Da Cua Nhen

[Strahdsbuddy]

Ryan Naylor lists this domain's darklord, Ke Le Thanh in his Children of the Night: Lords of Ravenloft conversion to Pathfinder. But I've never seen it mentioned anywehre else, not even Naylor's other Pathfinder documents.

Ke's timeline mentions the "Empire", which may or may not be a reference to the Holy Empire of Matherion which subjugated Mictlan and its surrounding areas, but the name sounds more Southeast Asian, so it could be a different empire. Or maybe it isn't.

Anyway, does anyone have any further info?

[ewancummins]

Looks Vietnamese to me.


If the Holy Empire of Matherion is based more or less on the Habsburg's dominions when they ruled the HRE , Spain and all the Spanish colonies, then SE Asia makes perfect sense.
The Philippines was part of that extended empire (small E, as not HRE but ruled by the Habsburgs as rulers of Spain).
And Mictlan is a pseudo-Mexican domain, neh?


I'd have to see the timeline. Maybe something similar to China as an empire was meant?
That certainly fits Vietnam/Annam.

As is the case with so many places in fantasy settings having various European names, it's just as likely that that no particularly strong connection to RW history and geography was ever meant. Just a certain feel, some elements borrowed from the real world.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Rereading the timeline I believe the empire they are referring g to us Rokushima Tayioo

[brothersale]

Da Cua Nhen and the poison Sea are both original domains created for that document, further information is available in these to threads:

http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... 8496&hilit

http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... 3606&hilit

[Strahdsbuddy]

Thank you brothersale. That was a good weekend read! In the interest of having it here, I've attached Ryan Naylor's notes on Dat Cua Nhen, which are very interesting!

Dat Cua Nhen

In Vietnamese, that means "Land of spiders" – a reference to Ke Le’s plotting, but it also has spiders in the jungles.

This domain is a bit of a hodge podge of SE Asia. It's inspired by Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Apocalypse Now, the Quiet American, and, of course, Fu Manchu, although hopefully it avoids the racist part of that character for a more interesting modern take on a Yellow Peril domain.

The main city is Cua Song (River Mouth), a massive, hugely dense port city built across islands at the mouth of a jungle river delta. Steep hills etc and jungle makes travels inland difficult – the people stick to fishing, farming around city and river banks. Sailors and smugglers. Up in hinterland, ruined cities buried by jungle (Ankor Wat), then a huge wall – Mists on the other side, wash backwards and forward revealing seemingly normal jungle, legends of something terrible beyond (a little bit King Kong, a little Great Wall of China).

Cua Song was once an outpost of larger Empire. The Empire oppressed the indigenous races of the river mouth, made them part of greater empire. Closed, inward looking society for elite – indolent, cultural revisionism, smug.

Further outsiders came. They sparked a trade war to force access to the empire (a la the Opium Wars or the Boxer Rebellion), sold guns, opium, delicacies, religion. The Empire lost – Cua Song was opened as trading enclave – uneasy peace between elite and invaders. Invaders mostly rule with light hand, commercial interests. Old elite losing traditions because of radical progress, opium addiction, lost pride and standing. City largely anarchic now, as long as trade continues. Obviously, this alludes most directly to the British conquest of Hong Kong and the criminal gangs that arose there, but really, the story has been the same right across SE Asia (whether the invaders were European, Chinese or Japanese).

Ke Le Thanh, the darklord, is a nationalist. Born into a doan (crimical group; Tong), raised on stories of what used to be. Determined to arrest slide, restore culture, salvage pride (father lived through war, saw how it broke him). Family and doan killed/executed in retaliation for revolt Ke Le led. Wants revenge. Spent life amassing criminal empire, determined to bring them down – hypocritically happy to get rich off opium etc to get revenge, despite horror at how it ruins people.

Burnt down governor’s house with family inside as statement. At same moment daughter born and domain formed (Ke Meo Hua – evil, seductive, sadistic, weirdly attracted to heroes, as the psychotic daughter of an archvillain should be). Lots of wives and concubines. Sons all imbeciles, sick, mad, killed in pursuit of duties – no heirs. Getting older (no arrested aging, although may not die of old age – just get older and sicker, rotting from the inside), unable to find heir, worried will die before achieving goal, worried about being poisoned/executed by invaders/rival doans, no family to venerate memory.

Despite all this, he is honourable. Criminal mastermind. Respects family and tradition (even of enemies). Always polite. Operates from spice traders in the centre of the market. Lots of rivals. Hypnotic powers. Wasting away – can feel himself getting frailer, drinks rose water etc, traditional medicines, to arrest the decay. There may be a little bit of To Sleep With Evil here.

The domain has a lot of vices for sale: opium, gambling, prostitution, smuggling, piracy, trade, scheming. There should be a seductive, dark undercurrent, in the torrid heat of the jungle.