G’Henna, what to do with it?

[ewancummins]

Falkovnia is nearly all in the 0-500 range (two different colors on the map)

G'henna is nearly all in the 500 to 1000 foot range.

The transition could be quite abrupt, if one liked. A sudden change of hundreds of feet, a high escarpment.
This doesn't contradict anything on the map.
It explains the cold and rocky parts of the description of the land as cold, dry, and rocky.

Rainshadow from the highlands in eastern Falkovnia and from the Sleeping Beast may account for some of the dryness, but not all of it. I'd guess G'Henna would be a region of forests and grasslands, not intermontane desert.
But overgrazing, bad farming techniques, and an actual curse on the land may all combine to do the rest.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

The nation could have once had (a false history of) thriving herds of goats. Goats, if allowed to breed out of control, could have ruined much of the grassland, and if the natives were foolish enough to clear the forests to create more pastorage, then that would only have added to the agricultural ruin.

In the end, no curse is as effective as humanity's own potential for stupidity...

Closely-guarded records might indicate the goat-trade was so profitable in ages gone by that the government foolishly ignored warnings from the farmers who actually knew what they were doing and forcibly converted the farming industry and had more land cleared to favour the goat-trade, causing much of the damage. By the time Yagno appeared, the land would already have been going into decay, and the people would have embraced anyone who offered them a way to reclaim what was once a bountiful land by whatever means.

[ewancummins]

The nation could have once had (a false history of) thriving herds of goats. Goats, if allowed to breed out of control, could have ruined much of the grassland, and if the natives were foolish enough to clear the forests to create more pastorage, then that would only have added to the agricultural ruin.

In the end, no curse is as effective as humanity's own potential for stupidity...

Closely-guarded records might indicate the goat-trade was so profitable in ages gone by that the government foolishly ignored warnings from the farmers who actually knew what they were doing and forcibly converted the farming industry and had more land cleared to favour the goat-trade, causing much of the damage. By the time Yagno appeared, the land would already have been going into decay, and the people would have embraced anyone who offered them a way to reclaim what was once a bountiful land by whatever means.

I would keep a supernatural drought as part of this, because I don't want to make the false history into an environmentalist aesop.
That muddles the themes, IMO. This isn't Nosos.

But I do like overgrazing.

Also goat SKULLLLZZZ.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Goat skulls could feature heavily in some of the aspect cults of the Devourer (I forget its name).

[ewancummins]

Goat skulls could feature heavily in some of the aspect cults of the Devourer (I forget its name).

wall of jeering animal skulls= border closure

Great cats are listed as a common monster encounter.

So it looks like those herd animals are getting eaten by something else in addition to hungry people, and pretty often, too.

It makes sense to be to establish some relationship among large cats in Valachan, Nova Vaasa and G'henna.
They are all similar species. Use leopard stats.
The eastern plains cats have bobbed tails, the panthers of the far south are melanistic, and the G'Hennan 'lions' are dust-colored.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

A relationship...

How's about a secret cabal of Pakas operating in that area of the Core to humanity's detriment?

[ewancummins]

A relationship...

How's about a secret cabal of Pakas operating in that area of the Core to humanity's detriment?

That could be cool.

The Pakas always sounded fun, but I've never seen them used in play.

[hidajiremi]

A relationship...

How's about a secret cabal of Pakas operating in that area of the Core to humanity's detriment?

That could be cool.

The Pakas always sounded fun, but I've never seen them used in play.

I actually included a Paka conspiracy in one of my previous Ravenloft games. It was a lot of fun.

[Cromstar]

G'Henna-->Gehenna---> Valley of the Son of Hinnom

After thinking about this for a while and reading the relevant parts of the Bible, I'd say that the main theme in G'henna isn't starvation. It's idolatry.


Starvation is the means of sacrifice.

The Valley of the Son of Hinnom was a place that became associated with idol worship and the sacrifice of children.

I did not know this, but that explains the name a lot...actually, a lot better than the use of Gehenna for the Outer Plane with the name (and Planescape is my favorite campaign setting, though admittedly Ravenloft is tied very, very strongly to the details of Planescape in my world, and the border can be a bit...misty between the two).

Yagno worships a false god. Not just an evil god, but a false god. Zhakata does not actually exist.

He has deluded himself and led others along with him, committing grave moral offenses in the name of a non-existent god.
Starving innocent people to death as a sacrifice is pretty horrible. Brainwashing/charming them so they do it ''willingly'' is perhaps even worse.

Just a note here, by the Black Box, you are mostly correct. But there is one difference I personally feel needs to be made to stand out.

Yagno has deluded others to worship a fake god. He has NOT deluded himself. In fact, its part of his curse...he KNOWS he made Zhakata up, and he KNOWS the god isn't real. And because of that, his acts are all the more zealous and crazed for it. There's an old addage along the lines of 'the person with the least faith professes his faith the strongest' or the like. That's what Yagno is. He knows its all fake, but he refuses to acknowledge that and lives the lie. Its why the religion is so extreme. He wants desperately to believe, and drives everyone to the heights of fervor in his own quest to believe.

In fact, I bet it perplexes him how Zhakata is able to grant spells and other priestly abilities, considering he knows the god isn't real. That probably doesn't help his mental state any.

[ewancummins]

Just a note here, by the Black Box, you are mostly correct. But there is one difference I personally feel needs to be made to stand out.

Yagno has deluded others to worship a fake god. He has NOT deluded himself. In fact, its part of his curse...he KNOWS he made Zhakata up, and he KNOWS the god isn't real. And because of that, his acts are all the more zealous and crazed for it. There's an old addage along the lines of 'the person with the least faith professes his faith the strongest' or the like. That's what Yagno is. He knows its all fake, but he refuses to acknowledge that and lives the lie. Its why the religion is so extreme. He wants desperately to believe, and drives everyone to the heights of fervor in his own quest to believe.

In fact, I bet it perplexes him how Zhakata is able to grant spells and other priestly abilities, considering he knows the god isn't real. That probably doesn't help his mental state any.

Indeed!

Ah, and this makes him even more vile than he appears in my confused recollection (probably I was thinking too much of later versions/developments of him).

[ewancummins]

G'Henna-->Gehenna---> Valley of the Son of Hinnom

After thinking about this for a while and reading the relevant parts of the Bible, I'd say that the main theme in G'henna isn't starvation. It's idolatry.


Starvation is the means of sacrifice.

The Valley of the Son of Hinnom was a place that became associated with idol worship and the sacrifice of children.

I did not know this, but that explains the name a lot...actually, a lot better than the use of Gehenna for the Outer Plane with the name (and Planescape is my favorite campaign setting, though admittedly Ravenloft is tied very, very strongly to the details of Planescape in my world, and the border can be a bit...misty between the two).

Right, the Outer Plane is more like the NT use of Gehenna (same etymology) as a state/place of being after death, in which damned souls suffer punishment.