Café de Nuit

Since I just lost the hour long previous post that I was writing, I'm going to break this into numerous posts with different questions.

1) What resource covers the towns of Rien and Della Mirandola? Both of these are mentioned on the Gryphon Hill map of Richemulot. I've checked as many of the listed resources as I could find, but don't have access to <u>Scholar of Decay</u> nor to that Dungeon Magazine #64. If someone could clear that up, I'd be quite appreciative.

2) For any DMs who have run a campaign or even a few adventures in Richemulot, what size have you used for the domain? I know that the Ravenloft maps are, nowadays, left without mile markers so that individual DMs may make the Core as large or as small as they desire. Originally, using the distance marker for the map in the Red Box set, it was a mere 13 miles between Pont-a-Museau and Ste. Ronges, so about a half-day's ride between the two largest cities in all of Richemulot. Since this would very much exacerbate the already existing problems of food development for Richemulot (mentioned in Gaz3 as Lady Renier is working to get more people to go into farming to make Richemulot more self-sufficient), I'd imagine that a working domain size would need to be a bit larger than that. What sizes have other people used and how well/poorly did that work? Did it turn out to be too large or too small compared to what you chose?

3) Why didn't Falkovnia go to war against Richemulot after Claude Renier was murdered and power switched to Jacqueline?

In Gazetteer 2, in the History section for Falkovnia (page 94), Falkovnia instigates two wars against Richemulot, the Borderlands War of 716 and the Executioner's Campaign of 724. Both of these are when Claude Renier was still darklord.

In 726, Jacqueline Renier becomes darklord and temporal ruler of Richemulot when Claude Renier dies. However, even though Drakov has a notoriously horrible view of women, and when regarding Lady Renier herself, Gaz2 page 103 says, "Drakov regards ... Jacqueline Renier as weak, due to her gender," and even though Richemulot would have been in a weakened state due to the changing of temporal rulers, Drakov doesn't take advantage of this and invade, which would seem like it'd be when Richemulot would be at its weakest.

In 727 Drakov instigates the Gold Claw Massacre against Dorvinia, so obviously Drakov had the resources for starting another war and could have directed that at Richemulot instead of Dorvinia and would have had a greater chance of success.

In 729, Richemulot signs the Treaty of Four Towers, thus negating any opportunity that Drakov had for starting a war. However, he had previously had 3 years with which to make an attempt and completely blew it when Richemulot was at its weakest.

Does anyone have any idea why this may have been? Also, does anyone have an idea why Gaz3's section of Richemulot completely leaves out the two wars with Falkovnia? The History sections for Dementlieu, Darkon, and Borca all mention the wars with Falkovnia. Only Richemulot and Lamordia do not, although Lamordia's section specifically talks about how poor the keeping of history is there, as if the people don't care. Richemulot's History section not only does not mention the two wars mentioned in Falkovnia's History section, but instead goes further, with S writing on page 88 "Richemulot has never gone to war with a neighboring realm." What?!? Did S forget her own research of just 6 months prior?

The idea is that Drakov could very easily kick the snot out of Richmelot, along with Lamordia, Borca, Mordent, and possibly even Dementlieu (although it would be a stretch due to the advanced technology). The reason why he never does this is because he has too much pride to.

Drakov sees all of those areas as pointless to invade. He wants to prove himself by meeting his 'equal' challenge, which he believes is Darkon. He knows that he could whipe them out, but he doesn't out of sheer arrogence.

If anywhere other than Darkon is going to be invaded by Falkovnia, its Borca. There are several reasons for this:

- Gaz IV strongly hints that it 'would' be crushed in a war. This has been supported by writers on the forum.
- However Drakov sees Ivan as a fop, Ivan is pushing is hand way too far. Eventually, Ivan is probably going to pull the dragon by the tail, and cause Drakov to invade Borca as a retaliation trying to doop him. Drakov's pride is saving Borca, however if Ivan were to dare imply that he was better than Drakov by fooling him, that same pride would be the end of that peace.
- Ivan has already threatened Malocchio, despite the fact that Ivan does not have the man power to actually hurt him. Thus, he has made enemies with one of Drakov's allies.

