Tepest

Tepest
Culture Level	Early Medieval (6)
Ecology	Full
Climate & Terrain	Temperate forests and hills
Year Formed	691 BC
Population	15,500, not including a population of 2900 goblins
Races (%)	Humans 99%, Other 1%
Languages	Tepestani*, Darkonese, Vaasi, Sylvan
Religions	Church of Belenus*, Church of Ezra, Church of the Lawgiver
Government	Aristocratic and theocratic independent settlements
Ruler(s)	No central ruler
Darklord(s)	The Three Hags of Tepest
Nationality	Tepestani
Analog	Salem Witch Trials, fairly tale Ireland, the stories of the Brothers Grimm
Related Categories
Locations in Tepest
Transportation in Tepest
Inhabitants of Tepest
Former Inhabitants of Tepest
Flora of Tepest
Fauna of Tepest
Native Monsters of Tepest

"It may be a great advance in knowledge not to believe in [Satanic] witches; there is no moral advance in not executing them when you do not think they are there." --C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Tepest is a rural and heavily forested domain with a fairy tale like quality to it. Although the land is infested with many dangers- malevolent goblins and insidious hags- it is the beguiling and manipulative influence of the fey that bothers the Tepestani the most. Ever since the Grand Conjunction of 740 BC that resulted in the Shadow Rift eating up several neighboring lands, the Tepestani Inquisition has served to root out the fey and their agents. Unfortunately, the Inquisition is not terribly discrete in how it defines their targets- such as elves, gnomes, sorcerers- are all prime targets for being hunted. As with any witch hunt, sometimes entirely innocent targets find undeserved fates. Such false accusations have caused Wyan of Viktal, the Inquisition's founder, to put serious limits on the growth of the Inquisition's reach. However, the resurgence of the Inquisition's popularity and power may have resulted in a movement behind his ability to control.

Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend

• Goblins

• Hags

• Trolls

• The East Timori Road

• The Descent carved into the face of the Shadow Rift

• The Tepestani Inquistion

• Maeve

• The Lady of the Lake

Biology

Flora

• Fairy Stools

• Wichtingourds

Fauna

• Wolves

Native Horrors

• Darkflyers
• Fey
• Goblins
• Goblin Calibans (Hobgoblins)
• Goblin Beasts
• Hags
• Treants
• Undead Treants

Geography

Tepest map by the MCS. Note: Since this fan-made map predates 3rd Edition Ravenloft, there are some inconsistencies with the more recent maps.

Terrain

Mountains and Hills

Tepest is described in the Gazetteer V as mostly averaging between 800 and 800 feet above sea level with a single peak in the north (by northeast) of nearly 1,500 feet. The map from the Black Box edition has most of Tepest at between 501 and 1,000 feet, four or five uplands regions (southeast, south, southwest, north by northeast, and northeast) between 1,000 and 2,500 feet, and with a peak on the north by northeast region climbing over 2,500 feet but not surpassing 5,000 feet. The map from the Red Box edition displays this peak as being of far less significance than Mount Lament (4,730 feet) in the neighbouring domain of Keening.

Canyons

The Shadow Rift, the mother of all canyons

Forests

The forests of Tepest are ancient. The trees are hardwoods, principally oak, beech and hazelnut, with the occasional spruce or pine. Inexplicably, the trees tend to grow strong, healthy, bent and warped all at once, often with gnarled branches that are so twisted as to recall withered hands. They grow so thickly over head as to condemn the forest floor to perpetual gloom.

• The Brujamonte ("Hag's Wood") or Blackwood stands south of Viktal, between the Vaughn Dnar River and the Blackmist River. Both the Vistani and the goblins are said to avoid it, to say nothing of the Tepestani. It is home to the dread treant Blackroot.

• The Goblinwood

• The Tanglewood

• The Wormwood stands south of the South Dnar River in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into Nova Vaasa where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the Elendighedmark ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, Vaasi bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the Darklords of Tepest.

• The Wretchwood

• The Wytchwood

Lakes

The Kronov which never freezes

Communication

Rivers

Dnar River System

The Sydligdnar ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the Nocturnal Sea and the docks at Kantora. With the right winds, the Sydligdnar can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the Sydligdnar. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.

The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in Tepest as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.

The East Timori Road remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the Trished River, inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the Borchava River, suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In Liara there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the river between the Tepestani frontier and Lake Kronov.

