Café de Nuit

I'm currently in the development stages of a new campaign I'm going to be running for a small group of Ravenloft players, and I am currently working on the opening setting for the campaign: Mordentshire. I am expanding the costal town to a small city (Pop. 5.600) and am altering alot of the geography while keeping it generally the same in shape (the bay is roughly half a mile across, there are 5 wharves, but Shore Lane and Heather House are still in the same places). Many of the old 'canon' sites will still be there (though possibly modified, mutated or moved) but I am having a hard time tracking down some of the information for them.

Currently I am working on the location of the Chapel of Pure Hearts (which in my campaign is called the Church of the Pure Heart) and it's 'official' history, just to see what I can incorporate or need to alter in my campaign. I can't seem to find any reference as to when the structure was built (sometime around 700 B.C.?) and whether Felix Wachter was responsible for getting it constructed (or any information on Wachter after his split from Borca). I looked through Gaz. III and found almost no useful historical info on the Mordentish sect of Ezra, but in Gaz. IV I found a fair amount from the Homefaith point of view. Unfortunately, while it gives the date of the First Schism, it doesn't mention the Mordentish sect after that at all. Anyone know what resources I should be looking at and/or the dates of Wachter's death and the construction of the Chapel?

I'm also looking for any info on Saulbridge Sanitarium (like layout, history, etc.) so any direction/information would be useful.

I'm sure that in the future I'll have more questions about Mordentshire, but this should suffice for the moment.

Thanks in advance,

BBG

Guess you should look at the House on Gryphon Hill, which is free and all on Wizards site. Also, I think one of the BoS has an article about psionics or dreams (can't be sure) and a certain Markus that was incarcerated in that Sanitarium. I don't know if by chance they could have a map there... I remember seeing it somewhere.

Ail

Ail wrote:Also, I think one of the BoS has an article about psionics or dreams (can't be sure) and a certain Markus that was incarcerated in that Sanitarium. I don't know if by chance they could have a map there... I remember seeing it somewhere.

Marcu Vasilis from the Forgotten Children. No map, but a general idea of the layout of the sanitarium.

Definately look at I10, the house on Gryphon Hill. It's ancient Mordentshire, but good for a start. In my campaign, I fleshed out the city a bit. Take a look at my adventure The Mordentshire Miser:

http://themistway.com/miser.html

At the bottom of the page is a map, expanded slightly from the one in I10, with a key. I put the Chapel near the coast, but not for any important reason that I recall.

And DEFINATELY check out the article Anchors of Faith in the Kargatane's Book of Secrets. Most of it made its way into canon 3e Ravenloft, but not all. (For example, you may be in for a surprise in the nature of Bastion Otrava).

Cool, thanks for the tips and direction. I knew I had seen something on the history of the Church of Ezra, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was or where I had seen it. Thanks for the heads up.

And is the Forgotten Children and House on Gryphon Hill the only places where Saulbridge Sanitarium is mentioned? I seem to recall there was something a bit more... 'substantial' about it. Hmm, maybe I'm just confusing it with something from Call of Cthulhu.

Speaking of which, for those who are interested, I am actually drawing a lot of my inspiration for 'my' Mordentshire from a couple of Call of Cthulhu sourcebooks from the Lovecraft Country line: Kingsport & Arkham. Granted, I'm tossing stuff that has to deal with 'ultimate cosmic horror' but I am finding more & more stuff that deals with more gothic elements of horror (legendary witch cults, forbidden books, forboding locales, grotesque characters and old family secrets/curses). For those DM's with a limit on time, I recommend them as sources to mine for ideas. One of the ideas that I think I'm going to take whole cloth is the Terrible Old Man. Definately a creepy NPC who is perfect for a costal community.

Now, new question:

Since the LG sect of the Church of Ezra has been in town for nearly 55 years, have they ever tried to exorcise or destroy the House on Gryphon Hill? I mean, having a brooding source of evil just sitting in their backyard and doing nothing about it seems like a strange thing to do for their sect. Anyone know if this is mentioned in any of the canon material, or has ever been answered by any of the authors on these (or other) boards?