However not actually directly stated, these conclusions are strongly suggested when reading the canon material. On this note, I've also had a bit more speculation on this, but keep in mind that its merely that: personal speculation.

- An invasion of Borca would cripple the already shaking stability of the Ezran faith. Currently, many of the LE anchorites in Darkon are preparing for War. Theodorus Raines has a 'fire and brime stone' methodology that is giving this sect a lot of momentum. In the mean time, a secret army is being developed underneath the main church of the LG sect of Ezra in Mordent. The invasion of Borca, and the destruction of the 'equalizer' LN sect of the faith may be a factor causing the much anticipated religious war between the sects of Ezra.
- Many theorize that the Time of Unparralleled Darkness is the 'End' of Ravenloft. Recall the night when Ravenloft was created. It was a Dilisnia (sp?) that betrayed Strahd, and therefore acted as the final push that was needed to turn him into the form he is today. The realm and Strahd's decsent weren't directly caused by the Dillisnia betrayal, but the Betrayal worked much like a catalyst. For Ivan, a Dilisnia, to betray the other realms and then become killed for it, would give sort of a poetic justice to the ending of RL.

But in the end, its what ever you choose. An invasion of Richmelot fight give sort of a 'french resistance' feel to the upcoming war.

BTW, cool name. I always knew there was something evil about those Cyclic Hydrocarbons!

Wow, I hadn't even gotten to my fourth question, which was going to be about the War of the Western Core yet, so you brought up a lot of things I was going to mention, Undead Cabbage.

Mostly, however, how do you feel that Richemulot will come into this war? Honestly, I do believe (as you mentioned above and apparently has been confirmed by Kargatane) that Borca will be the original one invaded. However, I think it'll be a touch worse than just an invasion of Borca.

My belief is that Borca will be invaded from both Falkovnia and Invidia (from the Falkovnian troops there), which is obvious and said directly in Gaz4. Dementlieu, as a member of the Treaty of Four Towers, will send troops to assist in the War in Borca. This leaves Dementlieu unprotected (since their military is crap). Falkovnia will, I believe, open a second front, then invading Dementlieu (re: Gaz2, page 103, Drakov's <i>"inner circle of generals is making plans for Dementlieu to demonstrate the folly of the Treaty."</i>). This may happen *after* what I say in the next paragraph, however. Also, the simultaneous invasion of Dementlieu may occur due to Josephine Chantreaux attempting to invade Falkovnia directly due to Falkovnian agression of Borca, thus making Dementlieu even weaker by splitting their troops half-and-half (half direct assault, half sent to protect Borca).

Anyway, meanwhile the Dementlieuse troops heading for Borca will find themselves trapped in Richemulot, unable to return to protect their homeland nor progress to Borca to help against the invasion, as Jacqueline Renier breaks the Treaty of Four Towers and slaughters the Dementlieuse troops present within her borders. This is re: Gaz3, page 101, from the sections on Falkovnia and Dementlieu. From the Falkovnia section, <i>"Jacqueline is most interested in forging future alliances and enhancing Richemulot's prestige. Perhaps she knows something her fellow rulers do not. Regardless, she seems suprisingly comfortable approaching Drakov and his minions for diplomatic purposes."</i> From the Dementlieu section, <i>"One anonymous noble suggested to me that Dementlieu would be just as potent a cultural lodestone if it were a Richemuloise possession."</i> As such, I believe that Jacqueline Renier may be willing to break the Treaty of Four Towers and betray Dementlieu, assisting Falkovnia by preventing outside troops that may interfere in the War in Borca, and in return Richemulot gains control of Dementlieu after the war ends. I believe that this betrayal is actually what the talks between Drakov and Renier are, anyway.

However, what I can't figure is what Mordent and Barovia would be doing at this point... Mordent would be lost as the Treaty breaks, especially if the timing for the Invasion of Borca was timed for the death of Lord Jules Weathermay (and it could be set to follow the *assassination* of Lord Weathermay). Barovia would want no part, as Strahd is not likely to help out the Dilisnyas. Besides, the movement of Falkovnian troops from Invidia will upset the current balance of the Gundarakite Revolution sufficiently that Barovia may be pulled into war with Invidia anyway.