• The Trished River
• The Little Borchava River
• The Borchava River has as its tributary the Little Borchava River
• The Vaughn Dnar River has as its tributary the Trished River and Borchava River
• The Dnar River
• The Sydligdnar ("South Dnar River") has as its tributaries the Vaughn Dnar River and the Dnar River

Roads

• The East Timori Road runs from Egertus, through Kantora and Liara, and into Tepest where it is cut short by the Shadow Rift.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabatoge, are underway to cut a road through Tepest and Keening to the Strigos Road in Darkon.

Fractures

Principe one to and from Shadow Rift

Frontiers

Darkon

• The Mountains of Misery

? The Forgotten Hills

Nova Vaasa

• The Wormwood

• The Vaesen Foothills

The Shadow Rift

? The Vaesen Foothills of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the Balinoks from vanished Markovia. They front the Shadow Rift.

Population Distribution

Towns

• Kellee
• Viktal

Villages

• Briggdarrow
• Linde

Authority

Darklord

• The Three Hags of Tepest - Laveeda, Leticia and Lorinda Mindefisk

Casus belli

Past

• The Great Upheaval in 740 BC sparked an inquisition against the fey who were its "cause" and in particular where "responsible" for the disappearance of G'Henna and Markovia. This is actually closer to the truth than it appears, for Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend literally dragged the kingdom of Niurin Scaa and the Arak with it to its current position, displacing the lands of G'Henna and Markovia in the process.

Present

• Repeated attacks by an unidentified party (or parties) on Vaasi efforts to cut a road through Tepest into Keening and on to the Strigos Road in Darkon. There is discussion among the Nova Vaasans of the need to civilize the Tepestani.

Chronology

• (Mythic History) 258 BC (Approx.) The standing stones of Tepest lose their protective blessings of the gods as the fey corrupt the land.
• 691 BC The domain of Tepest appears.
• 691 BC-692 BC The winters of these years hit particularly hard, but the nobility of Darkon and Nova Vaasa, especially Tristen Hiregaard, contribute supplies to help the Tepestani people survive.
• 695 BC Meltos, later childhood friend Leobe, is born in Kellee.
• 709 BC In Viktal, Mikhail Kraznik becomes constable.
• 713 BC First traders coming out of G'Henna arrive in Briggdarrow.
• 720 BC Trade going through Tepest hits its highpoint, but soon after begins to decline.
• 725 BC In G'Henna, Mongrelmen capture and murder Jugo Hesketh. He reanimates as a ghast but is chased into Tepest by his former friend Yagno Petrovna.
• 728 BC Gerald Ferrier and his family, originally from Falkovnia, move to Kellee and establish the Hawk's Haven Inn there.
• 728 BC On this approximate year, the Tepestani adopt the Barovian Calendar
• 731 BC Marek Crawford begins his mage hunting career by killing a necromancer in Kellee.
• 733 BC Bryonna is born in Kellee. That same year, Lorelei, daughter of Wyan of Viktal, is born.
• 733 BC Gerald Ferrier, a Falkovnian, assumes leadership of Kellee. His rule would keep Kellee the only place open to outside trade and free from Inquisitor interference in the coming years.
• 740 BC The Great Upheaval. G'Henna and Markovia disappear, seemingly engulfed by the Shadow Rift left in their place. Most of the Tepestani despair the end is nigh, but Wyan preaches it is merely the fey's first strike and declares war on them.
• 741 BC Wyan holds the first trials of the Inquisition.
• 742 BC The Tepestani Inquisition investigate the Black Spire of Watcher's Woods and declare it forbidden for exploration.
• 743 BC The Inquisition has captured the support, even the very hearts, of the Tepestani.
• 744 BC Castle Island forms in Tepest.
• 750 BC The Tepestani Inquisition, under leadership of Wyan, captures Rima and puts her on trial. She is found to be innocent for the crime of consorting with the fey and freed.
• 751 BC Spring In Viktal, Bryonna is set to wed Ivan D'Ogmai However, Lorelei, under manipulation from the Unseelie Court, accuses her of witchcraft. In the chaos of the witch hunt and the ensuing aftermath, Loht tries to acquire the Sword of Arak
• 751 BC When it comes to light of his daughter's manipulation by the fey, Wyan's faith is shaken to his core, and he treats in isolation for several years. The Inquisition's power is dealt a blow it will not recover from until half a decade passes.
• 751 A series of strange and mysterious events occur in Briggdarrow, causing much of the community population to abandon it.
• 756 BC Wyan presides over the wedding of Gerald Ferrier to Tala.
• [756 BC Late Year Gerald Ferrier's wife, along with several of the guests staying at his inn, are murdered by a shapechanger, perhaps a doppelganger. The shapechanger is rooted out and slain before Ferrier's daughter can be sacrificed in an evil ritual.
• 757 BC The Inquisition experiences a resurgence in power and influence following the murders in Kellee.
• 758 BC "S" investigates Tepest. There she encounters the Gentleman Caller.