BlackBoxGamer wrote:Now, new question:

Since the LG sect of the Church of Ezra has been in town for nearly 55 years, have they ever tried to exorcise or destroy the House on Gryphon Hill? I mean, having a brooding source of evil just sitting in their backyard and doing nothing about it seems like a strange thing to do for their sect. Anyone know if this is mentioned in any of the canon material, or has ever been answered by any of the authors on these (or other) boards?

While I can remember no canon info on it, I would assume that, over the course of those years, at least one priest of Ezra must have tried it, though I would doubt the institution as a whole would.

Something to keep in mind: most of the Prestige classes for the CHurch of Ezra have "Evil Dead" hindrances, so their undead turning does not increase as they go up in level. Which is not to say all clerics of ezra opt for prestige classes, but the important ones seem to.

So, I would assume that, while interested in the house, they may have had very little success investigating it.

gonzoron wrote:And DEFINATELY check out the article Anchors of Faith in the Kargatane's Book of Secrets. Most of it made its way into canon 3e Ravenloft, but not all. (For example, you may be in for a surprise in the nature of Bastion Otrava).

Holy religous secrets, batman! I'm just reading that article and boy does it contain great material!!!

I really have to tackle reading all those netbooks completely once. If only there weren't so many of them...

BlackBoxGamer wrote:Since the LG sect of the Church of Ezra has been in town for nearly 55 years, have they ever tried to exorcise or destroy the House on Gryphon Hill? I mean, having a brooding source of evil just sitting in their backyard and doing nothing about it seems like a strange thing to do for their sect. Anyone know if this is mentioned in any of the canon material, or has ever been answered by any of the authors on these (or other) boards?

My general feeling about the Mordentish is that they believe A) yes, the House on Gryphon Hill is a truly malevolent place, but B) it isn't going anywhere.

In other words, in accordance with general Mordentish beliefs, they think that as long as they leave it alone, it'll leave them alone. If they go and muck around with it, however, they may track it into their homes.

Mangrum wrote:

BlackBoxGamer wrote:Since the LG sect of the Church of Ezra has been in town for nearly 55 years, have they ever tried to exorcise or destroy the House on Gryphon Hill? I mean, having a brooding source of evil just sitting in their backyard and doing nothing about it seems like a strange thing to do for their sect. Anyone know if this is mentioned in any of the canon material, or has ever been answered by any of the authors on these (or other) boards?

My general feeling about the Mordentish is that they believe A) yes, the House on Gryphon Hill is a truly malevolent place, but B) it isn't going anywhere.

In other words, in accordance with general Mordentish beliefs, they think that as long as they leave it alone, it'll leave them alone. If they go and muck around with it, however, they may track it into their homes.

For some reason, I am now reminded of what happened at the end of Stephen King's "The Mangler."

Or maybe Godefroy coerced whoever the Ezrans sent to check the place out into claiming that there truly wasn't anything there worth the Church's attention. Keeping loved ones' ghosts hostage isn't a tactic he concocted just for Jules Weathermay, after all: he's had generations of time in which to exercise such extortion. Given a choice between kicking up a war with an overwhelmingly-powerful ghost who's holding your sainted mother (or whoever) captive in death, or fibbing to your Church superior that you'd found no sign that Gryphon Hill's reputation is any less a load of hokum than that of any other dusty ol' wreck of a mansion, which would you choose?

My general feeling about the Mordentish is that they believe A) yes, the House on Gryphon Hill is a truly malevolent place, but B) it isn't going anywhere.

In other words, in accordance with general Mordentish beliefs, they think that as long as they leave it alone, it'll leave them alone. If they go and muck around with it, however, they may track it into their homes.

Hmm, it's a good idea to have that as the general Mordentish belief, but since the Ezran sect originally came from Borca I'm curious why they didn't do something more. I can clearly see that the motivations you ascribe them applies now, after 50+ years have passed and they have more fully integrated themselves into Mordentish culture (along with drawing the majority of new members from the surrounding locales), but in the burgeoning heyday why wouldn't they have tried to rid the townsfolk of the menace of Gryphon Manor as an act of good will? Something to enhance their reputation or to draw converts.

