Café de Nuit

"This Revolution is genuine because it was born from the same womb that always gives birth to massive social upheavals - the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations."
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Fraternity of Shadows is now accepting submissions for the next Quoth the Raven, our annual Ravenloft netbook.

Ravenloft is filled with darkness, sorrow and injustice from the harsh rule of Duke Nharov Gundar of Gundarak and the annexing of the largely populated parts of Gundarak by the troops of Count Strahd Von Zarovich XI to the oppression of the people of Falkovnia by the "Hawk"s" iron claws and the fear Hazlik's dark magic instills to the people of Hazlan. Ravenloft is filled with tyrannical rulers that oppress the common folk to obedience. But Ravenloft is also filled with stories of defiance against oppressors like the successful uprising of the people of Skald following the legendary bard Harkon Lukas's speech, that freed Kartakans from their Invidian oppressors to the riots of 707 BC in Dementlieu that ended with the execution of Lord-Governor Foquelaine and the appointment of a new Council of Brilliance.

A social upheaval has the power to change the world as much as a cosmic upheaval has. As long as there are oppressed people in the world there will be uprisings, with the power to possibly change the world towards something better or even something worse.

“There is a difference between an uprising against oppression and mob rule.”
— Abhijit Naskar


So there it is, this years Quoth the Raven theme: Uprising


As always, we are looking for anything related to Ravenloft, Masque of the Red Death, or horror in general. The theme is deliberately open ended, but still a suggestion, not a restriction. If you have something great that doesn't fit in with the theme, send it in anyway!

Ruleset doesn't matter! We accept articles using any edition of D&D rules, or even other systems. Canon setting doesn't matter either: 2e/3e canon shared world, 4e Shadowfell Domains, 5e reimagined setting, homebrew worlds, send them all in! Some of the best articles don't have any rules text at all! And if you're interested in having your rules converted to another system, let us know. There are lots of volunteers eager to help.

BUT: do not overformat your articles (we will painfully remove it all anyway, to put our own look to it!)

See our submission guidelines for official rules.

Submit your articles to QTR@fraternityofshadows.com. The deadline is September 30th, 2024, but feel free to send your articles in early, especially if you're looking for feedback.

Better late than never, better late than sorry...

The theme being revolution (or revolt) implies mainly things of Gothic Earth or the more advanced domains such as Paridon or Dementliue. Of the ones with direct themes of conquest and revolt, you have Falkovnia, Invidia, and Barovia. For more social revolt you have the unrest of Dementliue and possibly Borca (the people of Richemulot seem rather content and have a growing sense of nationality which I think prevents most social unrest). You also have the constant social unrest of Nova Vaasa and Haslan.

In terms of the ideas of evil in revolutions, their is of course the evil of the oppresor, but also the evil when the revolution goes out of control. The Terror of revolutionary France, the many partisan groups of Eastern Europe during WW2 which regarded each other with violent paranoia, or the chaos of the Taiping Rebellion in the later years of Qing China. Revolution can also be religious in nature, such as the already mentioned Taiping Rebellion or the European Protestant Reformation, with the results such as the Siege of Munster or the 30 Years War.

Some general ideas (probably won't follow these myself but could be used):
--History of the Nevuchaur Springs Ezran Sect
--Early conflicts in the Ezran Church with the beginings of the Mordent Sect
--The Cult of the Catlord / Cult of Sehkmaa / Cult of Mytteri
--An example cell of the Gundarike Rebellion
--An example cell of the Freeman of Falkovnia
--A class / archetype of the Revolutionary, based on the Russian Literature archtype of it

I will likely submit a handful of statblocks. Some NPCs, a couple of monsters, and even a minor artifact.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Fraternity, I would like to remind you that the word 'Uprising' is open to interpretation. It needn't be political.

A man finally getting up off his sickbed could be said to be 'uprising'.
(And how shocked and dismayed will Ilsabet Oubor be, if Peto Casse suddenly gets up off of his bed and takes back the reins of power? And why is he suddenly so emotionless, his face so waxen and his movements so mechanical? Why will no poison put him down anymore...?)

A volcanic island suddenly appearing from the ocean could also be considered to be an uprising.
(And who only knows what drove it up from the muck-caked bottom of the Nocturnal Sea, and what gibbers and slithers in its depths...?)

By all means, if you want to go for revolutions, peasant uprisings and whatnot, go for it! But keep in mind that there are other options as well.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sc ... Ajp0cDco6A

Uprising of the sea creatures!

Important Addendum!

Ladies and gentlemen,

Every ruleset is welcome, everything related to Ravenloft, Masque of the Red Death or horror in general is welcome, but please:

Run a proper spellcheck BEFORE submitting your article(s)!

We're happy to receive the fruits of your creativity, but please do us the courtesy of providing as 'polished' an article as you can. It helps a LOT during the editing stage if we don't have to hunt down spelling and grammar errors, or wind up having to guess or try to check in with the author to find out what they meant to say.

We don't like having to delay the publication of Quoth the Raven any better than you all like having to wait, so please help us out.

All right. Beside at least my Barovia article needs to be polished as much it is possible.

Back from long vacations in Europe, sorry I was away this long.

Ladies and gent, last leg of the QtR 31 race!

So far, surprisingly, we have very few submissions this year!

Four Came to Melesku'ta (story) by Ian Fordam
Thaan Fallen (Bluetspur reimagined) by Ian Fordam
Chibilofts and art!

and

Visual domain formation timelines by Matt Doyle (large PDF files, to be added to the site)

---

Who has stuff coming?

I will come with at least one domain, my rewriting if Barovia. I have been stroke by a bad case of writer block but I'm fighting it.

Joël of the FoS wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2024 10:36 am Four Came to Melesdku'ta (story) by Ian Fordam

For the record, the story is entitled "Four Came to Melesku'ta". I can't believe your spellchecker didn't catch that...

Hope you had a wonderful time in Europe!

IanFordam wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2024 4:20 pm

Joël of the FoS wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2024 10:36 am Four Came to Melesdku'ta (story) by Ian Fordam

For the record, the story is entitled "Four Came to Melesku'ta". I can't believe your spellchecker didn't catch that...

Ah ah ah, will look twice next time

Hope you had a wonderful time in Europe!

1 month in Portugal, minus 5 days in Italy for a wedding (no, not mine).

Seen lots of fun things, when you visit castles, you always have battle scenes in your mind, that you can't share with the non-D&D-playing girlfriend, alas.

Mistmaster wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2024 3:13 pm I will come with at least one domain, my rewriting if Barovia. I have been stroke by a bad case of writer block but I'm fighting it.

Excellent!

---

Updated list:

Four Came to Melesku'ta (story) by Ian Fordam
Thaan Fallen (Bluetspur reimagined) by Ian Fordam
Arcane Age of Darkon (Matt Doyle)
Chibilofts and art!

and

Visual domain formation timelines by Matt Doyle (large PDF files, to be added to the site)

---

Who else has stuff coming?

Can we use AI-generated art? I am thinking of putting Eleni of Toyalis update (with references to Steve Miller and the Gaz) and I was wondering whether I can use AI generated art for her.

Speaking for myself, I'd prefer art made by humans. That way, we have proof that the art is submitted knowingly and voluntarily, and we don't have to worry about someone claiming copyright because a computer program scraped their work later.