot after murdering her grandfather Claude Renier. Jacqueline is the child of Claude's daughter Marie and the human nobleman Simon Audaire (Marie killed her husband and gave her children her maiden name, a family tradition in which Jacqueline has followed suit). Jacqueline resides in Chateau Delanuit with her twin sister Louise.

History

Family Information

Jacqueline Renier is the daughter of Marie Renier (a wererat) and Simon Audaire) (not a wererat); the granddaughter of Claude Renier and Isabelle Museau (both wererats); and the sister of Antoinette Renier, Louise Renier, and Raul Renier (all wererats). She married Dominic Soufel (not a wererat, deceased as of 732 BC) and had four children with him, one named Jacques Renier (born 725 BC) and four others (born 727 BC, 729 BC, and 732 BC) All of Jacqueline's children are wererats.[1]

Although the Renier family tree in the Realm of Terror boxed set erroneously puts her year of birth at 703 BC[1] (well after her family fled a Prime Material world in the year 691 BC of Ravenloft canon), Jacqueline Renier has been consistently described in various game products as an outlander along with much of the older Renier family members. As a child, Jacqueline and the wererat branch of her family were the target of wererat hunts[2][3][4][5] on their homeworld on the Prime Material Plane, the same world where the domain of Mordent originally came from.[6] Driven beneath the sewers of their hometown with their pursuers hot on their heels, the Reniers fled into a portal of mist that took them to the Falkovnian city of Silbervas.[2][3][4][5] The year was 691 BC.

In Silbervas, the family thrived for a time under the leadership of Claude, then family patriarch.[2][3][4][5] Claude took control over the city's wererats and established his own thieves' guild. Yet under his leadership, the wererats grew emboldened and soon drew the ire of Vlad Drakov and his minions.[6] After three years of conflict known as the Years of Impaled Rats[7], the Reniers were expelled from Silbervas and forced to flee.[2][3][4][5] Claude led them once more into the Misty Border, and they arrived in a new land, this time the domain of Richemulot. Claude took up control of that domain as both its darklord and its temporal leader.[2][3][4][5] The year was 694 BC.

Life Under Claude Renier

Claude Renier ruled the Reniers through fear and manipulation, and he pitted factions within the family against one another in order to prevent insurrections against his own leadership. By motivating family members to constantly compete for affections that he never gave out, Claude kept them constantly seeking his good graces. The strategy worked, at least for a while. Yet, it would eventually prove his downfall.[5]

The rivalry of the twin sisters Louise and Jacqueline was one of the disputes he encouraged. Jacqueline learned her grandfather's lessons of intrigue well; she used guile and deception in killing the Pied Piper of Hamelin when he came to rid Ste. Ronges of its rats in 722 BC.[8] Although Jacqueline constantly outperformed her sister, Claude never rewarded her for her efforts. Wearied and embittered by the endless games her grandfather put them through, Jacqueline enlisted the aid of Louise in a conspiracy to kill their grandfather. At the last moment, Louise chickened out. Without her sister[9], Jacqueline murdered Claude in 726 BC.[2][3][4][5]

To end Claude's life, Jacqueline exploited his lycanthropic allergen, that of common lye. She called a servant to deliver a poisoned drink, though Jacqueline was there to ensure his demise. After the allergic reaction began to overtake him, Jacqueline coyly revealed her betrayal to her Claude and thanked him for "teaching" her before she pushed him out the window of their residence. He perished even before he even hit the ground. With her grandfather's death, Jacqueline became both darklord and ruler of Richemulot.[6]

As Darklord

As ruler of Richemulot, Jacqueline has proved a shrewd and effective leader. Since Claude's demise, there has been no public questioning of her as the legitimate heir to Claude's rule. In diplomacy, her balance of cooperation and intimidation has been the glue that cemented Richemulot's power.[10] In 729 BC, she enriched Richemulot's prestige by being the last one to sign the Treaty of Four Towers, thus sealing the pact that would make a united defense against Falkovnian aggression.[11] In 743 BC, she defused a potential coup by the traitor Girard Cavaillon, who would have conspired with Drakov, by offering Drakov an unknown counteroffer that included Cavaillon's mistress as Drakov's personal concubine.[10] At home, she has instilled in the Richemuloise a new sense of love and common identity for and in their culture.[12] Unlike her grandfather, who carried the old familial grudges, Jacqueline has decided to take advantage of the Darkonian Reniers. She invited them to stay in Richemulot with the secret hopes to exploit them as resources to cement her power even further.[13] Javier Renier is one such Renier to come to Richemulot.[14]

Despite her public victories, Jacqueline Renier has has had more difficulty in private relationships. Jacqueline came to love the Richemuloise nobleman Henri Dubois. She attempted (and failed) to infect him with lycanthropy[2][3][4][5] The year was 691 BC, after she had succumbed to her curse to transform into a rat in the presence of any person she romantically loves.[15] In the chaos of the moment, Henri disappeared, and his ultimate fate remains unknown.[2][3][4][5] The year was 691 BC.

