Ustalav Gazetteer

Discussing all things Ravenloft
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ewancummins
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by ewancummins »

tomokaicho wrote:
Jack the Reaper wrote:Just saying that the best way to block the Shadow Rift IMO is to leave G'henna in the core (it is much better there than as an island), and inserting Sanguinia instead of Markovia (which is indeed better as an island).
I agree. Removing G'Henna from the Core basically sent it to oblivion. People fleeing from G'Henna should be a thing, and it can't really be a thing in an isolated Island of Terror. In addition to emigrating, the other states of the Core would be trying to keep the G'Hennans out, people who are disimilar in race, culture, and religion. G'Henna makes so much more sense as part of the Core.

Agreed.

G'Henna as a country where fanatics are content to starve for their (false) beast-god works best when fleeing to greener pastures seems like an option.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by Jester of the FoS »

Jack the Reaper wrote:Just saying that the best way to block the Shadow Rift IMO is to leave G'henna in the core (it is much better there than as an island), and inserting Sanguinia instead of Markovia (which is indeed better as an island).
As others have said, G'henna was moved for a reason. The starving land doesn't make sense when people can just flee to the neighbouring land or the nation can import food.
And the domain that's an Island of Doctor Moreau riff works best as a, well, island.
It works better to find a land that fits the mainland and slap that in the Core instead of (or rather, on TOP of) the Shadow Rift.

Heck, this project started as a result of my mapping. Someone requested a filled in Core. Rather a land with no names, Ustalav fit the bill.
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by Jack the Reaper »

Jester of the FoS wrote: As others have said, G'henna was moved for a reason. The starving land doesn't make sense when people can just flee to the neighbouring land or the nation can import food.
As was said before, the G'Hennians don't starve because there's no available food around; they starve themselves out of faith - either their own or the priests' that enforce it and control all the food supplies. I think it's much more terrifying than simply having no food.

There is a short film (in the XX anthology, haven't watched it, just read the plot) about a boy who stops eating after an old man shows him the content of a mysterious red box. When his family members ask him why he doesn't eat, he whispers something in their ears, and as a result they stop eating as well, eventually starving willingly to death. Everyone who hears this secret refused to eat anymore. Now take this unnerving concept, expand it to a whole domain, and you got G'Henna.
The Reaper's riddle:

"Im ata yachol likro et ze, ata yode'a et ha'emet."

If you can read it, you know the truth.
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by ewancummins »

Yup.

The natives are mostly faithful to the cult of Zhakata. This is made clear in the Black Box source text on the domain. G'Hennans even keep the polished teeth of starved family members as sacred ornaments.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by tomokaicho »

ewancummins wrote:The natives are mostly faithful to the cult of Zhakata. This is made clear in the Black Box source text on the domain. G'Hennans even keep the polished teeth of starved family members as sacred ornaments.
And this would be one of the main reasons why even relatively empty lands like Richemulot would want to keep the G'Hennans out. Just because they left G'Henna doesn't mean that they aren't bringing their problems with them.

So you have the dissident G'Hennans caught between hammer and anvil. And by denying the G'Hennans an escape, the surrounding states help keep Yagno Petrova in control.
Last edited by tomokaicho on Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by RPGaff »

Hi! I'm currently running a 5e conversion of the Carrion Crown AP and have been using your QtR article to insert it into Ravenloft, so this is right up my alley. Just wondering if you have plans to re-upload the PDF? Not sure if anyone else is having trouble viewing it, but even after downloading (file size 0kb), my PDF readers aren't able to open it.
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by tomokaicho »

RPGaff wrote:Hi! I'm currently running a 5e conversion of the Carrion Crown AP and have been using your QtR article to insert it into Ravenloft, so this is right up my alley. Just wondering if you have plans to re-upload the PDF? Not sure if anyone else is having trouble viewing it, but even after downloading (file size 0kb), my PDF readers aren't able to open it.
Weird. I can confirm that the PDF is now broken.
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

I only get the first page, so it's not just you. Jester, do you have a full version?
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Re: Ustalav Gazetteer

Post by Jester of the FoS »

Looks like the link drifted in Drive. Updated and double-checked, and looks good now.
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