Noncanon Information- Descriptive Text

We recently received a copy of this Tepest report here enclosed. Please note that it contradicts previous information on file for this forsaken and backward place.

Viktor Hazan's note to the Fraternity (Note: Quotation was not written by article writer. I don't know whether it was Joel or someone else and I don't want to steal credit but I like the idea. I wish I had it)

In many places Tepest is a place of breathtaking beauty. Outside the Hagwood and some other places it appears to be a lovely forest with stately trees, burbling brooks and rolling hills of green. Don't let it fool you as it as deadly a place as any in Ravenloft. Shadow Fey are everywhere and have no love for man. The road through it is safe as any though, its supernatural inhabitants (Save the Three Sisters) can not enter the road.

The Hagwood is a big exception. It is a really spooky forest full of dead trees , undead treants, death's head trees and other nasty dread plants. It looks like a place only a fool would enter and that impression is very correct. Only truly powerful and well equipped parties can enter and come back out alive without a lot of luck on their side. The Three Sisters live in the heart of it and only the truly stupid or stupendously powerful will dare enter without their leave. There are no settlements anywhere near the Hagwood as Tepesti are neither stupid or suicidal. The road going through the Hagwood is fairly safe however, if you stick to the road you only have to worry about typical dangers such as highwaymen or normal wolves. All hags there are Ravenloft Hag.

The Goblinwood is safer as goblinoids are the most common creature here. Goblins, orcs, hobgoblins and bugbears all make their home here but the Tepesti don't differentiate between them, they are all goblins in their eyes. The Shadow Fey are a bit rarer here as they find the goblinoids both uninteresting and loud. They fight mainly amongst each other . The road is the most dangerous here as goblinoids aren't supernatural but since they fight mainly with each other and are no tougher than standard goblinoids they aren't much of a threat to any armed party. A standard guarded trade caravan will get through undisturbed. Kellee is in the Goblinwood.

The Wytchwood is the heart of the fey. It is the area most full of fey of various sorts. It is second only to the Hagwood in danger and that is because no hags live here. Despite the lack of hags the locals consider it near certain death to enter and they are right. There may be no hags but plenty of Sith and Black Sprites. Except for very powerful parties only fools and madmen wishing to die enter the woods here. There is a clearing that is safe however and that is where Viktal is. The hills that are part of the clearing are rich in copper and tin ore.

Brujamonte is clearly the safest of the forests with less fey than elsewhere outside of Bruja which are no more evil than elsewhere.The only lycanthropes in the domain dwell here, a pack of werewolves and a den of werebadgers. Briggdarrow is the settlement here and is full of grapes. Not the tastiest grapes but certainly edible.

Tepesti are considered unfriendly by most as they never invite anyone anywhere. This is a misreading of the Tepesti who are actually quite friendly. Those who know them know it is to guard against the fey. They have no problems with people they know dropping by unannounced , they simply don't invite them as they could be actually inviting a fey in disguise. In Tepest no fey can enter a building uninvited. As such no inn rents rooms, they rent cabins. If a fey is accidently invited to a visitor's dwelling only the cabin is at risk not the whole inn.

The Tepesti take a good deal of pride that their work is mostly for the poor and lower middle class. Their jewelry , instead of going to a relative handful of nobles and merchants, are sold to thousands of peasants and workers all over the core. Their clothing is cheap, rugged clothing that is well suited for the hard work done by the poor. Their wine is a cheap way for the working class stiff to get drunk. It is production for the masses instead of a relative handful of snooty nobles. Tepesti tend to be a hard working , rugged people.

Even the nobles can't be too showy as that would be a major cultural sin. Their main benefits are power, a good number of servants, good food and a well kept up dwelling not fancy jewelry or clothing although they are a cut above the masses. Still their jewels and clothing are considered good for middle class and lower upper class merchants not nobles in other domains.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Ravenloft Third Edition Domains of Dread Darklords The Shadow Rift Servants of Darkness
		Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp7,51-54 Ravenloft Third Edition - pp15,17-19,141-142 Domains of Dread - pp38-39 Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - p31 Darklords - pp40-41 Realm of Terror - pp79-80 The Shadow Rift - pp8-56 Servants of Darkness - p3
		Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp8-9 Ravenloft Third Edition - inside cover Domains of Dread - pp26-27 Ravenloft Campaign Setting - poster map Darklords - p39 Realm of Terror - poster map The Shadow Rift - p24 Servants of Darkness - poster map