Current Sketch

Jacqueline Renier is something of a paradox. On the one hand, she represents the quintessence of the wererat: cunning, sadistic, cruel, having taken to heart what lessons she learned from her grandfather and mother. On the other hand, she holds the ability to give, and the desire to receive, true unconditional love, psychological characteristics almost unknown to the wererat population. This ability to give and the desire to receive are ultimately thwarted both by her callous, manipulative ambition and by her aforementioned curse to transform into rat form when in the presence of those she feels true love for.[16]

Minus an outlet for her unique psychological state, Jacqueline looks to other avenues to quell her suffering. Ironically, the void caused by her longing for love motivates her to inflict suffering upon others. Mixed with the communal wererat nature, Jacqueline's desire for love afflicts her with a strangling monophobia, driving her to ever be in the presence of other people, even those she has no positive feelings toward.[16] Her desire to avoid being alone extends to keeping her sister and traditional rival, Louise Renier, from straying too far away and breaking out on her own, despite the latter's best efforts thus far.[17]

Jacqueline's internal conflict does not leave her a pushover. She is a highly skilled, even habitual, exploiter of people and circumstances. Her skill at manipulation has made her, in the eyes of the common public, a figure of cultural and patriotic pride and admiration[12] (if one coupled by fear).[18] If anything, Jacqueline's desire for love may make her more dangerous, as she may seek to see this desire fulfilled with by unleashing a lycanthropic plague in order to make every person in Richemulot her fanatical adulator.[19]

Special Abilities

Although she was already a highly skilled blackmailer and manipulator, the Dark Powers have provided Jacqueline Renier a number of special abilities beyond those of a typical wererat. The Curse of Lycanthropy she inflicts is much harder to resist than other equivalent kinds. In her partial or full rat form, her teeth are unaffected by the hardness of the objects, and her climbing abilities have been greatly enhanced. Most spectacularly, she can turn into gaseous form like a vampire,

Lair

Jacqueline Renier resides in Chateau Delanuit with her family.[18]

Chronology

  • 694 BC - Shortly after Richemulot forms, the Darkonian Reniers reach out to Claude and ask if they're related. Carrying old grudges from the past, Claude vehemently rebuffs them and launches a campaign of assassinations against them.[9]
  • 710 BC - Creating a future precedent for Jacqueline, Marie Renier murders Simon Aundaire and gives the Renier surname to their children.[1] Simon Aundaire is buried in the catacombs under Ste. Ronges.[25]
  • 725 BC - Jacqueline Renier and Dominic Soufel have a child named Jacques Renier. He is a wererat.[1]
  • 727 BC - Jacqueline Renier and Dominic Soufel have a wererat child of unspecified name.[1]
  • 729 BC - Jacqueline Renier and Dominic Soufel have a second wererat child of unspecified name.[1]
  • 732 BC- Jacqueline Renier and Dominic Soufel have a third wererat child of unspecified name.

Game Statistics

2nd Edition

female human natural wererat, Hit Dice:3+1 Chaotic Evil[32][33][34]

3rd Edition

aristocrat 6/Rogue 5[35][36]


Pathfinder

Rogue (charlatan) 6/Courter 5[37]


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Realm of Terror p.125
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Realm of Terror p.110-111
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens (Red Boxed Set)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Domains of Dread p. 48-49
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Gazetteer III p. 136
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Gazetteer III p. 89
  7. ↑ Gazetteer II p. 93
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Domains of Dread p. 17, as told in Tales of Ravenloft: Nocturne
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Legacy of the Blood p. 106
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Gazetteer III p. 100
  11. ↑ Gazetteer III p. 88
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Gazetteer III p. 98
  13. ↑ Legacy of the Blood p. 107
  14. ↑ Legacy of the Blood p. 146
  15. ↑ Legacy of the Blood p. 108
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Gazetteer III p. 136-137
  17. ↑ Legacy of the Blood p. 148-149
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Gazetteer III p. 137
  19. ↑ Gazetteer III p. 139
  20. ↑ Gazetteer III p.136
  21. ↑ Gazetteer III p.89
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Gazetteer II p. 93
  23. ↑ Gazetteer III p.83
  24. ↑ Realm of Terror p.125. This date is after 694 BC, the year of formation for Richemulot. Jacqueline's origin story on p.110 and elsewhere describes her as being born before the Reniers entered Richemulot. Therefore, the 703 date of her birth is questionable.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Dragon Magazine #264 p. 53
  26. ↑ Realm of Terror Renier family card
  27. ↑ Gazetteer III p. 88-89
  28. ↑ Gazetteer III p.88
  29. ↑ Real of Terror p. 125, Scholar of Decay
  30. ↑ Gazetteer III p.103
  31. ↑ Legacy of the Blood p. 107, 147
  32. ↑ Realm of Terror p.110
  33. ↑ Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens p.80
  34. ↑ Domains of Dread p.47
  35. ↑ Secrets of the Dread Realms p.47
  36. ↑ Gazetteer III p. 136-136
  37. ↑ Pathfinder in the Mists p.45

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

Secrets of the Dread Realms
Domains of Dread

Secrets of the Dread Realms - p48
Domains of Dread - p47
Realm of Terror - reference card

Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp47-49
Domains of Dread - p47
Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - p80
Realm of Terror - pp110-111,reference card

Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp7,47-49
Ravenloft Third Edition - p136
Dungeon #64: Last Dance
Domains of Dread - pp47-48
Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - pp26-28,80-81
Tales of Ravenloft:Nocturne - pp101-110
Realm of Terror - pp110-111,p125,reference card

Reinier


Retrieved from "http://fraternityofshadows.com/w/index.php?title=Jacqueline_Renier&oldid=171358"