On a related note, do people see the Mordentish sect of Ezra to be a proactive or reactive force for good?

Or maybe Godefroy coerced whoever the Ezrans sent to check the place out into claiming that there truly wasn't anything there worth the Church's attention. Keeping loved ones' ghosts hostage isn't a tactic he concocted just for Jules Weathermay, after all: he's had generations of time in which to exercise such extortion. Given a choice between kicking up a war with an overwhelmingly-powerful ghost who's holding your sainted mother (or whoever) captive in death, or fibbing to your Church superior that you'd found no sign that Gryphon Hill's reputation is any less a load of hokum than that of any other dusty ol' wreck of a mansion, which would you choose?

I've been considering Godefroy, his ghostly slaves and what role they may have had for stopping or distracting the Ezrans from coming after Gyphon Manor. He reminds me of a spider in its web, spinning grand, but subtle plots whose only purpose is to satisfy his ego or ensure his safety. He uses his ghostly minions to spy, sabotage, manipulate or threaten his opponents (whether percieved or real) and has probably had a hand in ensuring the church had a difficult time moving into Mordentshire.

As for directly threatening an Ezran's loved one in order to ensure their complicity, I don't see it happening. Godefroy is a fairly canny opponent, and threatening a cleric's loved one doesn't seem like it would be the first trick or tactic he would use. Granted, it was an effective tactic against Daniel Foxgrove, but I think that might have had more to do with Daniel's deep love for his wife. Godefroy, being a noble & a manipulator, had probably spent years spying upon Daniel (a person who represented a potentially serious threat as the mayor of the local town) and probably grew to know just how he could manipulate the man to do his bidding.

But I digress.

I see Godefroy using more subtle (and less obvious) tactics against the Ezrans. Things like:
-A spooked horse who accidentially kills the foreman working on the chapel.
-Timber for the chapel that mysteriously rots overnight (care of corrupting touch).
-Financiers who find that the sums of money they had tallied correctly the past evening are now mysteriously short (care of malevolence).
-A mayor who finds the use of church lands to be inappropriate or unreasonable, or who demands that certain local obscure laws or traditions be upheld in the construction of their chapel.
-Craftsmen who find their tools misplaced whenever they start a project for the Ezrans (care of malevolance or telekinesis).
-Foodstuffs and stores for the clergy that spoil quickly or that have hidden rot.
-Random accidents against new Mordentish acolytes that cause gossip or fear in the local populace.

These are things I see Godefroy doing before he starts resorting to heavy-handed tactics like threatening loved ones. Not that it isn't a perfectly viable tool, but I don't think it would be his first trick.

But let me ask a new question.

In Van Richten's Aresenal, under Lord Balfour de Casteelle's Background, it mentions several universities, including the University of Mordent. Anyone know where this place is supposed to be located? I can't find any reference to it outside of this little blurb, so I'm wondering if it has been covered in any other source material, and if so, where?

Additionally, if it turns out that there is no 'official' location for this, I'd like to hear where other Ravenloft DM's would place it and why.

Thanks Again,

BBG

I don't recall any other references to it, but a web search turns up a discussion on the RL mailing list from 2001, where "Alanik Ray" listed a bunch of universities. (Is he around here? perhaps under a different handle?) This pre-dates VRA, so it must be mentioned somewhere. With kargatane catalogue down, I don't know where. He said it was in M'shire, but I don't know where that info came from.

I beliieve One ot the 2nd editon Ravenloft products mention the university. Maybe it was one of the Van Richten guides. I was surprised they didn't mention the univeristy in the gazatteer 3.

Heh. Considering how small Mordentshire is generally portrayed as, and how nearby domains' residents consider it a bit of a one-horse town, I'm sorely tempted to give its University a reputation (deserved or not) as the equivalent of a "mail-order diploma-mill" college IRL! It can be one of the places where the Core's intelligentsia sends its loser kids, when they've managed to flunk out and/or get themselves expelled from all the A-list institutions. That's just what the Lamplighters need, to pester them and distract from their real duties: a bunch of highborn delinquents and failures, sulking in the pubs and provoking locals' ire by gawking at their daughters.