Ghastria
| Ghastria | |
|---|---|
| Culture Level |  Chivalric (8)[1]
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| Ecology | Full[1]
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| Climate & Terrain | Temperate forests, hills, and plains[1]
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| Year Formed | 584 BC[2]
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| Population | 2,900[1]
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| Races (%) | Humans, Kenders (thought to be elves, refugees from Sithicus)[3], Elves, Half-elves (mostly of Sithican descent)[4]
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| Languages | Mordentish[1]
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| Religions | There was once a church of an unspecified religion in East Riding, but it was razed to the ground.[5] |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Ruler(s) | Marquis Stezen D'Polarno[6][5] |
| Darklord(s) | Marquis Stezen D'Polarno[7][5] |
| Nationality | Ghastrian |
| Analog | Dorian Gray/Marquis de Sade |
| Related Categories | |
| Locations in Ghastria | |
| Transportation in Ghastria | |
| Inhabitants of Ghastria | |
| Former Inhabitants of Ghastria | |
| Flora of Ghastria | |
| Fauna of Ghastria | |
| Native Monsters of Ghastria | |
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Ghastria is an island domain ruled by a darklord who is a pastiche of Dorian Gray (see: The Picture of Dorian Gray) with some inspiration from the Marquis De Sade. Ghastria is infested with ghasts, ghouls and carrion crawlers.[6] Although the land is lush with greenery and bountiful harvests, no food produced here has any flavor whatsoever.[5][8] The domain is the Core's leading producer of umbral gray, an element used in paintings to add a smoky, misty effect but which is also a lethal poison. The darklord has discovered that by mixing carrion crawler venom with umbral gray, one eliminates the latter's strong flavour, making it much more useful as a poison.[9]
Marquis Stezen D'Polarno is the darklord[7] and ruler of the island.[6] His curse is that that he cannot feel any form of emotion (this has the physical effect of leaving him a dull gray in colour) unless he has recently sucked the life out of others by showing them his self-portrait. He always plans great things for the time when he regains his emotions, but he lacks the discipline to follow through on them, never getting anything accomplished.[5]
Ghastria was at one time a small land in the Core bordering the western edge of Sithicus,[7] but by 750 BC it had become an island floating in the Sea of Sorrows.[10]
Ghastria was a domain in the second edition of Ravenloft, and has only been mentioned in 3rd Edition sources as as island in the Sea of Sorrows. Ghastria first appeared in the 2-round RPGA tournament "Dance of the Dead" written by James Lowder and Bruce Nesmith.
Chronology
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This section contains netbook-canon info from netbooks |
- 584 BC The Pasques Massacre. Ghastria forms as a Island of Terror.[11] (Note that this differs from canon, in which Ghastria was a domain in the Core)
- 591 BC - Marquis d'Polarno razes the Church of East Riding.[11]
- 736 BC - Adventurers steal the Portrait of Marquis Stezen d'Polarno and eventually give it the Vistani. The adventurers' description of their encounter with d'Polarno causes civil unrest.[12]
- 737 BC - Early Year The portrait is recovered by mercenaries, but the Marquis betrays his benefactors. The mercenaries put Marquis Manor to the torch. The fire of the manor incites the Ghastrian Peasant Rebellion. d'Polarno is critically wounded and seemingly killed. Thus ends the reign of "d'Polarno I".[12]
- 740 BC - The Grand Conjunction causes the mistway between Sithicus and Ghastria to vanish. Previously traveling abroad, Baron Camar D’Marosso cannot return home in Ghastria[13] whereas a number of Sithican elves and half-elves are trapped in Ghastria.[4]
- The Devoratrix known as Roe enters the Demiplane in East Riding.
- 741 BC - After several years of hiding, d'Polarno reemerges in the guise of his son, d'Polarno II. Thus begins the reign of d'Polarno II.[12]
- 742 BC - Fall The Dark Powers, pleased with d'Polarno's grand deception, bring Ghastria into the Core as an island in the Sea of Sorrows.[12]
- 751 BC - The Polonists organize.[11]
- 755 BC - Ezrite missionaries land in Ghastria, and the Church of Ezra establishes a foothold there.[14]
- 760 BC - d'Polarno reinvents himself as d'Polarno III, his supposed grandson, and begins his third reign.[12]
- Scarred and afraid for her life, Roe returns to Ghastria. She establishes a lair under the ruins of the church in East Riding and desecrates it in the name of Shar.
- 762 BC The Fraternity of Shadows move through Ghastria in the hunt for the traitor Professor Erik van Rijn[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Quoth the Raven Issue 20, p.7
- ↑ Book of Souls p.54
- ↑ Book of Souls p.57
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Quoth the Raven Issue 20 p. 22
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Darklords p.77
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Darklords p.79
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Darklords p.74
- ↑ Domains of Dread p.73
- ↑ Book of Souls p.58
- ↑ Domains of Dread p.74-75
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Quoth the Raven Issue 20 p. 35
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 Quoth the Raven Issue 20 p. 33, 35, 37
- ↑ Quoth the Raven Issue 20 p. 43
- ↑ Quoth the Raven Issue 20 p. 28
- ↑ Quoth the Raven Issue 20 p. 7-20, 35
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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Ravenloft Third Edition - p138 | |
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Ravenloft Third Edition - inside cover |