But what is your opinion on the above? Do you believe that Richemulot may betray the others and help Falkovnia show the folly of the Treaty of Four Towers? How do you see things going?

Remember that all of this is personal speculation from what I've read in teh gazetteers.

There is no question in my mind whether Jacqueline would be the first out of the four to betray the treaty. She is herself a notorious traitor. However, I somehow see a different end for Dementlieu.

Dementlieu is on the brink of a revolution, which is even mentioned in the 'parting thoughts' by S. Helena is playing sides with both the Brain and with Dominic. Now normally Dominic is pro star at controlling his situation. But remember, Dominic has a weakness, and that weakness is women. As Dominic's affections for Helena increase, her repulsion towards him will increase as well, thus swaying her decision towards the brain. But in the mean time, Dominic is likely going to leave himself vulnerable to this woman. Once again, this is a matter of poetic justice, this time towards Dominic. The brain, and perhaps the Brotherhood of Assassin (conveniently also commanded by a women) will likely start a revolution once Dominic has been exposed. Josephine, who controls both a military and a paramilitary force, would likely try and take part in this revolution, so as to unite Dementlieu in order to invade falkovnia. Dominic is ousted by the very thing he wanted the most: women.

This revolution in Dementlieu would make the treaty of the four towers very unstable, as Dementlieu is arguably the strongest of the four. Should Drakov recieve information from Renier that she would not uphold this treaty, should either Mordent or Borca be attacked, there is even less protecting Borca. Then Ivan goes to far, thus causing Borca to be crushed.

Undead Cabbage wrote:Remember that all of this is personal speculation from what I've read in teh gazetteers.

That's what mine is as well. But the more ideas that are present, the more cool of a story may be constructed. Which I think is one of the reasons why the Kargat and the Kargatane used to lurk around the old Ravenloft Mailing List. (I really regret having left the world of Ravenloft so long ago... Or at least regret having not come back sooner...)

Before covering the stuff on the potential revolution in Dementlieu, though, do you think the revolution (inspired by The Brain) will likely occur first, or do you think the Falkovnian invasion of Borca will occur first? As both look like they'll take a while to simmer to boiling, I don't know which is likely myself...

Undead Cabbage wrote:The brain, and perhaps the Brotherhood of Assassin (conveniently also commanded by a women) will likely start a revolution once Dominic has been exposed.

I'm afraid I don't follow that point, so could you clarify? What is it that he would be exposed as? As the true power behind the throne? Many people already suspect that. As a Darklord? Outside of perhaps a few Fraternity of Shadows members working at the University of Dementlieu, nobody knows what that even means. I can really think of anything that he really has as secrets except for dominating people's minds and making them Obedients, and nobody's going to believe that. [Paragraph editted as it sounded way too negative when I looked over it]

Your overall point, however, that the Revolution will cause problems and make the potential War of the Western Core more interesting, is definitely true. As to whether d'Honaire falling to a woman is particularly poetic, I can't really agree (Drakov falling to a woman would be poetic, however). To make it a more interesting gothic tale (to me at least), it has to be d'Honaire's *sins* that catch up with him, not his loves. Since he controls other people's minds and uses them like toys, it'd be more of a poetic revenge for him to be manipulated the same way, especially if he didn't realize that it was happening to him (like Helena leading him around by the ... uh, part of a male's anatomy, especially as her opinion of him will be as bad as d'Honaire's opinion of his Obedients). But perhaps that's just my opinion.

And yes, I hadn't much thought about the effect of the Revolution on the potential War of the Western Core. If the Revolution occurs first, Dementlieu is too weak from the internal conflicts to even really be able to take part in protecting any of the other members (if invaded themselves, however, the people would unify against the outside threat, but they wouldn't do the same for another country/domain). But I could also see the Revolution happening *after* the War, provided Dementlieu survives it, as the common people come back from a harrowing campaign and are expected (by the self-same nobles who didn't fight in the war themselves) to continue to be abused in the factories of Dementlieu. I could easily see the Brain starting the Revolution right then and there with next to no effort at all.

Undead Cabbage wrote:This revolution in Dementlieu would make the treaty of the four towers very unstable, as Dementlieu is arguably the strongest of the four.

