2Q: Invidia and the Books of S-

[Bloody Morgan]

Two unrelated questions for you peeps.

The first one if looking for an opinion. I've be re-reading Gaz I and III with an eye towards Gundarak, and running a game set during it's fall and conquest. While I clearly see how Strahd moved his forces into the two main cities of the Domain, I don't really get a good feel for how the assault went from an Invidian viewpoint. As there aren't really any large towns in the Invidian side of Gundarak, it would have required the Invidian soldiers taking over much smaller villages and so forth. Which is fine, on it's own, but it makes it very hard to explain how the Gundarakite rebels ever accepted Gabrielle Aderre into their numbers, let alone as their leader. I can understand how she could Charm a few of the leaders, but the general populace would know her as the rulers who laid siege to their land - not even Gabrille could twist the minds of the entire movement. As I plan for my PCs to be amongst the rebels, how can I allow this without serious conflict? Not that conflict is bad, but it's stretching plausability here.

I'm tempted to say that Gabrille "volunteered" troops to "defend" the villages when Barovia made the first move, and the garrisons only became domineering when Mallochio took over. Can anyone think of a better way?


Second point.

I just re-downloaded the various Books of S- from the Kargatane site, and am having some problems with the fonts. Some, like the Book of Secrets, are fine, and look suitably creepy. Others, like The Forgotten Children are in a plainly unintended Arial the whole way through. I know that this is because I don't have the right font, but I'm surprised that they're not all uniform. Does anyone know what fonts were used in their creation?

Thanks in advance,

Bloody Morgan

[Joël of the FoS]

Two unrelated questions for you peeps.

The first one if looking for an opinion. I've be re-reading Gaz I and III with an eye towards Gundarak, and running a game set during it's fall and conquest. While I clearly see how Strahd moved his forces into the two main cities of the Domain, I don't really get a good feel for how the assault went from an Invidian viewpoint. As there aren't really any large towns in the Invidian side of Gundarak, it would have required the Invidian soldiers taking over much smaller villages and so forth. Which is fine, on it's own, but it makes it very hard to explain how the Gundarakite rebels ever accepted Gabrielle Aderre into their numbers, let alone as their leader. I can understand how she could Charm a few of the leaders, but the general populace would know her as the rulers who laid siege to their land - not even Gabrille could twist the minds of the entire movement. As I plan for my PCs to be amongst the rebels, how can I allow this without serious conflict? Not that conflict is bad, but it's stretching plausability here.

I'm tempted to say that Gabrille "volunteered" troops to "defend" the villages when Barovia made the first move, and the garrisons only became domineering when Mallochio took over. Can anyone think of a better way?

Well, the invasion from Barovia in 740 was painless for Invidia, since it stopped where Invidia began. Important point: Gundarak was split between Barovia and Invidia. Strahd invaded his part in 740 to tame the populace (where most big cities of ex Gundarak were located), but Gabrielle inherited a mostly wild area (around Hunadora).

IMHO, Gabrielle never had to send any troops to defend her border or conquer the area as Strahd did. Strahd most probably stopped the invasion progression when he felt the new domain limits of ex-Gundarak-now-Barovia and ex-Gundarak-now-Invidia.

It remained a wild area untl she had to retreat from Karina after the Evil Eye events (in 747).

There, in the following years, indeed, Gabrielle charmed Ardonk, the rebel leader, when the rebels needed a safe haven from oppressed ex-Gundarak-now-Barovia. But the Gaz makes it clear that many rebels say the witch charmed him and are not that happy with it.

She charmed Ardonk to get eventual soldiers for her own cause against her son Malloccio.

Second point.

I just re-downloaded the various Books of S- from the Kargatane site, and am having some problems with the fonts. Some, like the Book of Secrets, are fine, and look suitably creepy. Others, like The Forgotten Children are in a plainly unintended Arial the whole way through. I know that this is because I don't have the right font, but I'm surprised that they're not all uniform. Does anyone know what fonts were used in their creation?

Thanks in advance,

Bloody Morgan

Have you tried downloading the USS fonts (in the wine cellar area of this site), many are similar and would probably work.

Otherwise, even if it showing arial, the font "window" of Word probaly names the font, even if it can't show it.

Regards,

Joël

[Bloody Morgan]

Well, the invasion from Barovia in 740 was painless for Invidia, since it stopped where Invidia began. Important point: Gundarak was split between Barovia and Invidia. Strahd invaded his part in 740 to tame the populace (where most big cities of ex Gundarak were located), but Gabrielle inherited a mostly wild area (around Hunadora).

IMHO, Gabrielle never had to send any troops to defend her border or conquer the area as Strahd did. Strahd most probably stopped the invasion progression when he felt the new domain limits of ex-Gundarak-now-Barovia and ex-Gundarak-now-Invidia.

It remained a wild area untl she had to retreat from Karina after the Evil Eye events (in 747).

There, in the following years, indeed, Gabrielle charmed Ardonk, the rebel leader, when the rebels needed a safe haven from oppressed ex-Gundarak-now-Barovia. But the Gaz makes it clear that many rebels say the witch charmed him and are not that happy with it.

She charmed Ardonk to get eventual soldiers for her own cause against her son Malloccio.

