Captain Alain Monette

A Werebat, and the darklord of L'ile de la Tempete. His transformations to bat form are tied to the tide.

Captain Monette resides in the lighthouse he built, the Eye of Midnight. He uses it to lure unsuspecting sailors to their doom. Monette stalks and kills any survivors one at a time if able. However, should a sailor survives a shipwreck to make it to the island, Captain Monette may appear in human form and act quite congenial with curiosity about the outside world. Even if it takes days, his hunger for flesh will outweigh his hunger for company, and he will ambush and kill any seeming "visitor" he may have made.

Background

Canon Information

Prior to becoming a darklord, Monette captained a privateer vessel called Ouragan. He was publicly known as stalwart and all but fearless sailor, but his crew knew him to be a cruel and violent abuser. The slightest of delays, disagreements, or other "transgressions" were met by Monette's most brutal of beatings. Eventually the crew could take no more; they mutinied, and they keelhauled him, flogged him, and threw him overboard. He cursed them and vowed revenge at all costs.

Unknown to Ourangan's crew, Monette did not perish but was drawn into the Mists. Monette, near death and helpless, wound up on a small island. There, the bats sipped his blood and dined on his flesh, but Monette feasted upon them in turn. Thus, as man dined upon bat and bat dined upon man, Monette became one with them as an afflicted werebat.

Soon after he discovered his dreaded curse, Monette discovered a second nasty surprise: his ability to fly availed him not in escaping from the island. He became bound to L'île de la Tempête and the waters immediately surrounding it. Thus, he was denied two things he once took for granted: high seas adventure and, perhaps more ironically given his anger, the company of others.

Noncanon Information

The Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer expands upon Monette's background. Monette's temper was not the only source of his violence. On every voyage he selected a crewman and focus his wrath on that victim. He not only vented his violence upon the guilty but also the innocent. One of his crewmen witnessed an illicit deal he made with a traitorous baron. To prevent the sailor from talking, Monette made false accusations upon the sailor and beat him nearly to death before abandoning him at the next port. And Francois Monette, nephew and loyal crewman to the last, faced as much of the captain's spite as any of his crew.

It was during a mission to deliver the king's gold to a warlord fighting pirates that the crew resorted to mutiny. After causing two crewmen to lose their lives in his drive to make up for setbacks, Captain Monette called for the random execution of a third when the ship's food supply became contaminated. The crew rebelled and commenced with their torture and killing. Only Francois objected, though Captain Monette did not know, having already fallen unconscious.

As Captain Monette feasted upon the bats, he deliriously swore vengeance upon the crew and cursed them once more. He only became cognizant of where he was after three days of blood-feasting upon the bats. Eventually he stumbled upon the ruins of a lighthouse and found his nephew Francois huddled there. Rage at a (seeming) traitor overtook Alain once again, and he viciously murdered his nephew, only to discover the boy had been bound and badly whipped just as he had. Francois never betrayed his uncle, in fact, Francois had suffered the same fate by defending Alain.

Soon after the murder of Francois, Alain's emotional pain turned to the physical as he went through the torturous transformation to man-bat for the first time. Consumed by hunger and bloodlust, he mutilated and fed upon Francois' corpse. Sated, Alain resumed human form. He had come to a realization of who he now was and what he now needed. The year was 677 BC.

In the ensuing months, Captain Monette fixed up the lighthouse. As his emotional turmoil over Francois' death turned into a morbid and bitter humor, he placed his nephew's skull to hold the candle for the beacon. Eerily, the skull lit up and began to turn like a lighthouse beacon. Later, a ship drew near but then turned back. Monette despaired of relief of his hunger and wish for the tide to wreck the ship. And so it did. Alain had discovered an ability to manipulate the tide, an ability he became more proficient with after practice.

Monette and the Bats of the Island

Captain Monette possesses the ability to converse with (and maybe even command) the bats of [L'île de la Tempête]]. However, they repulse him, as they remind him of his curse and his transformation. Unknown to Monette, he has changed the bats as they have changed him. A number of the bats he feasted upon became afflicted beasts of a sort, shapechangers with the ability to shift into horrific (but nearly harmless) humanoid forms. Although they recognize Monette as their "alpha", they try their best to stay out of his way. However, armed with a dog-level intelligence, they serve his will when he is overtaken with the emotions of his curse. They will steal and sabotage his enemies' supplies, weapons, and so on.

Sources

The most complete source for Captain Monette and his island is the Darklords accessory. He is only briefly mentioned in Domains of Dread, his island having moved to the Nocturnal Sea as of 750 BC. Noncanon sources include the Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer (for 3.5 stats and general expansion of his character and the island) and Children of the Night: Darklords (Pathfinder stats and a timeline of his history).

Statistics

2nd Edition

• male human afflicted werebat with 8 Hit Dice

3rd Edition

• Expert 4 / Fighter 4, Lawful Evil

Pathfinder

• Gunslinger 5/Rogue (Pirate) 3

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Domains of Dread Darklords
		Darklords - p67
		Domains of Dread - p78 Darklords - pp64-66