(shrugs) I generally see Dementlieu as the *weakest* of the Four, but I suppose that's just personal opinion on my part. Since their economy is heavily based on tourism, it seems like it's horrendously precarious to me.

Lord Cyclohexane wrote:Also, does anyone have an idea why Gaz3's section of Richemulot completely leaves out the two wars with Falkovnia?

If you care to reconcile this gaffe, you could easily rule that it's the wererats who were actually responsible for stopping the Falkovnian invaders, without the human populace getting directly involved. Human historians on the Richemulouise side of the border would've documented these "invasions" as nothing more than petty raids that got nowhere -- hence, their official records' claim that Richemulot's "never" gone to war against another nation -- as the lycanthropes surely would've killed human witnesses to the actual battle (and thus, to the defenders' powers and resistance to steel weapons), but any wererat historians in the domain would know the truth of the matter.

You could also reconcile the gaffe by reading it as Richemulot has never invaded anyone else. "Going to war" does imply leaving the country, rather than fighting to defend your home turf.

As for the original question of why Drakov didn't take the opportunity of striking Richemulot during the change in power, it's a good question. But you could explain it by saying that Drakov is too single minded to change plans as an opportunity arises. With only a year left before his attack on Dorvinia, he was surely already making plans, moving troops, preparing strategy, etc. With Richmulot being claimed by a woman, he would assume he could mop them up later, after executing the plans in place for Dorvinia.

I too see Dementlieu as the strongest of the four. It's the only one having anything resembling a real centralized government and infrastructure. Plus, it has guns and lots of them.

s to whether d'Honaire falling to a woman is particularly poetic, I can't really agree (Drakov falling to a woman would be poetic, however).

Of course, this just happens to coincide more with my personal opinion of Dark lords. I somehow forsee each of them recieving what they want in the end, although what they get is instead yet another twisted version of their desire. Dominic wants the attention of women.

To make it a more interesting gothic tale (to me at least), it has to be d'Honaire's *sins* that catch up with him, not his loves.

Putting aside the arguement that his loves and his sins aren't really that far apart, this is actually what I was going for. Considering the nature of both the brotherhood of assasins and the brain, Dominic would probably be ruined politically before anything else.

The Dark Powers use the wants and needs of Dark Lords against them. On that note, how fitting would it be for Dominic to be politically ruined by 3 women, one of which he desires? Of course, this is just my personal take on RL.

Also, on the note of Richmelot's future, consider the final dread possibility in the third Gaz. An army of Wererats would be a might force indeed.

gonzoron wrote:As for the original question of why Drakov didn't take the opportunity of striking Richemulot during the change in power, it's a good question. But you could explain it by saying that Drakov is too single minded to change plans as an opportunity arises. With only a year left before his attack on Dorvinia, he was surely already making plans, moving troops, preparing strategy, etc. With Richmulot being claimed by a woman, he would assume he could mop them up later, after executing the plans in place for Dorvinia.

Sounds quite fitting, seeing as that matches Drakov's nature. Or also, as came up in a conversation elsewhere, since Drakov's curse is to never be able to win a battle ever again, I wondered to someone else if Drakov's curse could be so severe that he never even <i>saw the opportunity</i>, that his curse caused him to be blinded to Richemulot's weakness as victory would almost be assured if he'd invaded then.

Undead Cabbage wrote:Also, on the note of Richmelot's future, consider the final dread possibility in the third Gaz. An army of Wererats would be a might force indeed.

Yeah, think of how *nasty* that would be if Jacqueline was fighting a war <i>in Richemulot</i>. The invaders would enter Richemulot, find that the domain's borders close behind them, be felled by the closed domain borders (made up of normal rats, but ones capable of transmitting lycanthropy), and become an infected wererat. As more and more of them change, Lady Renier (who is basically viewed like a god by her lycanthropic brethren) can then come out and get them to stop fighting altogether. Then, she can use the new pawns however she'd like...

Or, anyway, the main idea is that if you put the Becoming Plague on to the rats making up the closed domain border... Well, things could get quite nasty quite quickly.

I think Drakov is too concerned with invading Azalin and Darkon.
Storm