Thanks for the reply

You've kind of misunderstood me though. I know that the Barovian invasion didn't touch Invidia, and that the land was mystically divided between Strahd and Gabrielle. But what happened for a Gundarakites living in what was now (mystically) Invidia? They wouldn't just "know" that they were part of a new Domain. Nor would any map-makers know that half of Gundarak was now part of Invidia, unless there was some issue or show of force on behalf of that country. As far as the general populace would be concerned, most of Gundarak would have been annexed, with a small portion remaining free. It wouldn't have been until the Evil Eye that Western Gundarak it became regarded as being part of Invidia. So rather than having the Domain lost following the Conjunction, you have several years where it is still politically existant, albeit in a small area with no major population centers. Which is not in itself a bad thing, but it is somewhat different to how the situation is described in the books.

Have you tried downloading the USS fonts (in the wine cellar area of this site), many are similar and would probably work.

Otherwise, even if it showing arial, the font "window" of Word probaly names the font, even if it can't show it.

I'll have a look at those fonts, thanks. But copying the text into Word just lists it as Ariel, which can't be right

Thanks again,
Bloody Morgan

[Joël of the FoS]

You've kind of misunderstood me though. I know that the Barovian invasion didn't touch Invidia, and that the land was mystically divided between Strahd and Gabrielle. But what happened for a Gundarakites living in what was now (mystically) Invidia?

OK, but a few Gundarakites lived in ex-Gundarak-now-Invidia. Normal people tried to live as far as they could from Hunadora and their wicked leaders, I guess.

For those, indeed, they were free, and would explain it this way: "those Barovians didn't come this far".

Remember that domain borders is a concept for DMs and darkords. The farmer living nearby coudn't care less and would not know where it stops and where it begins.

In most people's mind, there is surely a grey area between Invidia and Barovia, as they have no interest or precise maps, or signs to say "you just crossed the frontier of Barovia".

Like when you ask people to tell you the frontiers of an urban neighbourhood, it can vary a lot between people, but will always have a core at the middle where everybody agrees upon.

Gabrielle would know her domain would now get up to there, but she'd be the only one to know, with a few well-traveled adventurers able to see the signs.

Like the western frontier between Invidia and "the forest of Verbrek" - most in the populace couldn't say where it precisely begins.

So, you say

As far as the general populace would be concerned, most of Gundarak would have been annexed, with a small portion remaining free. It wouldn't have been until the Evil Eye that Western Gundarak it became regarded as being part of Invidia.

and it seems reasonable to me.

This part of Invidia was probably a wild area, with abandoned Hunadora in the middle, where people traveled in order to go to Barovia, Borca or Invidia. A few gundarakites here and there, and possibly already a few wolfwere already roaming the area.

Joël

[FavouredEnemy]

I'm starting my own campaign in Invidia shortly. Next monday, to be precise. As such, I've read Gaz IV fairly recently.

So far as I can tell, when Duke Gundar was killed, the whole of Gundarak thought that the Barovians would invade and take the entire country. The Invidians moved in some troops into the wild area around Castle Hunadora, but never had the troops to defend it should the Barovian army come along to take it. The Gundarakites presumably thought that it was better to say they were under Invidian control and use their armies for some small amount of protection, but the Barovian armies never came to that part. Whether it was because Strahd felt the domain borders, or the domain borders were set by his no longer advancing isn't something I've really thought about, though...

Perhaps have it that the army ceased to advance because mists rose to stop them (outside of Strahd controlling domain borders?).

So anyway, the Gundarakites in Invidia decided that they were better off where they were, since as in Invidia no one really cared about them, they could at least use the area as a place to help other Gundarakites from. It's only when Malocchio came along and started buggering everything up that Invidia was a problem.

Still, if you're playing this from the rebels point of view, it might be fun to try and goad Invidia and Barovia into full on conflict, what with the Invidian troops crossing borders to attack Vistani.

[Joël of the FoS]

Whether it was because Strahd felt the domain borders, or the domain borders were set by his no longer advancing isn't something I've really thought about, though...

Perhaps have it that the army ceased to advance because mists rose to stop them (outside of Strahd controlling domain borders?).

That would be a fine false-history, by the way.

The way it happened is that Strahd felt his domain getting larger when Gundar was killed and his domain splitted. A few years after Gundar's assassination, he decided to invade them to tame the populace, control and tax them.

He knew precisely where to stop sending troops.

Joël

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Remember that Gabrielle was never as openly pushy about ruling Invidia as most of the rulers in the region. Compared to Strahd, Bakholis, and Gundar, she *seemed* like a pussycat: yes, she did command troops, but between her charm-powers and her beauty, she successfully pulled off the deception that she was more of a liberator than tyrant, just tough enough to defend her people. (The fact she could readily engineer the death-by-infighting of potential rivals, rather than putting ambitious locals down with a reign of terror, didn't hurt either....)

To the western Gudarakites, allowing Gabrielle to annex their lands -- on paper, or so they'd likely assumed -- would have seemed like a far better alternative to letting Strahd rampage unchallenged across their entire country. The fact she's a woman would have been a bonus: compared to Gundar's past policies (financial penalties to families with daughters, with those who couldn't pay forfeiting their girls to the Duke's bloodthirst), the notion of a leader who *wouldn't* steal their daughters away would have been immensely appealing. Indeed, if Malocchio hadn't usurped control of Invidia's government, the Gundarakites would probably have been glad of the change; Gabby's violence-inducing magics might even have gone completely unnoticed, in light of the expected unrest as local authorities re-organized themselves after tyrannical Gundar's passing.

So it's actually quite believable that the populace at large would picture Gabrielle as a natural leader for their resistance to Malocchio, despite her non-Gundarakite origins and blood relationship to their new tyrant. Many Gundarakite peasants probably expect her to *marry* Ardonk and found a new ruling family, if and when they succeed in ousting Malocchio from Invidia's throne, or in seceding from Invidia as a reborn, independent Gundarak.