Café de Nuit

For those who don't recall offhand, Henri DuBois is the love of Darklord of Richemulot Jacqueline Renier's life. Twenty years ago she revealed herself to him as a wererat and attacked him, trying to infect him with lycanthropy. He fled in terror and has not been seen since, by his family or seemingly by anyone else. Despite Jacqueline's best efforts to track him down, no trace of Henri DuBois has ever been found.

It's an intriguing plot point, and one that to be the best of my knowledge has never been resolved, although one product did put forth the possibility that one of Jacqueline's rivals might have kidnapped Henri. I very strongly doubt that, as there is no way the kidnapper would have waited twenty years to make use of his or her captive. Henri may have run afoul of a monster which put an end to him. He could be living in a far-away domain under an assumed name. He could well have fled to Darkon and long ago forgotten his true family. But here's my favorite hypothesis for Henri's fate.

Horrified that the love of his life was a wererat and desperate to put himself beyond the reach of Richemulot's leader, he rode hard for the border with Dementlieu, resting his horse only rarely and reluctantly. In the course of his flight he disguised himself as best he could and came up with another name to use. Once he reached Port-A-Lucine, Henri sold his horse and used most of the resulting coin to purchase a berth on a cargo ship heading north to Mantira Bay. He reasoned going as a paying passenger on a normal ship would make him too easy to track afterward. Going in secret on a cargo ship would cover his trail. Once in the vast kingdom of Darkon he could make a new, safe life for himself without worry that Jacqueline would be able to find him.

Tragically, it was not be. The Mists engulfed the ship and when they lifted it was to deposit the vessel in Saragoss. Fortunately the ship's cargo was mostly food, giving everyone aboard time to learn and adapt to conditions in the terrible domain. And so Henri dwells there still, safe from Jacqueline, but trapped in one of the worst domains of Ravenloft.

Anyone else have alternate ideas for what happened to Henri DuBois? Has anyone used him in their campaign?

In my opinion Van Richten's Guide to Doppelgangers has a better option.

Well, don't leave me in suspense, Mephisto; what is this better option?

Solan wrote: Wed May 15, 2024 1:59 pm Twenty years ago she revealed herself to him as a wererat and attacked him, trying to infect him with lycanthropy.

That is a bit of understatement: She tied him in bed and was biting him again and again to turn him, from what I remember from the novel. He was beyond terrified. I don't think he was coherent after such abuse.
Jacquiline is a Yandere.

Also, that was not the first guy she falls for and has to kill.

Solan wrote: Wed May 15, 2024 5:13 pm Well, don't leave me in suspense, Mephisto; what is this better option?

Thanks for sharing, Mephisto! I actually regard that as a far inferior explanation. We know Henri's family is human, there's no evidence to believe otherwise about him, and it seems ridiculous to suggest he should be a villain. As Freud said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". By the same measure, even in Ravenloft, sometimes an innocent human is just an innocent human and not a monster in disguise.

In the Mistworld he was killed by Jaqueline himself when he opposed her plan to be frre from the Renier Rules.

Solan wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 6:24 am Thanks for sharing, Mephisto! I actually regard that as a far inferior explanation. We know Henri's family is human, there's no evidence to believe otherwise about him, and it seems ridiculous to suggest he should be a villain. As Freud said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". By the same measure, even in Ravenloft, sometimes an innocent human is just an innocent human and not a monster in disguise.

At first glance I would agree with you but the VRG Dread Possibility is well written and intriguing.

Unless I remember wrong (which is a possibility) the doppelganger PRETENDED TO BE Henri. It was not Henri

If that's the case, Alhoon, then that changes everything! I could most definitely see Louise enlisting a Ravenloft Doppelganger to impersonate the long-lost Henri as part of a devious plot against her hated twin sister.

Solan wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 8:50 am If that's the case, Alhoon, then that changes everything! I could most definitely see Louise enlisting a Ravenloft Doppelganger to impersonate the long-lost Henri as part of a devious plot against her hated twin sister.

Not exactly, human Henri existed, and was "replaced" before reaching Pont-a-Museau. Louise has no idea but was attracted to the DPGrs devious nature without knowing what he was. Still I recommend reading the Dread Possibility.

A while back, I read another fan-made option.

Henri DuBois was a rake and a wastrel, who went from one woman to another, using them until they had nothing left, until he finally wound up with Jacqueline. His last victim before her was a mousy young woman who loved him with all her heart - only for Henri to casually abandon her with his debts.
The young woman spied on Henri and his new love from afar, her love twisting into hatred. She turned to the darkness, praying for the power to make Henri and Jacqueline both hurt -- and something listened.
The young woman broke into Château Delanuit while Henri was still wracked by fever after Jacqueline bit him, cut him loose and carried him away over the rooftops.
Any relief Henri might have felt at his "rescue" was short-lived as he realised he had been seized by a Paka; his abandoned lover's new form. Henri died in a dirty basement, tortured to death by the woman scorned, who would thereafter name herself the Queen of Cats to contrast Jacqueline. His bones lie on the bottom of the Musarde, most likely, and Jacqueline does not know, leaving her with her own agony.