The House on Gryphon Hill and Mordentshire's graveyard
The House on Gryphon Hill and Mordentshire's graveyard
Is the only map to the House on Grpyhon Hill in the hard to find module? Has that module or any story detailed Mordentshire's graveyard, such as whether it has a fence (I'm planning to start my players off with a mass grave-robbing of the Mordentshire graveyard)?
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Mephisto of the FoS
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Re: The House on Gryphon Hill and Mordentshire's graveyard
"I am not omniscient, but I know a lot."
-Mephistopheles from Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
-Mephistopheles from Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Re: The House on Gryphon Hill and Mordentshire's graveyard
As for graveyards, I can only find vague references of discriptions for the cemetery belonging to the House on Gryphon Hill, so you should be good to impose your creativity however you see fit and not worry about stepping outside of anything "official". If that's of any concern to you or anybody else wondering the same thing.
For the rest of us, well,
From Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill:
"At the edge of the bog sits an ancient graveyard, its headstones pitted and worn smooth. Once an imposing sight, now only the crumbling forms of the statues remain."
From Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume III:
"I also feel that it is noteworthy that a small and sadly neglected family cemetery rests on the grounds just south of the House, its gravestones worn smooth, its monuments cracked and broken. Only two graves were still legible..."
So, ancient cemetery, but reserved for a single family. Maybe the PCs are bunch of self-professed "legend trippers" and are digging the rich on a dare...?
As for the other cemeteries of Mordent, there is even less (that I could find on a quick flip through), but a lot of space inbetween the lines:
From Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume III:
"Less sociable or intellectually rigorous members of the family (the Mournesworth) took to purchasing and maintaining many of Mordent's vast cemeteries, where they became known for their unswerving diligence in service of the needs of both the departed and those they left behind. Many Mournesworth elders also accepted the responsibility on ensuring that their adopted burial grounds were kept free of undead and other abominations, sometimes employing younger family members or even outside adventurers to help them cleanse cemeteries that had become home to such creatures.
They even adopted a bizarre custom of arranging to transport the bodies of any who could not afford a respectable burial back to their enormous family graveyard in the heart of the Vale of Twilight, where they could be interred with all due ceremony and respect. While whispered tales sometimes alleged that this practice began to further all manner of foul necromantic experiments, in truth the family only performed this service when it was asked of them, and no trace of foul play or dark magic was ever found in connection to any of these funerals."
The Mournesworth are gone...or are they?
Who maintains the graveyards now? Another family or business? The Church of Ezra? Something else, something unknown and most definitely not right (corpse eaters; a corpse-eating ghoul king; as above, so below kinda adventure)? Or are they mostly just sitting under the weight of years of neglect?
Were the Mournesworth really that successful in eliminating the undead and other gravestench? Or were they successful in keeping their dark and disturbing experiments from the locals?
Have fun with it man, and feel free to let us all know where the PCs' shovels hit!
For the rest of us, well,
From Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill:
"At the edge of the bog sits an ancient graveyard, its headstones pitted and worn smooth. Once an imposing sight, now only the crumbling forms of the statues remain."
From Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume III:
"I also feel that it is noteworthy that a small and sadly neglected family cemetery rests on the grounds just south of the House, its gravestones worn smooth, its monuments cracked and broken. Only two graves were still legible..."
So, ancient cemetery, but reserved for a single family. Maybe the PCs are bunch of self-professed "legend trippers" and are digging the rich on a dare...?
As for the other cemeteries of Mordent, there is even less (that I could find on a quick flip through), but a lot of space inbetween the lines:
From Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume III:
"Less sociable or intellectually rigorous members of the family (the Mournesworth) took to purchasing and maintaining many of Mordent's vast cemeteries, where they became known for their unswerving diligence in service of the needs of both the departed and those they left behind. Many Mournesworth elders also accepted the responsibility on ensuring that their adopted burial grounds were kept free of undead and other abominations, sometimes employing younger family members or even outside adventurers to help them cleanse cemeteries that had become home to such creatures.
They even adopted a bizarre custom of arranging to transport the bodies of any who could not afford a respectable burial back to their enormous family graveyard in the heart of the Vale of Twilight, where they could be interred with all due ceremony and respect. While whispered tales sometimes alleged that this practice began to further all manner of foul necromantic experiments, in truth the family only performed this service when it was asked of them, and no trace of foul play or dark magic was ever found in connection to any of these funerals."
The Mournesworth are gone...or are they?
Who maintains the graveyards now? Another family or business? The Church of Ezra? Something else, something unknown and most definitely not right (corpse eaters; a corpse-eating ghoul king; as above, so below kinda adventure)? Or are they mostly just sitting under the weight of years of neglect?
Were the Mournesworth really that successful in eliminating the undead and other gravestench? Or were they successful in keeping their dark and disturbing experiments from the locals?
Have fun with it man, and feel free to let us all know where the PCs' shovels hit!
"A very piteous thing it was to see such a quantity of dead bodies, and such an outpouring of blood - that is, if they had not been enemies of the Christian faith."
- Jean Pierre Sarrasin, "The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville"
- Jean Pierre Sarrasin, "The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville"
Re: The House on Gryphon Hill and Mordentshire's graveyard
Mephisto, thank you! Five, many thank you's for such an excellent, well-detailed reply! That was exactly what I needed!
Whoops, ha ha! I see now how I was unclear. No, the PC's aren't going to be DOING the grave-robbing, but instead are seeking to find who or what is responsible for unearthing and carrying off so many of Mordentshire's dearly departed. I'll definitely let you and the others know how the adventure goes, assuming my players pick Ravenloft (I'm giving them the choice of setting the campaign in Ravenloft, or playing through the "Night Below" Underdark campaign module, quite possibly the longest and best module ever released for Dungeons and Dragons).
Whoops, ha ha! I see now how I was unclear. No, the PC's aren't going to be DOING the grave-robbing, but instead are seeking to find who or what is responsible for unearthing and carrying off so many of Mordentshire's dearly departed. I'll definitely let you and the others know how the adventure goes, assuming my players pick Ravenloft (I'm giving them the choice of setting the campaign in Ravenloft, or playing through the "Night Below" Underdark campaign module, quite possibly the longest and best module ever released for Dungeons and Dragons).